News

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 SOM Foundation China Fellowship. Xianglan He, Bolun Qiu, and Shuaibo Shi will each receive $5,000 to conduct original research. This year’s topic, “Shaping Our World Through Air,” is a prompt to investigate the impact that air has on our world, from the unequal way pollution affects communities to the way it shapes spatial conditions and material innovations.

The SOM Foundation is saddened to hear the news of the passing of architect and educator Douglas Eugene Oliver Jr., recipient of the 1986 Master of Architecture fellowship. Our condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues at Rice University.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winner of the 2023 Structural Engineering Fellowship. Lydia Moog will receive $20,000 to conduct original research. This year’s topic, “Shaping Our World Through Air,” is a prompt to investigate the impact that air has on our world, from the unequal way pollution affects communities to the way it shapes spatial conditions and material innovations. With her proposal, “Structures that Breathe,” Moog will investigate different interpretations of “airiness” in structures. She will evaluate the notion of what it means for a structure to be lightweight, materially efficient, and sustainable by exploring a range of environments from rural to urban as well as current innovations and past methods through a set of case studies.

On Wednesday, June 7 at 5 pm PDT, the SOM Foundation is organizing a fellows reception coinciding with the AIA Conference on Architecture 2023.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the 2023 China Fellowship. The $5,000 China Fellowship is awarded annually to three students in the last two years of either an undergraduate or graduate program in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, or urban design in the People’s Republic of China to conduct independent travel and research that contributes to the SOM Foundation’s current topic, “Shaping Our World Through Air.” The China Fellowship was created in 2006 to support emerging design leaders to broaden their education and contribute to their future professional and academic careers.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce that Toni L. Griffin has received the 2023 Special Recognition for Architecture, Design, and Urban Design. The award supports Griffin’s project as part of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, The Laboratory of the Future.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the 2023 Structural Engineering Fellowship. The $20,000 fellowship will be awarded to a graduating student based in the United States who specializes in structural engineering to conduct independent travel and research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Shaping Our World Through Air.” The Structural Engineering Fellowship was created in 1998 to support research that has the potential to influence the practice and teaching of how structures can positively impact our built environment.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 Research Prize. Two teams—one from Yale University and the University of Houston, and one from Carnegie Mellon University—will each receive a $40,000 prize to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Shaping Our World Through Air.” The Research Prize was created in 2018 to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time.

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winner of the 2022 European Research Prize. One team from the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) will receive a €20,000 prize to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Shaping Our World Through Air.” The European Research Prize was created in 2021 to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time.