by Center for Architecture
We’re proud to share that, by the close of 2024, the Center for Architecture and AIA New York awarded $144,000 to students and early- and mid-career architects through its growing Grants and Scholarships program. In recent years, the program has expanded to provide more scholarships to a broader range of students interested in the study of architecture and award more funding to professionals working on impactful projects that further the research and study of architecture.
The Grants and Scholarships program is a core tenet of the Center for Architecture’s mission. The funding helps to make architecture education available to all, diversify research in architecture, and connect students and emerging professionals to AIANY members and programs. Awardees frequently present the results of their research grants at the Center for Architecture for AIANY members and the interested public. We congratulate the following 2024 awardees and look forward to seeing their projects!
POST-PROFESSIONAL GRANTS
Arnold W. Brunner Grant ($50,000 total)
The Arnold W. Brunner Grant is awarded to mid-career architects for advanced study in any area of architectural investigation that will contribute to the knowledge, teaching, or practice of the art and science of architecture. Projects are judged based on their engagement with contemporary local and global architectural issues and the usefulness of the research’s end product. The 2024 recipients are:
- Mina Chow (Los Angeles, CA), $15,000 for “Haunted by Helen Liu Fong”
- Charles L. Davis II (Austin, TX), $10,000 for “The Black Space Archive”
- Basar Girit and Katie Shima (Brooklyn, NY), $10,000 for “Massive Wood for Massive Change: An Approach to Demountable Timber ADUs for Urban Environments”
- Janette Kim (Oakland, CA), $15,000 for “Property Playbook”
The Arnold W. Brunner Grant provides single or multiple awards of up to $15,000 each.
Stewardson Keefe LeBrun Travel Grant ($25,000 total)
The Stewardson Keefe LeBrun Travel Grant provides early or mid-career architects with the opportunity to explore unique travel research topics around the world. The 2024 recipients are:
- Sydne Cherelle Nance, Assoc. AIA (New Jersey/New York, NY), $9,800 for “Been Here, New Come: The Gullah-Geechee Architectural Footprint”
- Malachi Rami Pursley, AIA (New York, NY), $7,600 for “Petroleum to Power: Reclaiming Louisiana’s Oil Infrastructure in a Post Fossil Fuel World”
- Leslie Youngim Wilson, AIA (Santa Monica, CA), $7,600 for “AL(one)+TO(gather) Homes”
The Stewardson Keefe LeBrun Travel Grant provides single or multiple awards of up to $25,000 in total each year. Applications for the 2025 cycle are due October 6, 2025 (not open yet).
STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS
Center for Architecture Design Scholarship ($6,000 total)
The Center for Architecture’s namesake scholarship is targeted at students seeking their first professional degree in architecture or a related design discipline from an accredited school within New York State. The dean or chair of the architectural school or accredited design program may invite up to two students from their respective college or university to apply, based on their academic performance and evidence of financial need. The 2024 recipients are:
- Catherine Lizbeth Moreno, $2,500, Bachelor of Architecture, Pratt Institute
- Christopher Martinovic, $1,500, Master of Landscape Architecture, City College of New York, Spitzer School of Architecture
- Flora Jinglin Ng, $1,000, Master of Architecture, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Ng also received $1,000 from AIA National as part of the AIA Component Matching Scholarship Grant.
The Center for Architecture Design Scholarship offers single or multiple awards of up to $5,000. Applications for the 2025 cycle are due March 21, 2025.
Allwork Scholarship ($20,000 total)
The Allwork Scholarship supports architecture students with demonstrated financial need seeking their first professional degree in architecture or a related design discipline from an accredited school within New York State. In order to apply for this award, students must be nominated by the dean or chair of the school of architecture in which they are currently studying. The 2024 recipients of this merit-based scholarship are:
- Elle Qirui Fang, $5,000, Bachelor of Architecture, Pratt Institute
- Juan Esteban Jimenez Giraldo, $5,000, Bachelor of Architecture, City College of New York, Spitzer School of Architecture
- Seong Hyun Leem, $5,000, Master of Architecture, Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
- Tate Liang, $5,000, Bachelor of Architecture, Cooper Union
The Allwork Scholarship offers multiple awards of up to $7,500 each, with the potential of an honors grant of up to $10,000. Applications for the 2025 cycle are due March 21, 2025.
Walter A. Hunt, Jr. Scholarship ($30,000 total)
Founded to promote and encourage the study of architecture by New York City public high school students, the Walter A. Hunt, Jr. Scholarship provides a two-year scholarship to supplement tuition and related costs during their freshman and sophomore years at a NAAB-accredited school of architecture in New York State. The scholarship honors Hunt’s dedication to the field of architecture and his wish to specifically support New York City public high school students. The 2024 recipients are:
- Nico Frey Ottaviani, a graduate of Midwood High School, awarded $20,000 over two years towards the Bachelor of Architecture at Pratt Institute
- Julia Chang, a graduate of the Townsend Harris High School, awarded $5,000 towards the Bachelor of Architecture program at Cooper Union
- Obadiah Anthony McMillan, a graduate of the Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design, awarded $5,000 towards the Bachelor of Architecture program at Cooper Union.
The Walter A. Hunt, Jr. Scholarship traditionally awards two installments of $10,000 (though awards vary depending on the candidate pool) to be dispersed over the recipient’s freshman and sophomore years of college. Applications for the 2025 cycle are due May 12, 2025.
Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals ($3,000 total)
The Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals supports student journalism on architecture, planning, and related subjects, and fosters regard for intelligent criticism among future professionals. The award is not intended as a prize for individuals, but to support the ongoing publication of student-edited journals whose subject matter pertains to architectural design, history, and theory. The 2024 recipients are:
- Dimensions 37, University of Michigan, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, awarded $1,000
- Paprika! Volume 10, Issue 1, Yale University, School of Architecture, awarded $1,000
- Thresholds 52: Disappearance, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, awarded $1,000
The Douglas Haskell Award offers single or multiple awards of up to $3,000. Applications for the 2025 cycle are due June 13, 2025 (not open yet).
2030 Fund ($10,000 total)
In 2022, AIA New York launched the 2030 Fund, which seeks to build a more diverse and representative profession through student loan forgiveness. The fund, created by 2021 AIANY President Kenneth A. Lewis, AIA, in collaboration with the New York Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (nycoba|NOMA), seeks to support NOMA’s 2030 Challenge, which aims to double the number of licensed Black architects by the end of the decade.
In its third year, the 2030 Fund awarded $10,000 in loan forgiveness to six young BIPOC professionals. Applications for the 2025 cycle are due April 14, 2025.
Special thanks to:
2024 Scholarship Committee:
Matthew Bremer, AIA, Architecture in Formation
Jennifer Sage, FAIA, LEED AP, Sage + Coombe Architects
Nina Cooke-John, AIA, Studio Cooke John
Sydney Maubert, Cornell University
Anthony Titus, Anthony Titus Studio
Jessica Sheridan, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Mancini Duffy
Sara Caples, AIA, NOMA, NA, Caples Jefferson Architects
Richard C. Yancey, FAIA, LEED AP, Building Energy Exchange
Eunjeong Seong, RA, LEED AP, Visible Weather
Peter Robinson, Cornell University
Walter A. Hunt, Jr. Committee:
Judy Hunt, wife of Walter Hunt
Keith Frome Rosen, AIA, Gensler
Madeline Burke-Vigeland, FAIA, LEED AP, NCARB, Gensler
Joshua Katz, AIA, Gensler
Ambrose Aliaga-Kelly, AIA, Gensler
Leslie J. Jabs, AIA, CDT, Gensler
2030 Fund Selection Committee:
Matthew Bremer, AIA, Architecture in Formation
Mark Gardner, AIA, NOMA, Jaklitsch / Gardner
A.L. Hu, AIA, NOMA, NCARB, EcoDistricts AP, Columbia University
Allison Lane, RA, AIA, ASID, NCARB, NCIDQ, LEED AP, WELL AP, NOMA, AECOM
Jesse Lazar, Assoc. AIA, AIA New York | Center for Architecture
Kenneth A. Lewis, AIA, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Gregory T. Switzer, AIA, NOMA, NCARB, SWITZER Architecture