Abel Feleke from the University of Western Australia has been named as the winner of RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship for his proposal, ‘Weaving the Urban Fabric: Examining the Significance of Community’. Within the scope of scholarship award, Abel’s study will take him to China, India, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mexico and Brazil to learn from the strong sense of community that binds informal settlements. Feleke quotes Kalpana Sharma, ''A slum is not a chaotic collection of structures; it is a dynamic collection of individuals who have figured out how to survive in the most adverse of circumstances'', and will explore the intricate social networks that have evolved in these environments.

The scholarship jury was chaired by Lord Foster with Julia Barfield from Marks Barfield Architects, RIBA President Jane Duncan, Professor Flora Samuel from University of Reading; and Stefan Behling, Spencer de Grey, and Piers Heath of Foster + Partners.

Abel Feleke, the winner of RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship. Image courtesy of Foster+Partners

The jury highly commended ‘Mapping In-Betweenness: A multi-disciplinary study of transient refugee camps’ by Seyedeh Tahmineh Hooshyar Emami from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Seyedeh wins a camera for her proposal to investigate what the response of architects should be to the refugee crisis in Europe.

''The award is now in its tenth year, and once again, the standard of all the entries was extremely high – giving the jury much to deliberate upon. The study of informal settlements was a widespread theme, with the sites of investigation ranging from cities in developing countries to refugee camps. Abel Feleke’s proposal was unanimously chosen as the winning entry due to its clarity of purpose and unique approach – looking at these dense urban communities as a network of social relations. I am pleased that this scholarship will help further Abel’s research, and look forward to seeing the project develop over the coming months'' said Lord Foster.

Abel Feleke's winning proposal- ‘Weaving the Urban Fabric: Examining the Significance of Community’. Image courtesy of RIBA

''I am delighted that the 2016 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship has been awarded to Abel Feleke to support him in examining communities established in informal settlements. His motivation for embarking on the project is commendable and I await the findings with great interest'' added RIBA President Jane Duncan.

Seyedeh Tahmineh Hooshyar's highly commended work -‘Mapping In-Betweenness: A multi-disciplinary study of transient refugee camps’. Image courtesy of RIBA

The RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship has been running since 2007.  The spirit of the scholarship is based on Lord Foster's own experience as a student of architecture:

''As a student I won a prize that allowed me to spend a summer travelling through Europe to study first hand buildings and cities that I knew only from the pages of books. It was a revelation - liberating and exhilarating in so many ways. Today it is my privilege to fund the RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship, which I hope will have a lasting legacy - offering the chance for discovery and the inspiration for exciting new work - for generations to come''

The topic of the research should relate to the survival of our cities and towns and fall under one of the following themes; learning from the past to inform the future, the future of society, density of settlements, sustainability, use of resources, quality of urban life, transport.

The travel should take place between June-October.

Top image courtesy of Foster+Partners

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