The Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Design Excellence endowment was established in the Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design to promote the investigation of architecture as a social art. Each year the PRIZE Committee selects a topic important to the understanding of the interaction of people and the built world that becomes the focus of the Essay Competition.
The core of the BERKELEY PRIZE is to require students to go out of their studios and into their immediate communities to talk to and learn from the people for whom they will one day design. This year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, such research is obviously not practical or even totally possible. At the same time, the PRIZE has produced 22 years of just such student research.
Application Deadline: 1st November 2020
Essay Question: ARCHITECTS IN SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY
QUESTION:
As a future architect, what is the best way you can serve the needs of your local community?
Value of Award: At the conclusion of the Essay Competition submittals, all Semifinalists are also invited to submit a proposal for a BERKELEY PRIZE summer Fellowship. This year, the opportunity is a Community Service Fellowship. Details for this new Fellowship will be announced in early 2021.
Duration/Timeline of Program:
| September 15, 2020 | Launch of 2021 Essay Competition. |
| November 1, 2020 | (Stage One) 500-word essay proposal due. |
| Mid-December, 2020 | Essay Semifinalists announced. |
| February 1, 2021 | (Stage Two) Essay Semifinalists’ 2,500-word essays due. |
| February 8, 2021 | Launch of Community Service Fellowship Competition for Essay Semifinalists. |
| Early-March, 2021 | Essay Finalists announced. |
| March 12, 2021 | Community Service Fellowship proposals due. |
| Mid-April, 2021 | Essay winners and Community Service Fellowship winners announced. |
Eligibility:
- 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.
- Essays must be submitted in English.
- 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, 2020, but graduate before the awards are scheduled to be given.
How To Apply: ENTER COMPETITION HERE
Visit The Official Website For More Information
