May 07, 2021
Rice Architecture students were honored for their achievements at the school’s annual awards ceremony, held virtually this year on May 6.
The William Ward Watkin Award, given for the best senior designs in the spring 2021 semester, went to Eric Baik and Xueyuan Wang (First Place), Justin Fan and Marlena Fleck (Second Place), and Emma Brown and Ruizi Zeng (Third Place).
The Margaret Everson-Fossi Traveling Fellowship Prize, given for the best design projects in the advanced option studios during the academic year, went to Estefania Barajas, Lindsey Chambers, Qian (Erin) Chen, Tianhao (Charley) Fu, Carrie Li, Sebastian Lopez, Byron Lynn, Helene de Mello, Melisa Pekiyi, Andrea Machado Romero, Lene Sollie, Esther Tang, and Jared Widner.
The William D. Darden Thesis Award, given to an M.Arch. candidate on the basis of an outstanding thesis, went to Brendan Carr (First Place) and Xuanyu (Alfred) Wei (Second Place).
This year, Rice Design Alliance’s Houston Design Research Grant, generously supported by The Mitsui U.S.A. Foundation, awarded funds to a faculty and a student winner from a national applicant pool, who are pursuing research on Houston-specific urban conditions that need urgent attention. This year’s theme asked applicants to focus on the topic of food systems, including the existence of food deserts and lack of accessibility to quality food in urban areas. The winners were Rice Architecture Visiting Critic Elizabeth Gálvez, for the Faculty category, and Rice Architecture student Estefania Barajas, for the Student category.
Additional awards were given to the graduate and undergraduate students named below.
Graduate Winners
Alpha Rho Chi Medal: Will Sun.
Anderson Todd Award: Anna Brancaccio.
Brett Michael Detamore Award: Michelle Schneider.
Gene Hackerman Award: Yun Koo and Jane Van Velden.
Guy Hagstette Award: Adam Berman.
H. Russell Pitman Graduate Fellowship in Architecture: Jimmy Bullis, Jessica LaBarbera, and Jane Van Velden.
Henry Adams (AIA) Graduate Medal: Emma Scott.
John Crowder Traveling Fellowship: Adam Berman, Alec Burran, and Anna Cook.
John T. Mitchell Traveling Fellowship: Kimberly McGlone, Margaret Tudor, and Michael Xu.
Linda Sylvan Award: Mai Okimoto.
Mary Ellen Hale Lovett Traveling Fellowship: Estefania Barajas, Lindsey Chambers, Ivan Dye, Carolyn Francis, Yun Koo, Carrie Li, Sebastian Lopez, Cole Neuffer, Lauren Phillips, Edward Simpson, Takudzwa Tapfuma, Jared Widner, and Beixi Zhu.
Mildred Crocker Staff Award: Sebastian Lopez.
Morris R. Pitman Award in Architecture: Maggie Martin, Michelle Schneider, and Rebecca Weeks.
Tau Sigma Delta: Brendan Carr, Emma Scott, and Claire Wagner.
Thomas and Barbara McKittrick Award: Jimmy Bullis.
Undergraduate Winners
AIA Wichita Falls Chapter Scholarship: Bay Fujimoto.
Alpha Rho Chi Medal: Eric Cheung.
Charles Tapley Award: Andrea Rubero.
Chillman Prize: Gabriella Feuillet (First Place) and Xueyuan Wang (Runner Up).
Class of 1965 Scholarship in Architecture: Joseph Hsu and Katherine Hui.
Edward B. Arrants Award: Xing Yue Wen.
E.G. Spencer Memorial Scholarship: Anna Fritz.
Elinor Evans Centennial Fund: Van Pham.
Erin MacKenzie Peck Award: Lily Li.
Gene Hackerman Award: Ava Chen and Ruizi Zeng.
Henry Adams (AIA) School Medal: Xinyu Chen.
Lonnie Hoogeboom Scholarship: Beril Üzmen.
M.N. Davidson Fellowship: Harish Krishnamoorthy and Yifei Zhang.
Mary Ellen Hale Lovett Traveling Fellowship: Elina Chen, Yuxin (Tony) Dai, Andrea Gomez, Yi Lou, Andrea Rubero, Juhi Parikh, and Jared Snow.
Michael Maraldo Sr., Southwest Terrazzo Association Architecture Scholarship: Gabriella Feuillet.
Mildred Crocker Staff Award: Elina Chen.
Nunnelee Preceptorship Fund: Eric Baik, Gabriella Feuillet, Marlena Fleck, Kasen Lee, Xueyuan Wang, and Yifei Zhang.
Ralph S. Herman Memorial Scholarship: Phoebe Cox and Anna Fritz.
Rosemary Watkin Barrick Traveling Fellowship: Daniela Ellis, Lauren Ma, Alfonso Pelaez-Rovalo, and Christina Zhou.
Tau Sigma Delta Membership: Justin Fan, Harish Krishnamoorthy, Xueyuan Wang, and Yifei Zhang.
Ziegler Cooper Award: Cloris Cai and Charlotte Cohen.
The Rice Architecture Dean's Award, given in recognition of great work, leadership, and service, went to Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies Reto Geiser and Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Dawn Finley.
# # #