The Moriyama RAIC International Prize celebrates a single work of architecture that is judged to be transformative within its societal context. The competition is open to all architects, irrespective of nationality and location. The candidates can send their projects until 8 March 2017 electronically.

The Moriyama RAIC International Prize Scholarships are three scholarships awarded to students of architecture in conjunction with the Moriyama RAIC International Prize. The students must send by 8 March an essay describing why they want to be architects.

The Moriyama RAIC International Prize (the Prize) celebrates a single work of architecture that is judged to be transformative within its societal context. The Prize consists of a monetary award of CAD $100,000 and a sculpture by Canadian designer Wei Yew.

The Prize will be awarded every two years in an open juried competition. The ceremony is an exciting event which will be held on September 19, 2017 at The Carlu, a historic event space in Toronto and a spectacular example of Art Moderne architecture. 

Architects and industry professionals from across the country will come together to honour the winner of the Moriyama RAIC International Prize and to celebrate the Prize values of social justice, respect and inclusiveness.

Raymond Moriyama, FRAIC. Image courtesy of Azure Magazine 

Eligibility

The competition is open to all architects, irrespective of nationality and location. Any architect, team of architects, or architect-led collaboration is invited to submit a building or a related group of buildings that has been completed, occupied and in use for at least two years prior to the entry deadline. Candidates are limited to a single submission per award cycle.

Criteria

The intention of this award is to celebrate a single work of architecture that is transformative, inspired as well as inspiring, and emblematic of the human values of respect and inclusiveness. The jury will consider a range of criteria in the evaluation of submissions, including:                            

the building’s formal and experiential qualities;
the efficiency and effectiveness of the building in use;
response to site, climate and environmental conditions;
quality of engagement with the broader context - social, cultural, historic and political;
craftsmanship.

The international jury includes Monica Adair, MRAIC, Manon Asselin, MRAIC Bryan Avery, George Baird, FRAIC, Peter Cardew, FRAIC, Barry Johns, FRAIC, Li Xiaodong and Professional Advisor: David M. Covo, FRAIC.

Detailed information about submission and registration fee can be seen from here. 

Moriyama RAIC International Prize Scholarships

Vision

The Moriyama RAIC International Prize Scholarships are three scholarships awarded to students of architecture in conjunction with the Moriyama RAIC International Prize.

Eligibility

The Moriyama RAIC International Prize Scholarships are open to students registered full-time in a Canadian university architecture program in the 2016-2017 academic year, and to students registered in 2016-2017 in the RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University and the RAIC Syllabus Program.
Up to three scholarships, each in the amount of CAD $5,000, will be awarded in each award cycle.

The award of the Scholarships will be based on individual student submissions that address a specific topic in the form of an original essay, not to exceed 1,000 words in length, with illustrations that complement and clarify ideas explored in the text.

Submission requirements

For the 2016-2017 cycle, the essay topic explores the notion of origins and is based on the following question:

''Please describe the moment—the circumstances, the nature of the event—when you decided to become an architect, or when you knew that your decision to become an architect was the right one. Your “moment” could be related to an encounter with a single building (like Arthur Erickson’s discovery of Taliesin West in an illustrated article in the August 1946 issue of Fortune Magazine), or with a place (like Le Corbusier’s visit to the Acropolis in 1911). Or it could be related to a series of experiences, discoveries and reflections that eventually led you into architecture''.

Submissions should be formatted as an 8 ½” x 11” document with illustrations in either portrait or landscape orientation. Submissions should include an appendix (not to be counted in the limit of 1,000 words) with a maximum two-page curriculum vitae and documentation confirming the applicant’s student status. The total document should not exceed 10 pages in length or 10 MB in size.

Each submission shall be delivered as a PDF attachment to [email protected] with your full name as the subject line. You must also upload your submission PDF to this folder, with your full name as the file name, by the deadline of 5 p.m. EDT, March 8, 2017.

Questions may be addressed to the RAIC office at 1-613-241-3600 ext. 214, or via email to [email protected] before 5 p.m. EDT, January 25, 2017.

Evaluation criteria

Submissions will be evaluated on the applicant’s expression of vision and aspiration, and on the strength of personal conviction.

Schedule

The deadline for the receipt of all submission materials is 5 p.m. EDT, March 8, 2017.
The awards presentation will take place September 19, 2017, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Raymond Moriyama, FRAIC, was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on October 11, 1929. Of Japanese origin, he was confined to an internment camp as a child with his family during the Second World War. At that time, Japanese Canadians on the West Coast were classified as security threats. 

He cites this experience as influential in his life and career as an architect. After the war, his family resettled in Hamilton, Ontario. Moriyama received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Toronto and a Masters in Civic and Town Planning from McGill University in Montreal.

Top image: Moriyama RAIC International Prize Winner 2014/A modest library on the outskirts of Beijing, China designed by Li Xiaodong. Image courtesy of RAIC.

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