Berkeley Prize Competition

Each year, the Berkeley Prize Competition (http://www.berkeleyprize.org), the primary goal of which is to foster a larger awareness and understanding of the social art of architecture, sponsors an Essay Competition, a Travel Fellowship Competition, and an Architectural Design Fellowship Competition.  All are open to full-time undergraduate students who are majoring in architecture (B.Arch.or otherwise) throughout the world.
 
A total of $9,500 in prize money is awarded to the Essay Competition winners with a guaranteed $4,000 first place prize.  The Travel Fellow(s) is given round-trip air-fare and a stipend to attend a significant architectural event in the Summer of 2010. The Architectural Design Fellow(s) is given a $2,500 honorarium and money to fund prizes for a local design competition.

For the essay competition, students are asked to submit a 500-word essay proposal in response to a posted question.  The 2010 question will revolve around the topic of Historic Preservation/Heritage Conservation. The Question is posted on the website on October 1, 2009 and Essay Proposals are due November 1, 2009.

Approximately 25 student semifinalists will be invited to expand their proposal into a 2,500-word essay due in February 2010.  From this pool, 5-7 finalist essays will be forwarded to the 2010 Berkeley Prize Essay Jury, who will select first, second, and third place winners.  The entire operations of the Berkeley Prize, including all submittals and judging are done online.

Essay Competition semifinalists are also offered the opportunity to compete for one of the two 2010 Berkeley Prize Fellowships.  
For the Travel Fellowship, students are asked to propose an architectural destination connected with their Essay response and that reflects some service component.  
For the Design Fellowship, semifinalists are invited to submit proposals for a design competition to be held at their school that further investigates this year’s Topic and Question.  

Jury:
Ms. Maristella Casciato
Chair, DOCOMOMO International (International Committee of Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement)

Associate Professor Andrew Dolkart, Columbia University
Director, Historic Preservation Program 

Associate Professor Maire O’Neill, AIA, Montana State University
Member, Berkeley Prize Committee

Associate Professor John Stubbs, Columbia University
Vice President for Field Projects, World Monuments Fund

Associate Professor Johannes Widodo, National University of Singapore
Director, CASA (Centre for Advanced Studies in Architecture)
Executive Editor, JSEAA (Journal of Southeast Asian Architecture)