SOM Prize and Travel Fellowship for Architecture, Design and Urban Design
Jieun Yang (M. Arch. ’08, Columbia University) has won the 2008 SOM Prize, a
$50,000 travel and study fellowship. Yang was chosen on July 24 from a pool of 100 applicants nationally. The competition is open to graduating undergraduate and graduate students from accredited schools of architecture, design and urban design. Applicants were judged on the quality of their design portfolios and their research proposals and travel itineraries.
This grand prize enables Yang to complete in-depth research, collaborate
with other designers and pursue independent study outside the realm of
established patterns. She will travel extensively in the America, France, Sweden and
China studying surbubia as it originated in post-World War II U.S. and Europe and currently is being emulated extensively in China.
“As the western model of the suburb is crumbling down, these models are being copied in developing countries in other parts of the world," explained Yang. " Will these copied versions of the American suburb survive the threat that the originators are facing?"
In addition to the grand SOM Prize, the SOM Foundation also awards a $20,000 travel fellowship to the second strongest candidate. Will Zajac (M. Arch. ’08, University of Florida) was selected for the fellowship.
Structural Engineering Travel Fellowship
The 2008 Structural Engineering Travel Fellowship was awarded to Ted Segal
(MCE, '08, Princeton University). This annual fellowship offers Segal the rare
opportunity to complete a self-determined travel itinerary to gain a critical appreciation of the aesthetics of buildings, bridges and other structures by experiencing them firsthand.
The jury recognized Segal for a unique research proposal that focused on an
exploration of the design process, modeling and testing of specific structures in
Europe. He plans to interview and collaborate with some of the engineers and model
facilities responsible for those projects and then visit the finished structures.
China Prize
In March 2008, the SOM Foundation 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 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.
