RIBA announces ​2017 President’s Awards for Research shortlist

Competition has narrowed down for the RIBA 2017 President's Awards for Research, which distinguish the best architectural research projects by students, academics, and practitioners from around the world. Today, RIBA revealed the 2017 shortlisted projects that explore a variety of topics in four categories: History and Theory; Cities and Community; Design and Technical; and the 2017 theme of Housing.

Category winners will be awarded during the RIBA President’s Medals ceremony on December 5. The recipient of the 2017 President’s Medal for Research will also be revealed. Here are this year's nominees:

History and Theory category:

“Ultra-Modernism in Manchuria”
Dr Edward Denison, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL & Guang Yu Ren, independent researcher 

Looks in detail at the modernist development of a north-eastern region of China formerly known as Manchuria and provides important context to the rising tensions in the region, the seeds of which were sown here.

“Architectural Models and the Professional Practice of the Architect, 1834–1916”
Matthew Wells, Victoria & Albert Museum / Royal College of Art

Explores the role and use of the model in nineteenth-century society and its relationship to architectural culture.

“Reinventing the Prison: the Redevelopment of HMP Holloway, 1968-1978”
Miranda Critchley, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL

Aims to contextualize the redevelopment of Holloway Prison (1968 – 78), understand the ideas that were influential in the project and place them in relation to earlier and later thinking about prison architecture.

Cities and Community category:

“London’s Local Character and Density”
Daniel Elsea, Jane Manning, George Garofalakis, Antony Rifkin & Geoff Noble, Allies and Morrison LLP

This study has established a broad characterisation of Greater London as a proactive contribution to the debate around the residential density matrix.

“Architecture for Politics: Designing Collectivity in Medellín’s Library-Parks”
Dr. Caue Capille, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro 

Focuses on the Library-Parks of Medellín in Colombia, looking at the propaganda of social change brought by the buildings’ mediatic monumentality, and at how public libraries frame social relationships through their architecture.

“Sovereignty on Stilts, Drawing a Genealogy of Extra-Territorial Urbanization along the Mudflats of the Tropical Belt”
Gabriel Muñoz Moreno & Santiago Serna González, Harvard University Graduate School of Design 

This research shows how the displacement of native communities in Latin-American Pacific coasts has occurred — from the Atlantic Slave Trade to the current commercial pressures — and the impact on the community and the space around them.

Design and Technical category:

“The Development of the Building Envelope Using Welsh-Grown Timber: A study Through Prototyping”
Dr Steven Coombs, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University 

Explores the use of Welsh-grown timber in construction, the technical and skill limitations and opportunities of the industry, and highlights the impact of the use of timber on the tectonic form of the building envelope.

“Emergency Talks: Designing for Team Communication in Hospital Emergency Departments”
Dr Lucio Naccarella, University of Melbourne, Associate Prof Bernice Redley, Deakin University Monash Health Partnership, Michaela Sheahan & Kieren Morgan, HASSELL 

This research identifies the impact of the physical environment on team communication in hospital emergency departments.

“Losing Myself: Spatial Perception and Architectural Design”
Eimear Arthur & Niall McLaughlin, Niall McLaughlin Architects & Yeoryia Manolopoulou, AY Architects

This research investigates the changes to spatial perception caused by dementia, and the implications for architectural design.

Housing category:

“Toward Healthy Housing for the Displaced”
Dr Dima Albadra, Prof David Coley & Dr Jason Hart, University of Bath

The paper discusses adaptation strategies used by refugees to cope with the heat and cold, reporting their views on shelter design considerations and satisfaction.

“Housing as Housing: The SAAL Process and São Victor Brigade”
Michael Cohen, Architecture Brigade 

The research reviews the São Victor housing project in Porto developed by a ‘brigade’ of architects and engineers led by Álvaro Siza Vieira.

“Learning from Increments: Towards a Sustainable Design Strategy for Housing”
Dr Aliki-Myrto Perysinaki & Dr Joanne Hudson, Liverpool John Moores University 

This paper aims to open up debate concerning the potential of incremental housing — flexible housing prototypes or ‘core’ housing — as a sustainable strategy, in western contexts, for dealing with the housing crisis.

The 2017 jury includes:

Peter Clegg (chair) - Senior Partner, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Zohra Chiheb - Architect, Levitt Bernstein
Dr Elizabeth Darling - Reader in Architectural History, Oxford Brookes University
Hattie Hartman - Sustainability Editor, The Architect’s Journal
Dr Matthew Jones - Senior lecturer, University of the West of England & Partner, Coombs Jones Architects
Dr Kerstin Sailer - Reader in Social and Spatial Networks, The Bartlett School of Architecture
Prof Christopher Tweed - Head of the Welsh School of Architecture