Francis Kéré's 2017 Serpentine Pavilion in London, helloeverything/SelgasCano's Kibera Hamlets School in Kenya, the Funambulist from Paris, and the 2017 Black in Design Conference by Harvard GSD's African American Student Union are among the 41 innovative projects of the 2017 Graham Foundation awards. The Graham Foundation has announced over $400,000 in new grants to organizations around the world to support 41 innovative projects engaging original ideas in architecture. Among the funded projects are exhibitions, publications, events, research projects, and site-specific installations and performances. 

These diverse projects and programs advance new scholarship, fuel creative experimentation and critical dialogue, and expand opportunities for public engagement with architecture and its role in contemporary society.

Francis Kéré, Serpentine Pavilion, 2017, London. From the 2017 organizational grant to Serpentine Galleries for "Serpentine Pavilion 2017 by Francis Kéré". Image © Iwan Baan

This year’s awarded projects were selected from a competitive pool of more than 220 submissions. The 41 funded projects are being undertaken by significant and emerging museums, educational institutions, architectural organizations, and biennials and triennials from around the world in cities such as Paris, Mexico City, Rotterdam, Cleveland, and Chicago, where the Graham Foundation is based. 

Gwyneth Shanks, From Above Looking Down, 2017, Los Angeles. From the 2017 organizational grant to Materials & Applications for "Privacies Infrastructure". Image courtesy of the artist

The new grantees join an international network of individuals and institutions that the Graham Foundation has supported through the award of more than 4,300 grants over the past 61 years in its role as one of the most significant funders in the field of architecture.

"This year marks an extraordinary group of projects from organizations around the world working to advance architectural thinking, push the boundaries of the field, and expand into previously underrepresented areas," said Graham Foundation director Sarah Herda.

Estudio MMX, Eco Pavilion, 2011, Mexico City. From the 2017 organizational grant to Buró-Buró for "Libretas Pabellón Eco/Eco Pavilion". Image Courtesy of Buró-Buró/Museo Experimental el Eco.

See the 2017 list of Organizational Grantees below:

Exhibitions

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art-Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture (New York, NY)
Heritage Fund-The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County-Landmark Columbus (Columbus, IN)
Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art (Liverpool, United Kingdom)
Materials & Applications (Los Angeles, CA)
The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY)
New York Foundation for Architecture-Center for Architecture Foundation (New York, NY)
Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France)
Queens Museum (Queens, NY)
The Renaissance Society (Chicago, IL)
S AM Swiss Architecture Museum (Basel, Switzerland)
Serpentine Galleries (London, United Kingdom)
Socrates Sculpture Park (Long Island City, NY)
Storefront for Art and Architecture (New York, NY)
University of Chicago-Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts (Chicago, IL)

Hirsuta, Ambivalent House, 2017. From the 2017 organizational grant to Project: A Journal for Architecture for "Project: A Journal for Architecture". Image courtesy the artist

Film/Video/New Media Projects

The Architectural League (New York, NY)
Chicago Architectural Club (Chicago, IL)

Fellowship 

The University of Illinois at Chicago-School of Architecture (Chicago, IL)

Pietro Paolini, UR12 Downward Spiral: El Helicoide's Descent from Mall to Prison. El Helicoide, Caracas, Venezuela, 2012. From the 2017 organizational grant to Terreform for "UR (Urban Research) 2017". Image courtesy of Pietro Paolini/Terra Project

Public Programs

Association of Architecture Organizations (Chicago, IL)
Harvard University-Graduate School of Design-African American Student Union (Cambridge, MA),
Illinois Institute of Technology-Graham Resource Center and Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism Program (Chicago, IL)
Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, United Kingdom)
Lampo (Chicago, IL)
National Trust for Historic Preservation-Farnsworth House (Washington, DC and Plano, IL)
Navy Pier (Chicago, IL)
The University of Illinois at Chicago-School of Art & Art History (Chicago, IL)

Roundhouse, DuSable Museum of African American History, 2017, Chicago. From the 2017 organizational grant to Palais de Tokyo for "Singing Stones". Image © Assaf Evron

Publications

Anyone Corporation (New York, NY)
Architectural Association School of Architecture-Unknown Fields Division (London, United Kingdom)
Buró-Buró (Mexico City, Mexico)e-flux Architecture (New York, NY)
Flat Out (Chicago, IL)
FRONT Exhibition Company (Cleveland, OH)
The Funambulist (Paris, France)
Harvard University-Graduate School of Design-New Geographies (Cambridge, MA)Het Nieuwe Instituut-Research Department (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
New Museum (New York, NY)
Performa (New York, NY)
Project: A Journal for Architecture (Brooklyn, NY)
Rice University-School of Architecture (Houston, TX)
Terreform (New York, NY)
University of California, Los Angeles-Department of Architecture and Urban Design (Los Angeles, CA)
University of Florida-School of Architecture (Gainesville, FL)

To learn more about the grantees' projects, visit their online project page. The upcoming deadlines for the Graham Foundation Grants to Individuals: September 15, 2017, Carter Manny Award: November 15, 2017 and Grants to Organizations: February 25, 2018.

Top image: helloeverything/SelgasCano, Kibera Hamlets School, 2016, Nairobi, Kenya. From the 2017 organizational grant to New York Foundation for Architecture-Center for Architecture for "Scaffolding". Image courtesy of architects.

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