Mapping of the “Soft-Urban Riverfront” along the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities, highlighting Pig’s Eye as a crucial site with a history of pollution, rich Indigenous heritage, and ecological significance. © Dingliang Yang and Michael Keller.
The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Research Prize. Two teams—one from Auburn University and one from the University of Minnesota—have been awarded the 2024 Research Prize, and will each receive $30,000 to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Advancing Toward a Water-Secure Future.” The Research Prize was created in 2018 to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time.
Aurélie Frolet and Emily McGlohn (Auburn University, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture) and Jillian Maxcy-Brown (Auburn University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) won with their proposal “Imaging Underground: Illustrating Wastewater Challenges and Opportunities to Inform and Empower Alabama’s Black Belt Communities.” The project will produce a Wastewater Design Manual for stakeholders and municipalities in the Black Belt. It will include three components: a history of regional wastewater practices, an explanation of cluster system functions, and suggested tools to give communities control over design decision-making during the economic development driven by new wastewater systems.
Juror Carol Coletta commented: “Making the invisible visible is a skill we must learn if we have any hope of solving our most pressing problems. The team from Auburn University is doing that, supported by the trust with locals built over many projects and many years. The subject—wastewater infrastructure—is not sexy, but it’s critical. The lessons from this team’s work will have broad applicability and great promise for educating and engaging people on issues that affect their lives every day.”
Rural Studio cluster system demonstration site, Newbern, Alabama, 2024. © Tim Hursley.
The second winning proposal is “Soft-Urban Riverfront: A New Paradigm for Headwater Metropolises” led by Dingliang Yang, Jennifer Yoos, Maura Rockcastle, Ross Altheimer, Roger Cummings, Daniel Carlson, and Changó Cummings (University of Minnesota, The Schools of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design [ALI]). Pig’s Eye Lake at the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota, a site of historical pollution with significant Indigenous heritage and ecological importance, will serve as a catalyst project of the “Soft-Urban Riverfront: A New Paradigm for Headwater Metropolises” studio. Through a cross-disciplinary and cross-scalar approach, the studio will work with ecologists, scientists, historians, policymakers, and community stakeholders to create design strategies that enhance biodiversity, public health, and cultural awareness.
“‘Soft-Urban Riverfront’ stood out amongst other proposals in its multi-scalar approach to architecture and landscape design. Working on a particular site near the Mississippi River’s headwaters, students are also asked to analyze the larger watershed and metropolitan context of the site,” mentioned juror Carson Chan. “That the proposal also acknowledged the Dakota Nation’s primacy in this area made clear that the project leads understand that any ecological design research is a continuation of the environmental knowledge gained by those who have lived on this land for far longer than settler colonists and immigrants.”
Watercolor drawing illustrating the Mississippi River with key focal points. © Maura Rockcastle.
This year’s jury was led by SOM Foundation Executive Director Iker Gil and included Carson Chan (Director, Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and Natural Environment; Curator, MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design, New York City); Carol Coletta (President and CEO, Memphis River Parks Partnership, Memphis); Alex Krieger (Professor in Practice of Urban Design, Emeritus, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge; SOM Foundation fellow) and Shannon Nichol (Cofounder, GGN, Seattle).
Reflecting on the 2024 Research Prize, juror Alex Krieger said, “Kudos to the SOM Foundation for sponsoring another of its generous—and important—grant programs aimed to facilitate innovative research and scholarship for students and faculty at US and (recently) international universities. This year’s theme, ‘Advancing Toward a Water-Secure Future,’ attracted impressive proposals, many well worthy of the $30,000 grant. The two proposals selected by the jury expertly combine methodical research, innovative pedagogy, engagement with local communities, and social purpose.”
Juror Shannon Nichol added that “the SOM Foundation Research Prize is a valuable agent to significantly improve the dialogue of learning, innovation, and progress that can be made at this very important juncture between design and science.”
Research Prize recipients are expected to collaborate with students, faculty, and leaders from various disciplines to pursue their research topics. They will be required to document their findings and develop suggestions for application to professional practice. The outcome of the research will be shared publicly on the SOM Foundation’s website as well as other mediums identified by the winning teams.