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 Committee poses a Question on this website related to the topic. Students enrolled in an accredited undergraduate architecture program or diploma in architecture program throughout the world are invited to submit a 500-word essay proposal in English responding to the Question. Qualified students may also team up with undergraduates from allied arts and social sciences programs and submit proposals in teams of two.
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From the pool of essay proposals received, approximately 25-28 are selected by the PRIZE Committee as particularly promising. The selected student teams become Semifinalists. These Semifinalists are invited to submit a 2,500-word essay, again in English, expanding on their proposals. A group of readers, composed of Committee members and invited colleagues, selects five-to-eight of the best essays and sends these Finalist essays to a jury of international academics and architects to select the winners.
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.
Location:
OnlineBenefits
There is a total prize of 35,000USD, a minimum of 7,500USD first prize. The remaining purse is to be allocated at the discretion of the Jury.
Eligibilities
- 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 is 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.
- 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 in their essay and if awarded a prize, the prize is to be equally shared.
- Photograph Requirement: This year you are asked to include ONE digital photograph that you have copied from any section, any page, and any year of the BERKELEY PRIZE website that has influenced your Proposal. A brief caption – 50 words maximum – should accompany the photograph telling them the photo represents and why you have chosen it in particular. Please post the photograph at a minimum of pixels wide, and in .jpg format. No more than one photograph will be accepted. The Readers are instructed NOT to add or detract points from their evaluation because of the quality of the photograph itself. The Readers, however, will evaluate how the photographs help support the argument you have made in your Proposal.
Application Process
Apply through the given link.
Looking for fully-funded opportunities, install the Youth Opportunities Android or iOS App here.
Application Deadline: November 1, 2020
Application ClosedOfficial link
