The SOM Foundation supports individuals with the highest aspirations to enhance the design of the built environment.
Elizabeth Claypool
Schoonschip. Floating sustainable housing collective in Amsterdam, Netherlands. © Isabel Nabuurs.
3D representation of Los Angeles habitats. Courtesy of Maya Livio.
Gabriel Cuéllar
De Peter Yi
A series of strategies aimed at overcoming the minimum lot size zoning ordinance and designing across lot lines. © Gabriel Cuéllar.
Ian Caine
Esteban López Ochoa
Rudy Niño, Jr.
Christine Quattro
Wei Zhain
The research team will create a taxonomy of vacant or underutilized parcels, establishing parameters related to size, cost, zoning, location, and use. © Ian Caine, J. William Arch, Melanie Bartholomew, Devon Duffin, Phuoc Luu, Diana Rodriguez, Evey Santillan, and Michelyn Smith.
Aerial view of the urban fabric and context of Southwest Besòs in Barcelona. © REARQ UPC.
Pere Joan Ravetllat
Còssima Cornadó
Marta Domènech
Sara Vima-Grau
Xianglan He
Bolun Qiu
Shuaibo Shi
The SOM Foundation supports individuals with the highest aspirations to enhance the design of the built environment.
Upcoming Call for Applications
Research Prize Applications Open in September 2024
European Research Prize Applications Open in September 2024
Robert L. Wesley Award Applications Open in September 2024
2013 SOM Prize for Architecture, Design, and Urban Design
James Leng
Harvard University
Graduate School of Design
Buildings spring up opportunistically where ever the terrain allows. © James Leng.
North Korea. © James Leng.
Maya Livio, recipient of the 2024 Researcher-in-Residence, led a conversation with artist Huntrezz Janos and writer and researcher Emma Kemp as part of her research project “Hospes: Housing Justice and Multispecies Cohabitation at the Wildland-Urban Interface.” Read
On Saturday, July 20, Maya Livio, recipient of the 2024 Researcher-in-Residence, will lead a conversation with artist Huntrezz Janos and writer and researcher Emma Kemp as part of her research project “Hospes: Housing Justice and Multispecies Cohabitation at the Wildland-Urban Interface.”
The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce that Black Spectacles will now support Robert L. Wesley Award recipients as they work toward becoming licensed architects. Each year, Black Spectacles will offer two year-long, Expert-level subscriptions that will provide students with online tools to study for the Architect Registration Examination (ARE). Robert L. Wesley Award recipients can claim this resource within five years of receiving the award.
The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 Structural Engineering Fellowship. Elizabeth Claypool will receive $20,000 to conduct original research. This year’s topic, “Adapting Housing Strategies to Respond to New Realities,” seeks to explore affordable, equitable, and innovative modes of multifamily housing that respond to current and future needs. With her proposal, “Exploring Innovative Housing: A Playbook for Optimism” Claypool aims to create a playbook for optimism: a survey of nineteen case studies to identify innovative solutions that create meaningful impacts on housing outcomes.