Last year, Harvard's GSD announced the establishment of the Philip Freelon Fellowship Fund designed to "provide expanded academic opportunities to African American and other under-represented architecture and design students at the GSD." Created in partnership with Perkins+Will, where Phil Freelon serves as the Managing and Design Director of their North Carolina practice, the fellowship aimed at increasing diversity in the field has selected their very first recipient, Aria Griffin MArch ’21.

Griffin, who hails from Los Angeles, began her graduate studies in architecture at the GSD this year, previously earning a BS Arch from the Sam Fox School of Art and Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she also minored in African and African American studies. 

"We are delighted to award this fellowship for the first time to such a talented, driven, and promising designer” said Phil Freelon. “Aria exemplifies the academic excellence and opportunity we were hoping to advance at the GSD when we established the fellowship. We look forward to seeing her grow academically and professionally in the years to come" he added.

Take a listen to our interview with Freelon from back March, or check out some choice quotes here.