In 2007, Mrs Margot Auger announced her intention to partner with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for the creation and administration of an award to a student or group of students of Architecture, in memory of her late husband, Boyd Auger.

The Scholarship, worth £5,000 in 2009, will support either:

• one student or a group of students for a period of research between 6 and 12 months

or

• one student for a period of international work experience between 6 and 12 months

This scholarship aims to support architectural students, graduates, academics and recently-qualified architects to produce a piece of research in the field of Architecture or to support a student undergoing a period of professional experience internationally after successful completion of Part 1 and prior to enrolling in the Part 2. In this case, applicants need to be registered with a Professional Studies Advisor from their school of Architecture or the RIBA and in offer of professional placement with an architect in the country where they will be doing their professional experience. Applications for funding architecture-related work in non-governmental organisations are also welcome.

In the case of a period of research, it is expected that the scholarship would be used for a closely defined piece of architectural research. Although priority will be given to projects not leading to an academic qualification, the scholarship may be used as part of broader research at postgraduate level, namely towards a Masters or PhD/MPhil programmes.

 

The deadline for receipt of the 2009 RIBA Boyd Auger Scholarship applications has now passed. The recipient of the Scholarship will be announced shortly.

 

For more information on the scholarship, please consult the application form:

For more information, please email alex.nelia@inst.riba.org| or write to:
 
The RIBA Boyd Auger Scholarship
Royal Institute of British Architects
Education Department
66 Portland Place
London W1B 1AD

 

Recipients of the RIBA Boyd Auger Scholarship 2009

Three awards have been made in 2009 under the RIBA Boyd Auger Scholarship scheme:

 

Roderick Bow

"Rapid Self-Built Reconstruction in Gaza"

The recent destruction of some parts of Gaza has left a need for reconstruction of homes and social and cultural facilities. The continuing Israeli siege and border sanctions suggests that the most rapid way to achieve this reconstruction is to use building materials that are available locally along with the local skilled work force. Roddy will be working on a self-built housing research project for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. His work will comprise research and data collection, a site visit to the Gaza Strip, and subsequently developing proposals to be tested back in London that respond to the situation and the residents’ local needs in terms of environmental self-built techniques.

Roddy Bow is currently a post-Part 1 professional experience student and holds a First Class Honours degree (RIBA Part 1) from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He is involved with Paris-based organisation FACE, focused on the social housing issue in Parisian suburb, La Courneuve. He has also worked as a volunteer and remains active with an Indian NGO, TRUST, in Tamil Nadu whose principal work is running a home for tsunami orphans.

 

Isona Shibata

"The Casbah of Algiers: restoring community through integration and recontextualisation" 

Isona’s project is based in the Casbah of Algiers (Algiers, Algeria). The work will involve research into the ways in which the use of space within the Casbah existing urban fabric can be reinterpreted as well as into the possibilities of promoting a stronger sense of community through collaborative regeneration projects. The research aims to shed some light on how the historic Casbah might form an integral part of the modern city. It is also hoped that this research project will form a basis for the establishment of a not-for-profit organisation to rehabilitate and revitalise the Casbah of Algiers.

Isona Shibata is a graduate of the University of Sheffield holding a MEng degree in Architecture and Structural Engineering. She has travelled widely in Japan, China, the Caucasus, the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa. She volunteered for the Article 25 and the Oran-based Association Sidi El-Houari which is a community-based organisation aiming at bringing disenfranchised young people from some of Oran’s poorest neighbourhoods back into education and training.

 

James Patterson-Waterston

12-month post Part 1 professional placement at Arup Associates in Shenzhen, China

James will work as an Architectural Assistant for Arup Associates in Shenzhen in China. This placement will constitute his post Part 1 professional experience.Working alongside a team consisting of Chinese-registered architects, he will be aiding the design process of large transport infrastructure and commercial projects throughout the Hong Kong Bay area.

James Patterson-Waterston holds a First Class Honours degree in Architecture from the University of Liverpool and is currently studying towards an MSc in Construction Economics and Management at the Bartlett School of Architecture. James studied also at the Technical University of Lodz in Poland (Politechnika Lodzka) and at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou in China. James is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and a member of the Royal Society of Asian Affairs.

 

Recipients of the RIBA Boyd Auger Scholarship 2008

Stefanie Rhodes, Shamoon Patwari and Bo Tang

"Art, Urbanism, Architecture: Cultural space-making in Bosnia"

Geographically and historically Bosnia Herzegovina is at the centre of Europe. Recently however, it has suffered vicious wars and still struggles with its ethnic and political divisions. These social, economic and spatial challenges alongside Bosnia Herzegovina’s traditional position as link between Asian and central European cultures are an extreme of those faced by many other cities throughout Europe. Today most building activity in Bosnia is either reconstruction or part of the highly commercial construction boom in Sarajevo, which leaves little space for consideration of the qualities of public space or a more long-term sustainable approach to urbanism. 

Simultaneously a thriving arts and culture scene has emerged not only in Sarajevo, but also in regional centres such as Mostar, Tuzla and Banja Luka. The initiators of these projects, ranging from independent cinemas to cultural centres curating exhibitions, see this cultural production as catalyst to create a shared conversation between the different communities. Spatially only dispersed interventions, often strongly linked to an arts background, at times attempt to match the impact and catalyst function of the many cultural initiatives.

With my colleagues Shamoon Patwari and Bo Tang I will use the Boyd Auger Scholarship to investigate new architecture and the emerging urbanism in Bosnia Herzegovina and focus on the potential of these cultural projects to inform and negotiate spatial and urban strategies in the region. We will present the process and outcome of our investigations and research in a publication and exhibition in summer 2009.

Stefanie Rhodes

Stefanie Rhodes studied architecture at Sheffield University and at London Metropolitan University, from where she graduated with the Professional Diploma in Architecture with Distinction in summer 2008. Her academic portfolio includes design work in India for which she received a prize from the American Institute of Architects and, as self-directed thesis project, an spatial framework for cultural initiatives in Brussels. During her studies she has worked in a wide range of architectural and art-based practices in London, Paris and Brussels. Other engagements include her work with the London Metropolitan University Architecture Society for which she received the Derek Osbourne Memorial Prize and her membership of the German National Merit Foundation.

 

Bo Tang

Bo Tang studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture. She has previously worked for Panter Hudspith Architects on the Oxford Castle Heritage project.

She completed her Diploma in Architecture with distinction at London Metropolitan University. Her 5th year thesis was focused around rediscovering Haveli ruins in old Delhi; using dilapidated ruins as a model for the preservation of culture and heritage by creating modern indigenous spaces which embrace a sense of the past with aspirations for the future.

 

Shamoon Patwari

Shamoon Patwari graduated with a BA (Hons) in Architecture from the University of Liverpool. Since 2002 he has worked within the realm of social sciences, and in particular working with social workers dealing with urban issues surrounding child welfare, mental health and youth projects. In 2005 he started work for Architects for Aid (now Article 25) which deals with using British trained architects as volunteers for international development work with local NGOs. Projects include, an Open Learning School in Goa, a crèche centre for prostitutes with children in Mozambique and a Traditional Crafts University in Kabul.

His 5th year final thesis at London Metropolitan University, completed in June 2008, dealt with the modernisation of traditional Haveli typologies in the centre of Old Delhi looking at creating a new form of community based architecture based around courtyard developments.

He is also an active member of ASF (Architects Sans Frontieres) which deals with international knowledge and skills based training for those interested in working development sector.

 

Current works (Shamoon + Bo)

Having studied settlements in rural Agra for their first Diploma year, both Bo and Shamoon were recruited through the university and the Water Trust during summer 2007 to work upon a live project in Agra based around the sanitation upgrade of a rural settlement on the banks of the Yamuna opposite the Taj Mahal. This two month ongoing project involved liaising with Indian NGO, CURE (Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence) detailing the method of construction for individual septic tanks, project managing suppliers and manufacturers and creating a funding system which is now successfully used.

Following on from the success of this project, Bo and Shamoon were contracted post Diploma by the Water Trust for a further year (2008-9) to further extend the Agra project to design and implement a Decentralised Waste Water Treatment System (DEWATS) and build a community/tourist toilet facility.

In addition they are presently working on a project west of Delhi dealing with a vast resettlement colony, in which they are setting up a Resource Centre to guide best practice in self build housing initiatives. They have also been charged with a project in Navi Mumbai dealing with the design of some community/educational facilities for low income communities based within several stone quarries on the outskirts of the new city.