Professor Raymond Lifchez, Chair of the international Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence announces that the 2012 BERKELEY PRIZE launches on September 15, 2011. 

Each year the PRIZE, whose primary goal is to foster a larger awareness and understanding of the social art of architecture, sponsors an Essay Competition, a Travel Fellowship Competition, and an Architectural Design Fellowship Competition.  All are open to undergraduates studying architecture throughout the world.   

A total of USD12,500 in prize money is awarded to the Essay Competition winners with a guaranteed USD4000 first place prize.  The Travel Fellow(s) is given round-trip air-fare and a stipend to attend a significant architectural event in the summer 2012.  The Architectural Design Fellow(s) is given a USD2500 honorarium and money to fund prizes for a local design competition.

Students are asked to submit a 500-word Essay Proposal in response to a posted Question.  The 2012 PRIZE Question revolves around the topic of “Architecture for the Public Good.” The Proposals are due on November 1, 2011.

Approximately 25 student semifinalists are invited to expand their proposal into a 2500-word essay due in early February, 2012.  From this pool, 5-7 Finalist essays are forwarded to the 2012 BERKELEY PRIZE Essay jury, who will select the winners.  The entire operations of the Prize, including all submittals and judging are done on-line.

This year the BERKELEY PRIZE Jury includes: 

CHRISTINE MACY - Dean, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Member, BERKELEY PRIZE Committee
 
MICHAEL PYATOK, FAIA -  Principal, Pyatok Architects Inc., Architecture, Planning, Research, Oakland, California, U.S.A.
 
GUSTAVO ROMERO – Architect; Professor, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México, D.F., México; President, Fomento Solidario de la Vivienda A.C. (FOSOVI)

ROBERT UNGAR - Architecture student, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel; 2010 BERKELEY PRIZE Architectural Design Fellow

Semifinalists are also offered the opportunity to compete for one of the two 2012 BERKELEY PRIZE Fellowships. 

For the Travel Fellowship, students are asked to propose an architectural destination connected with their Essay response and that reflects some service component. 
For the Design Fellowship, semifinalists are invited to submit proposals for a design competition to be held at their school that further investigates this year’s Topic and Question. 

During the past twelve years, over 1250 students have submitted essays and proposals, representing dozens of schools of architecture from 56 countries.  In recognition of these efforts, the BERKELEY PRIZE is the recipient of the 2008 American Institute of Architects Collaborative Achievement Honor Award; and the 2002 American Institute of Architects' Education Honor Award. 
 
The BERKELEY PRIZE has also garnered international acclaim, not the least reason for which is its complete embracing of digital technology.  In partial recognition of this outreach, the 2003 BERKELEY PRIZE competition was named a special event of "World Heritage in the Digital Age," a virtual congress helping to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.