This $10,000 (USD) traveling fellowship recognizes the need to help young Chinese architects broaden their education and gain an understanding of society’s need to improve the built and natural environments. Similar study grants awarded in the United States by the SOM Foundation are now an important measure of design achievement among architecture students and their sponsors. These awards also recognize the excellence of the schools themselves in training the leading architects of the next generation.
Eligibility: Applicants must be in the last year of university in the People’s Republic of China as an undergraduate or graduate degree candidate in Architecture or Urban Design. Applicants must be nominated by a faculty member and endorsed by the department chair or dean of the school from which a degree will be received.
The China Prize is currently under review. More information will be posted as soon as possible.
2007 and 2008 China Prize Recipients
SOM Foundation Awards $20,000 to China Prize Winners
The SOM Foundation has awarded two grants in the amount of $10,000 each for the China Prize, a traveling fellowship given to outstanding Chinese national students of architecture or urban design from an accredited architecture school in China.
The 2007 prize was awarded to Zhu HaoHao of Southeast University and the 2008 prize was awarded to Wang Baozheng of Peking University Graduate School of Architecture. The winners were selected because their entries demonstrated appropriate solutions of architecture and design based in traditional methodology.
The jury for the China Prize consisted of industry professionals and educators that are active in China, including Qingyun Ma, dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California, founder and design principal of Shanghai Architectural Enterprise and Professor Qing Chang, director of Tongji University's School of Urban Planning.
"The China Prize is an innovative and enriching program that motivates young people to pursue travel while building their careers in architecture and design," said Brian Lee, design partner at SOM and judging jury member of the China Prize. "The SOM Foundation is pleased to be able to support such important work."
"The short-listed entries were very impressive and demonstrate a promising future for China in design and urban planning," said Ma. "We selected students based on their skills and how their intended travel would benefit their career in architecture."
"Relevance and commitment to China and its future, in addition to skill and originality, were all considered in our evaluation," said Chang.
The China Prize was introduced to years ago to the SOM Foundation's annual competitions. The selection process is through an anonymous evaluation of portfolios. Historically, the juries have been especially interested in work that reveals an interest in a full range of issues, including social as well as aesthetic and technical concerns.
