Harvard GSD’S $100,000 Wheelwright Prize

Harvard GSD is pleased to announce the second edition of the Wheelwright Prize, a $100,000 traveling fellowship open to talented early-career architects worldwide proposing exceptional itineraries for research and discovery. Available to architects practicing anywhere in the world, the Wheelwright Prize recognizes the importance of field research to professional development, and reinforces Harvard GSD’s dedication to fostering investigative approaches to contemporary design.

“It is clear that today's fluid movement of people and ideas necessitates new approaches towards the understanding of architecture and urbanization. I am excited that in the coming years the Wheelwright Fellowship will be able to have a significant impact on the intellectual projects of young architects and, in turn, on the future of architecture and the built environment.”
—Harvard GSD Dean Mohsen Mostafavi

About

General Information on the Wheelwright Prize

The Wheelwright Prize is a $100,000 travel-based research grant that is awarded annually to early-career architects who have demonstrated exceptional design talent, produced work of scholarly and professional merit, and who show promise for continued creative work.

Throughout its history, Harvard GSD has had a strong global outlook, attracting deans, faculty, and students from all over the world. Moreover, a mainstay of the GSD curriculum is its traveling studio, which emphasizes the acceptance of ideas and practices with a diversity of origins. The Wheelwright Prize extends the school’s ethos, encouraging a broad-minded approach to architecture that seeks inspiration from unexpected quarters.

The Wheelwright Prize is intended to spur innovative research during the early stage of an architect's professional career. Now open to applicants from all over the world—no affiliation to Harvard GSD required—the prize aims to foster new forms of research informed by cross-cultural engagement. "The idea is not just about travel—the act of going and seeing the world—but it is about binding the idea of geography to themes and issues that hold great potential relevance to contemporary practice," says Harvard GSD Dean Mohsen Mostafavi.

The winner will be selected via an open call for proposals and a rigorous review process. The winner of the Wheelwright Prize will receive:

• $100,000 cash prize to support travel and research-related costs
• invitation to lecture at Harvard GSD
• possibility to publish research in a Harvard GSD publication

The Wheelwright Prize organizing committee includes Harvard GSD Dean Mohsen Mostafavi, Professors K. Michael Hays and Jorge Silvetti, and Assistant Dean Benjamin Prosky.

Background on the Arthur W. Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship

Established in 1935 in memory of Arthur W. Wheelwright, Class of 1887, this traveling fellowship has afforded extraordinary experiences for generations of GSD alumni. The fellowship was conceived at a time when foreign travel was out of reach for many. The prize enabled several early Wheelwright fellows—including Paul Rudolph (1937–38), Eliot Noyes (1939–40), William Wurster (1942–43), and I. M. Pei (1950–51)—to embark on expeditions that largely followed the tradition of the Grand European Tour.

• See a full list of past winners of the Arthur W. Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship.

Eligibility

• Applicant must have graduated from a professionally accredited architecture degree program in the past 15 years. (Graduates prior to 1999 are ineligible.) Holders of multiple degrees may apply, provided they received their professional degrees between 1999 and March 2014. Applicants need not be registered or licensed.
• Applicants may not have received the Arthur Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship previously.
• Winners of the Wheelwright Prize may not hold other fellowships concurrently.
• The Wheelwright Prize is available to individual entrants only; teams or firms will not be considered.
• Current Harvard GSD faculty, instructors, and staff are not eligible.
• Winners are expected to spend a minimum of 6 months (cumulative) outside of their countries of residence in order to conduct their proposed research.
• Proposed research itineraries must not include sites in the United States. Research and travel must commence within 12 months of receiving the Wheelwright Prize and must be completed within two years of receiving the prize.
• The Wheelwright Prize is intended for independent study and may not be applied to university tuition. However, the grant may be applied to fees for workshops and conferences.

Application

The application process is entirely online. No submissions will be accepted by mail. The online application platform for the 2014 Wheelwright Prize is now accepting applications. Register by starting your application by February 15. (There is no fee to register.) Deadline for submissions is March 4, 2014. (Please note that the deadline has been extended from the previously announced deadline of February 28.) There is a $10 service fee to submit applications (charged by the online platform, not by Harvard GSD).