2009

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Winner of the third RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship announced

Date:

08 May 2009

Press office contact:

Mina Vadon
T: +44 (0)207 307 3761
E: mina.vadon@inst.riba.org

Amanda Rivera, a student of the Universidad del Bio Bio, Chile, has been awarded the 2009 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling scholarship for her entry entitled, 'Ancestral Cities, Ancestral Sustainability'. Her proposal –to undertake a two-and-a-half-month research trip through Bolivia, Peru, Mali, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia and China – will focus on living examples of indigenous cultures in the developing world, where she will examine vernacular traditions and the residents' efficient use of natural resources.

The annual scheme is open to more than 100 RIBA-accredited schools worldwide, and entries were received from 9 different countries. The jury, which comprised Norman Foster, Sunand Prasad, President of the RIBA, Richard Cork, Farshid Moussavi of Foreign Office Architects and Mouzhan Majidi, Chief Executive of Foster + Partners, were unanimous in their decision.


Lord Foster said:

"The standard of entries was very impressive indeed and resulted in a lively jury debate. However, Amanda Rivera's proposal emerged as a clear winner. To make sustainable choices for the future, it is essential to learn from the past and to combine the wisdom of vernacular traditions with contemporary technology. I wish her the very best of luck with her research and look forward to learning more about her findings in due course."

Notes to editors

  1. For further information, please contact Mina Vadon in the RIBA Press Office on 020 7307 3761 or email mina.vadon@inst.riba.org, or Katy Harris at Foster + Partners on 020 7738 0455 or email press@fosterandpartners.com
  2. Initially set up in 2006 as a biennial programme, the £6,000 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship is awarded to one student to fund international research on a topic and in a location of their choice. Their findings will be presented in a report – which may be photographic, graphic or written - to be displayed at an exhibition at the RIBA and available to view in the RIBA Library. In January 2009, Foster + Partners generously donated an extra £100,000 to the endowment of the RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship, enabling the scheme to run annually.
  3. For information about the RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship contact John-Paul Nunes in the RIBA Education Department, on 020 7307 3678, or visit the Norman Foster Scholarship page on the RIBA website.
  4. 2009 marks the 175th Anniversary of the RIBA. To celebrate this milestone the Institute has planned a programme of special events which look back with pride on some of the most significant achievements of the past while also looking forward to the years ahead.  We aim to use our position as the home of architecture in the UK to engage an even wider audience in the vitally important architectural issues which have such a large influence on the way we live and work both now and in the future.  Our programme for the year includes major loans to the Palladio 500 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts and our collaboration with the Barbican centre to bring the highly-acclaimed exhibition; Le Corbusier: The Art of Architecture to London.  We are also running a national schools competition in collaboration with Construction Skills to design a new parliament building which coincides with the 175th anniversary of the current Barry/Pugin Palace of Westminster.  Our major annual events such as the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Royal Gold Medal and Annual Lecture will also be given special prominence during the year. In raising our profile for our anniversary year we hope to demonstrate better the breadth of our activities and convey our passion for good design and designers, in the built environment. For further information go to www.architecture.com/175
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