The Seventeenth Annual Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence 2015
Berkeley Prize 2015

Stage 1: Enter

Steps to Enter

  1. Meet the Eligibility Requirements.
  2. Write a 500-word proposal for an essay on this year's Essay Question, as posted.
  3. Provide two photographs of your chosen project.
  4. Submit the essay and photographs online.

Eligibility

  1. The competition is open to all current full-time registered students in an undergraduate architecture degree program or undergraduates majoring in architecture in accredited schools of architecture worldwide. Diploma in Architecture students who have not yet completed their Diploma are also eligible.
  2. Essays must be submitted in English.
  3. Finalists will be required to provide proof of current registration in the form of copies of actual school transcripts. You are still eligible to compete if you were an undergraduate student on September 15, 2014, but graduate before the awards are scheduled to be given.

Team Up

Two students (maximum) who meet the eligibility requirements above may collaborate as authors. An architecture student may team up with another undergraduate in architecture, landscape architecture, urban studies, arts and humanities, the social sciences, or engineering. If two students collaborate, then both names must appear on their essay and if awarded a prize, the prize is to be equally shared.


Photograph Requirement

You are asked to include two digital photographs of your selected building(s) or place(s) with your essay. The photographs should be at a minimum 500 pixels wide, and in .jpg format. No more than two photographs will be accepted. You can use a digital camera, a film camera (and scan the printed image), or even capture the image on a cell phone. The photographs should be as informative as possible in order to enable those reading the essays to determine how well you have described your subject matter. The Readers are instructed NOT to add or detract points from their evaluation because of the quality of the photograph itself. To the contrary, one of the primary purposes of the essay format is to test your skill in describing a place or building in words, rather then pictures or drawings.  As with the Readers, use the photographs to continually review how good a job you have done in describing your selected building(s) or places in words.


Judging Criteria

Judging for the essay competition is on a numeric system. The members of the BERKELEY PRIZE Committee are asked to evaluate each essay in terms of the following criteria:

  1. Does the Proposal address the Question?
  2. How creative, or creatively developed, is the Proposal?
  3. Would the Proposal be clear to a broad audience?
  4. How does the Proposal rank in terms of writing style?
  5. How socially significant is the Proposal?
  6. What is the potential for developing this Proposal into a strong essay?

Each Proposal is given a score of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest). The top 25 scoring Proposals become Semifinalists.


Purse

There is a total prize of 15,000USD, minimum 5,000USD first prize.  The remaining purse is to be allocated at the discretion of the Jury.


Calendar

September 15, 2014 Launch of 2015 Essay Competition.
November 1, 2014 (Stage One) 500-word essay proposal due.
Mid-December, 2014 Essay Semifinalists announced.
February 1, 2015 (Stage Two) Essay Semifinalists' 2,500-word essays due.
February 8, 2015 Launch of Travel Fellowship Competition for Essay Semifinalists.
Early-March, 2015 Essay Finalists announced.
March 12, 2015 Travel Fellowship Entries Due.
Mid-April, 2015 Essay winners and Travel Fellowship winners Announced.
Early Spring, 2015 Launch of Teaching Fellowship Competition for undergraduate architecture (faculty).

Copyright

By submitting your essay, you give the BERKELEY PRIZE the nonexclusive, perpetual right to reproduce the essay or any part of the essay, in any and all media at the BERKELEY PRIZE’s discretion.  A “nonexclusive” right means you are not restricted from publishing your paper elsewhere if you use the following attribution that must appear in that new placement: “First submitted to and/or published by the Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence (www.BerkeleyPrize.org) in competition year 20(--) (and if applicable) and winner of that year’s (First, Second, Third…) Essay prize.” Finally, you warrant the essay does not violate any intellectual property rights of others and indemnify the BERKELEY PRIZE against any costs, loss, or expense arising out of a violation of this warranty.


Registration and Submission

You will be asked to complete a short registration form which will not be seen by members of the BERKELEY PRIZE Committee or Jury.

REGISTER HERE.


Additional Help and Information

Are you in need of assistance? Please email info@berkeleyprize.org.
Meeting Room, Amalgamated Dwellings, New York City, USASpringsteen and Goldhammer, 1929
Boundary Street Estate Workshops, London, UK, London County Council, 1899
Vending stalls, Hismen Hin-Nu Terrace, Oakland, CA, USA, Pyatok Architects, 1995
Workshops, Perseigne Housing Estate, Alençon, France, Lucien Kroll, 1979
BDD Chawls, Worli, India, Bombay Development Department, 1920
Campus for Magic Bus, Panvel, India, 2007, RMA Architects
Cantagallo, Peru
Casa do Ataide, Paraisopolos, Sao Paolo, Brazil, URBZ Brazil, 2013
Casa do Ataide, Paraisopolos, Sao Paolo, Brazil, URBZ Brazil, 2013
Casa Familiar, San Ysidro, Califonia, USA, Estudio Teddy Cruz, Ongoing
Community Toilets for SPARC, Mumbai, India, RMA Architects, Ongoing
The Construction of Low-cost Community Centres. New Delhi, 1978.
Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute, Sidhpur, Dharmasala, India, MN Ashish Ganju, 1998
Fez River Project, City of Fez, Morocco, Aziza Chaouni Projects, 2012
Jungle Gym, Shivagi Nagar, India, Aditya Vipparthi and URBZ, 2014
KPSP, Kibera, Kenya, Koukuey Design Initiative, Ongoing
Lima, Peru
Livonia Commons, Brooklyn, NY, Urban Quotient, 2011
Manila, Philippines
Metrocables of Medillin, Medillin, Colombia, Edison Escobar and María Patricia Bustamante, 2004
Metrocables of Medillin, Medillin, Colombia, Edison Escobar and María Patricia Bustamante, 2004
Mother and Child Care Centre, Dakshin Habal Village / Bagman Village, West Bengal, New Delhi, MN Ashish Ganju, 1979.
Nairobi, Kenya
Solar Initiative, Various Locations, Mexico, BaSiC Initiative 2003-2010
Sudhir House, Saki Naka, Mumbai, India, URBZ, 2013
Technical Facilitation of Indira Awas Yojana In Gujarat, India, Hunnarshala Foundation, 2011
Bangkok, Thailand
Manufactured Sites: Emergency Housing, Estudio Teddy Cruz
Low Cost Housing Programme, Karachi, Pakistan, Orangi Pilot Project, 1987
Floods: Relief And Rehabilitation, Sindh, Pakistan, Orangi Pilot Project, 2011
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Emma Cosio and her children are laying out the foundations of their house. Mexicali, Mexico, Christopher Alexander
Emma Cosio’s completed house in 1976. Mexicali, Mexico, Christopher Alexander
Jose Tapia’s house in 1976. Mexicali, Mexico, Christopher Alexander
Jose Tapia’s house in 1984. Mexicali, Mexico, Christopher Alexander
Mrs. Rodriguez in front of her home in 1984. Mexicali, Mexico, Christopher Alexander
The homes the five families built for themselves in 1976. Mexicali, Mexico, Christopher Alexander
Inside the Tapia’s home that they built with the help of students, 1976.
Tow Build - 1st workshop - Nansan Town Council Official brief 4th Architecture Students on the Planning & Housing challenges in Nabweru
Local market in the heart of Kampala
Local Resource and skills - use of sheet and timber to make house panel
View from Mutungo of the Ourskirts of Kampala
Participation - children sketching their dream house
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