The Wheelwright Prize is an international competition from The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) that awards 100,000 USD to a talented early-career architect to support new forms of architectural research.
The winning architect is expected to dedicate roughly two years of concentrated research related to their proposal, and to present a lecture on their findings at the conclusion of that research. Throughout the research process, Wheelwright Prize jury members and other GSD faculty are committed to providing regular guidance and peer feedback, in support of the project’s overall growth and development.
In 2013, Harvard GSD recast the Arthur W. Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship—established in 1935 in memory of Wheelwright, Class of 1887—into its current form. Intended to encourage the study of architecture outside the United States at a time when international travel was difficult, the Fellowship was available only to GSD alumni. Past fellows have included Paul Rudolph, Eliot Noyes, William Wurster, Christopher Tunnard, I. M. Pei, Farès el-Dahdah, Adele Santos, and Linda Pollak.
Harvard GSD awarded the 2020 Wheelwright Prize to Daniel Fernández Pascual, whose winning proposal Being Shellfish: The Architecture of Intertidal Cohabitation examines the intertidal zone—coastal territory that is exposed to air at low tide, and covered with seawater at high tide—and its potential to advance architectural knowledge and material futures.
Applicants will be judged on the quality of their design work, scholarly accomplishments, originality or persuasiveness of the research proposal, evidence of ability to fulfill the proposed project, and potential for the proposed project to make important and direct contributions to architectural discourse. Applications are accepted online only, at wheelwrightprize.org; questions may be directed to info@wheelwrightprize.org.
The Wheelwright Prize is an open international competition that awards $100,000 to a talented early-career architect to support an expansive, intensive design research project. The Prize is dedicated to advancing original architectural research that shows potential to make a significant impact on architectural discourse. We seek individual applicants who are accomplished but emerging, who are resourceful and risk-taking, and who can make the most of this extraordinary opportunity to advance a research project that will have a significant impact on his or her own professional development, and on the discipline of architecture as a whole.
Competition Benefits
- $100,000 prize to support the proposed research project
- invitation to lecture at Harvard GSD
- possibility to publish research in a Harvard GSD publication
Eligibility
Applicant must have graduated from a professionally accredited architecture degree program in the past 15 years. (For the 2023 cycle: Graduates prior to January 2008 are ineligible.) Holders of multiple degrees may apply, provided they received their professional degrees between January 2008 and January 2023. 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.
For winners based in the United States, some amount of research must be undertaken outside the country.
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.
Entry Requirements
- Current CV.
- Portfolio (maximum of 10 images); each uploaded file should contain a single image, not spreads of multiple images. Each image must be dated and captioned. The jury is looking for personal work that demonstrates design talent; student projects may be included. If work is collaborative and/or generated by a firm, the applicant’s contribution to the work must specifically involve conceptual development and/or design, and the applicant’s role must be precisely identified.
- The portfolio may be supplemented by published articles or research papers written by applicant. Authored works should appear in their original format, with publication name and date clearly indicated (maximum 3, each clipping to be saved as a separate PDF). If original publication is not in English, please attach an English-language summary (maximum 2,500 characters) as an addendum to each PDF. If the clipping exceeds 15 pages, please create a compact PDF (no more than 10 pages) including a cover, sample pages, and brief summary (2,500 characters) of the text.
- A written description of proposed research project (maximum 6,000 characters). Applicants should articulate the relevance of their proposed research to the contemporary discipline of architecture. What are the consequences of the research project? How might it impact practice? Applicants should describe their proposed methodology and special insight, ability, and skill to execute your proposal. Strong proposals will demonstrate how the resources of the Wheelwright Prize will enable the project to be successful.
- List of three professional references (full name, affiliation, contact information, and relationship to the applicant). Letters are not required at this time.
How To Apply
Applications are accepted online only, at wheelwrightprize.org
Submission Deadline
29 January 2023
Want more tips like this one? Subscribe for either our weekly newsletter or for our daily Whatsapp update. You can also push the bell icon below for instant post notifications.
