We are no longer accepting applications for the 2021 Steedman Fellowship. Winners will be announced in the spring of 2022.

2021 Theme: Disruption

We are living in disruptive times as we live out the Anthropocene, defined by climate crisis driving unprecedented current and future weather extremes and an ongoing global pandemic, alongside centuries of systemic racism in stark need of addressing. In order to rapidly pivot from current trajectories, the IPCC* has called for urgent disruption to change course. Radical solutions are required at all scales and systems. How does Architecture—in all its modalities—disrupt and drive change? How can architecture have a measurable impact? What are the disruptions to define the next decade? And will they redefine design?

The Steedman is an award that fosters international research in architecture through investigations outside of one’s home country. In light of the COVID-19 and climate crises, extra consideration will be given to creative proposals that minimize carbon footprint.

* IPCC: The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

 

2021 Jury

Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, LEED Fellow
Consultant, The Cameron MacAllister Group
Adjunct Faculty, Washington University in St. Louis

Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, LEED Fellow, is a consultant at the Cameron MacAllister Group, where she works with design firms to define their sustainability and resiliency goals and identify strategies to achieve them. Mary Ann also is an adjunct faculty at Washington University in St. Louis and is the coordinator for the Sustainability Program at WashU’s University College.

Mary Ann is an architect with over 40 years of experience who served as firmwide director of Sustainable Design at HOK for a decade and is one of the founders of the firm’s sustainable design initiative. In addition, Mary Ann served as the Resident Fellow on Sustainability at the American Institute of Architects and authored the AIA’s Sustainability Leadership Opportunity Scan addressing how architects can expand their impact through sustainability. The Scan served as a foundation for the AIA’s recent Strategic Plan with climate action and equity as top priorities. She is a co-author of the seminal HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design, 2nd Edition.

Mary Ann has been active in the green building movement for over three decades as an author, national lecturer, community advocate, and volunteer at the local and national levels. She served as 2017 chair of the AIA’s Committee on the Environment Advisory Group. She also serves on the AIA Strategic Council and the AIA Climate Change and Design Excellence Committee, and is a member of the advisory board of the Resilient Design Institute.

Shantel Blakely
Assistant Professor, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis

Shantel Blakely is an architectural historian with strong interests in architecture and philosophy. Her research in her principal subject area of architecture after World War II focuses on an Italian neo-avantgarde that espoused ideals of prewar modern architecture in the situation of recovery and industrialization. With support from the Richard Rogers Fellowship, Henry Moore Institute, and Paul Mellon Centre, a second project on Sir Herbert Read (1893–1968) examines Read’s contention that architecture and design promote social harmony. Shantel previously taught at Columbia University GSAPP, Barnard College, and Parsons School of Design, and worked at Roger Hirsch Architects and Maryann Thompson Architects. For five years she was public programs manager at Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she organized lectures and conferences and co-curated the exhibition Happening Now: Historiography in the Making (2016). Her essays and translations have been published in AA Files, Avery Review, PLOT, Log, and other journals. She holds a PhD in the history and theory of architecture from Columbia University, an MArch from Princeton University, and an MA in Philosophy from Tufts University.

Billy Fleming
Founding Wilks Family Director, The Ian L. McHarg Center, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
Co-director, climate + community project (ccp)

Billy Fleming is the founding Wilks Family Director of The Ian L. McHarg Center in the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, co-director of the climate + community project, and a former senior fellow with Data for Progress. Billy is co-editor of A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation (Island Press, 2021) and a co-editor and co-curator of the book and now internationally-traveling exhibit Design With Nature Now (Lincoln, 2019). Billy is also lead author of “The 2100 Project: An Atlas for the Green New Deal,” “Field Notes toward An Internationalist Green New Deal,” and “The Indivisible Guide.” His writing has been published in Places Journal, The Atlantic, Dissent Magazine, The Guardian, Metropolis Magazine, Landscape Journal, LA+, Architectural Design, and Journal of Architectural Education, among others. Billy has also co-led a range of Green New Deal-related policy projects, including the policy analysis that led to the introduction of the “Green New Deal for Public Housing Act” by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019 and “A Green New Deal for K-12 Education Act” by Rep. Jamaal Bowman in 2021, among others. Before assuming his role in The McHarg Center, he worked as a policy adviser on the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Obama Administration.

Janette Kim
Assistant Professor, California College of the Arts and Director, Urban Works Agency
Founding Principal, All of the Above

Janette Kim is assistant professor and director of Urban Works Agency at California College of the Arts and founding principal of All of the Above. Her work focuses on the intersection between ecology, social equity and the built environment. Janette is author of The Underdome Guide to Energy Reform and founding editor of ARPA Journal. Her projects include the Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge, the Win-Win board game series, a boutique hotel in Sichuan, Safari audio tours on urban ecology, Pinterest Headquarters, National AIDS Memorial, and the Fall Kill Creek Master Plan. Janette has worked in partnership with municipal agencies such as the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York, and the City of Newark, as well as non-profit advocacy groups such as the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, the East Oakland Collective, and the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.

Marsha Maytum, FAIA, LEED AP
Founding Principal, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects (LMSA)

Marsha Maytum, FAIA, LEED AP, is a founding principal at Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects (LMSA) in San Francisco, winner of the 2017 National AIA Architecture Firm Award. Marsha has focused her career on community, cultural, and socially-responsible projects that promote sustainable design, including the creation of new buildings, rehabilitation of historic buildings, and adaptive reuse of existing structures. LMSA has received over 175 regional, national and international design awards, including ten AIA COTE Top Ten projects. Marsha is a frequently invited visiting professor and juror, and has lectured nationally on the topics of mission-driven design, sustainable design and adaptive reuse.

 

Eligibility Requirements

The Steedman Fellowship is open to anyone, anywhere in the world, who has received an accredited degree in architecture within the last eight years. Fellows must be able to complete their proposed projects within 18 months of receiving the award.

Additionally, at the conclusion of their fellowship, Fellows must make arrangements to share their research with the Washington University and local AIA architectural communities. The exact presentation format will be decided between the Fellow and the Governing Committee, but it could take the form of a public lecture, exhibition, or collaborative design workshop.

QUESTIONS? Visit our FAQ page for answers.

Submission Guidelines

The next Steedman Fellow will be selected based upon the following: the merits of the research proposal; its relevance to the theme; its relevance to the practice of architecture in St. Louis, MO, and around the world; the quality of the portfolio; and evidence of the applicant’s promise to the field and ability to complete the work proposed. Extra consideration will be given to creative proposals that minimize carbon footprint.

All applications must be submitted in English online via the Slideroom link. The application fee is $75. Application materials must include:

A PDF document that encompasses:

  • Project title
  • Project abstract (200 words max) summarizing the proposed research question/s in reference to the theme and primary location/s for study. This abstract will be used for various purposes, including the announcement of the winner and in web, print, and digital promotions.
  • Research proposal (1500 words max) framing the research questions and relationship of proposed research to the broader theme, relevance to the field, and projected outcomes of the study. Describe how research will be conducted in the location/s specified including a rough itinerary, established contacts, and anticipated deliverables. Your proposal may include images or graphics to illustrate your ideas, but these are not required.
  • Budget and time frame for completion (200 words max)
  • Short bio (200 words). This bio will be used for various purposes, including the announcement of the winner and web, print, and digital promotions.
  • CV

Portfolio of work formatted into a single high-quality PDF file of 10-15 pages (20MB max.).

Applicants will be notified by email of the results, and winners will be announced on our website.