The Harvard University Graduate School of Design in Massachusetts has announced the winners of the Richard Rogers Fellowship 2017. Launched in October 2016, the Fellowship seeks to act as an international platform assembling experts and practitioners from a broad range of disciplines, using the built environment to positively impact on the quality of human life. The six inaugural Fellows, selected from 200 applicants worldwide, will undertake three months of research at the Wimbledon House, a Grade II listed residence in London gifted to the School by world-renowned British architect Richard Rogers.
Spring Fellowships were awarded to Namik Mackic of Oslo, Norway, and Maik Novotny of Vienna, Austria. Mackic is currently a research associate with the Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative and guest critic at the Rhode Island School of Design. His research will highlight and compare the potential roles of refugees, immigrants and other disadvantaged populations in the spatial development of London and Berlin following Brexit and the refugee crisis.
Novotny is an architect, planner, and teacher at the Department of Spatial and Sustainable Design at TU Vienna University. His research will also compare European cities, examining the approach of London and Vienna to public housing, and seeking solutions for current social housing challenges.
Summer Fellowships were awarded to Jose Castillo and Saidee Springall, both from Mexico City. Castillo is the principal of award-winning architecture firm a|911. His research will connect urban food economies with issues such as climate change and migration, investigating how food and cooking can transform cities.
Springall is also a principal at a|911, which she co-founded with Castillo in 2002. Her research will tackle the UK housing crisis, exploring new models of community participation, and the “social contract” between the state, developers, civic agencies, and citizens.
Fall Fellowships were awarded to Shantel Blakely from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Dirk van den Heuvel from Amsterdam. Blakely holds an MArch from Princeton University, a PhD in the history and theory of architecture from Columbia University, and is currently completing an MA in Philosophy at Tufts University. Her research will compare the work and philosophies of Herbert Read, John Dewey, and Charles Eames, examining their views of art as an instrument for education, and a means to achieve social harmony.
Van den Heuvel is an associate professor at TU Delft. His research will examine the relationship between architecture, planning and social policies with reference to the Smithsons’ Robin Hood Gardens estate.
News via: Harvard Graduate School of Design.
