Winners of the 2021 Research Prize, 2021 European Research Prize, and 2021 Robert L. Wesley Award

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Research Prize, 2021 European Research Prize, and 2021 Robert L. Wesley Award.   

Research Prize
Two teams—one from Pennsylvania State University and one from Yale University—will each receive a 40,000 USD prize to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Envisioning Responsible Relationships with Materiality.” 

Felecia Davis, Ali Ghazvinian, Benay Gürsoy, and Farzaneh Oghazian (Pennsylvania State University, Department of Architecture), along with John Pecchia (Pennsylvania State University, Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology) and Andre West (North Carolina State University, Wilson College of Textiles), won with their proposal “MycoKnit: Cultivating Mycelium-Based Composites on Knitted Textiles for Large-Scale Biodegradable Architectural Structures.” The project aims to explore the interrelated behavior of mycelium-based composites and knitted textiles, where the knit is used as a growing base for mycelium materials, to offer a sustainable and biodegradable building material and structural system that is strong in both tension and compression.

The second winning proposal, “Soil Sisters: An Intersectoral Material Design Framework for Soil Health” led by Anna Dyson and Mae-ling Lokko (Yale University, School of Architecture), aims to investigate a new paradigm for connecting agricultural waste to large-scale regional material supply chains, in which improving soil nutrition and soil resiliency underpins the design goal of providing cross-sectoral environmental performance through the provision of new biomaterial construction systems. The project will be developed in partnership with Global Mamas in Ghana and Ecolibri in Guatemala. 

This year’s jury was led by SOM Foundation Executive Director Iker Gil and included Scott Duncan, Gabriel Kozlowski, James Leng, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, and Zoë Ryan.   

European Research Prize
One team from University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins will receive a 20,000 EUR prize to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Envisioning Responsible Relationships with Materiality.”

Paloma Gormley and Summer Islam’s project, “Constructive Land,” proposes to examine the future of the British landscape in the context of the climate crisis. Our fertile landscape is constrained by pressures from farming, woodland, and housing, all of which need reimagining as we move into a postcarbon future. Their research looks at the potential of agroforestry to develop arable farming alongside productive woodland and explores what materials and building systems can be drawn from a new model of regenerative land management. The project will be developed in partnership with Forestry England and Material Cultures. 

The inaugural European Research Prize jury was led by SOM Foundation Executive Director Iker Gil and included Marco Ferrari, Kent Jackson, Tim Marlow, Débora Mesa Molina, and Sumayya Vally.

Robert L. Wesley Award
Alexander Htet Aung Kyaw (Cornell University, Department of Architecture), Sanjana Lahiri (Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, School of Architecture), and Xiluva Mbungela (Syracuse University, School of Architecture) will each receive a 10,000 USD award in addition to a yearlong mentorship program that connects the students with leading BIPOC practitioners and educators. In addition to the three fellows, the jury decided to expand the number of fellows to include two 5,000 USD awards, given to Kevin Chow (Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, School of Architecture) and Viridiana Hernandez Sevilla (University of Oklahoma, College of Architecture).

This year’s jury was led by Robert L. Wesley and included Danei Cesario, Chris Cornelius, Joyce Hwang, and María Villalobos Hernandez. 

About the SOM Foundation
Founded in 1979, the SOM Foundation’s goal is to advance the design profession’s ability to address the key topics of our time by bringing together and supporting groups and individuals, each with the highest possible design aspirations. The Foundation’s award programming was established in 1981 and currently offers five annual awards across the United States, Europe, and China. The awards support students and faculty of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, and engineering to undertake rigorous interdisciplinary research that can help shape our future.