The 2015 Berkeley Prize essay winners respond to how "Architects Confront Poverty"

Every year, architecture undergrad students get a chance to participate in the annual Berkeley Prize essay competition. This year's essay Question asked students -- who were allowed to team up with arts and social science undergrads -- to address this year's topic: "Architects Confront Poverty."

As one would expect, the competition is rigorous. After submitting a 500-word English proposal,  25 are selected as Semifinalists to be expanded into a 2,500-word essay. The Prize Committee chooses 5-8 essays to become finalists, which are finally sent to an international jury to pick the winners.

This year's competition concluded with one First Prize and one Second Prize winner, a tie for Third Prize, and one Fourth Prize winner. Winners also earned cash prizes.

Check them out below.

2015 Question: "WHICH ARCHITECTS, INDIVIDUALS, OR INSTITUTIONS HAVE MADE AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE LIVING, WORKING, EDUCATION, AND RECREATION PLACES FOR THE POOR AND UNDERSERVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY?"

1st Prize: Tarun Bhasin & Vineetha Nalla, School Of Planning And Architecture, Bhopal, India: "Imagine There are No Slums: Mainstreaming an Image with Dignity"
($5000 - with $2500 relinquished by Mr. Bhasin to accept Travel Fellowship) Proposal | Essay

2nd Prize: Benard Acellam, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda: "Learning on the Hillside: Confronting Poverty with Education"
($4000) Proposal | Essay

3rd Prize (tie): Meghna Mohandas, School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal, India: "Vermilion of Hope.“
($3250) Proposal | Essay

3rd Prize (tie): Chandana Rajanna & Hanan Qureshi, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India: "Incremental Changes Bring Immense Happiness to the Urban Poor."
($3250) Proposal | Essay

4th Prize: Eman Zied, Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport, Cairo, Egypt: "Parallel Practice: Bottom-Up Participatory Design in Impoverished Communities in Egypt" ($2000) Proposal | Essay