2017 Berkley prize

Description

What We are About

The BERKELEY PRIZE encourages undergraduate architecture students to expand their academic education by going into their communities and investigating how the built environment best serves and best reflects the everyday lives of those for whom we design.

Cash awards and potential subsequent hands-on research experiences in foreign locales are given to students who present the best written essays describing what role the architect plays in developing and furthering this social art of architecture.

How it Works

Each year, the PRIZE Committee selects a topic and poses a Question based on that topic. Full-time students enrolled in any undergraduate architecture degree program, Diploma in Architecture program, or majoring as an undergraduate in architecture throughout the world are invited to submit a 500-word Essay Proposal responding to the Question. From this pool of essays, approximately 25 are selected by the PRIZE Committee as particularly promising.

These Semifinalists are then asked to submit a 2500-word essay expanding on their Proposals.  The BERKELEY PRIZE  Committee members, acting as readers, select five-to-eight of the best essays and send these Finalists on to a Jury of international academics and architects to select the winners. All phases of the PRIZE are completed online.

Participation and Recognition

During the past 18 years, nearly 2000 students have submitted Proposals and Essays, representing dozens of schools of architecture from 62 countries. In recognition of these efforts, the PRIZE was the recipient of a 2009 American Institute of Architects Collaborative Achievement Honor Award, and a 2002 American Institute of Architects Education Honor Award.

The BERKELEY PRIZE has also garnered international acclaim, not the least reason for which is its complete embracing of digital technology. In partial recognition of this outreach, the 2003 BERKELEY PRIZE Competition was named a Special Event of "World Heritage in the Digital Age," a Virtual Congress helping to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.