Two recent grads win the 2015 SOM Prize + Travel Fellowship for architecture

The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Foundation recently revealed the winners of the 2015 SOM competition, which has granted fellowships to graduates of architecture, design, structural engineering, and urban design since 1981. The prize gives promising students the chance to both professionally and personally enrich themselves through international travel.

This year's SOM Prize + Travel Fellowship for Architecture, Design, and Urban Design competition attracted submissions from students representing 38 U.S. schools. The $50,000 SOM Prize went to Nicholas Coates, a recent B.Arch. graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, while Xiaoxi Chen Laurent — a recent M.Arch. graduate from Columbia University — won the $20,000 Travel Fellowship.

Read on for more.

The SOM Prize is a $50,000 research and travel fellowship that enables the winner to travel, meet with other professionals in the field, and to pursue study outside the realm of established patterns, while carrying out in-depth research on a subject of their choosing.

2015 SOM Prize Fellow, Nicholas Coates: "Coates will travel to Iceland, Scandinavia, and Japan to research the architecture of corners. As Coates explains in his submission, 'When articulated carefully, a corner forms an introduction to a new set of conditions: it expresses the dynamic moment, initiating a shift in perspective. Both from  an urban spatial point of view and through the material of the building itself, an architect is always presented with an  opportunity to direct a beautiful turn.' Coates received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in May 2015."

The SOM Travel Fellowship is a $20,000 fellowship that offers the winner an opportunity to expand their professional education beyond the classroom through the observation of buildings, design, culture, and history that can only be achieved through travel.

2015 SOM Travel Fellow, Xiaoxi Chen Laurent: "Chen Laurent will visit four continents to study historic and contemporary examples of intergovernmental architecture, analyzing the buildings through the contemporary lenses of sustainability and security. Chen Laurent received her Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University in May 2015."

In addition to Coates and Chen Laurent, the SOM Foundation also granted awards to Audrey Ryan (B.S. Architectural Engineering, M.S. Civil Engineering, Drexel University) for the $20,000 Structural Engineering Travel Fellowship. The 2015 China Prize went to Xin Ji (M.Arch., Southeast University, Nanjing) and Jinhui Wang (B.Arch., Tianjin University), who each received $5,000.

The notable jury comprised of:

• SOM Design Partner Leo Chow (co-chair)
• SOM Design Director Paul Danna (co-chair)
• Steven Ehrlich of Steven Ehrlich Architects
• Sharon Johnston of Johnston Marklee & Associates
• Alice Kimm of John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects