Iulia Cistelecan, from the London School of Architecture, has been announced as the winner of the 2020 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship for her project "Life Between Shelters: Refugee camps of today becoming cities of tomorrow."

The annual RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship, organized together with the Norman Foster Foundation, offers the selected architecture student £7,000 prize, the prize is given to a student who demonstrates the potential for outstanding achievement and original thinking on issues that relate to the sustainable survival of cities and towns.

Image Courtesy of Iulia Cistelecan

As explained in a press statement, "Iulia's project will examine the role that architecture can play in transforming today’s refugee camps into sustainable communities. Iulia will travel to four refugee camps across Africa, Western Asia, the Middle East and South Asia: Bidibidi (Uganda), Zaatari (Jordan), Shatila (Lebanon) and Kutupalong (Bangladesh)." 

"Her research will investigate the spaces between shelters, with a focus on the transition from temporary refugee camp to sustainable city. Iulia will also be exploring the importance of educational and social infrastructure in building community growth and resilience."

"I was delighted by the high standard of the 48 applications which were received from nearly thirty countries. After much deliberation, the jury were unanimous in their choice of Iulia Cistelecan’sproposal as this year’s very worthy winner," said Norman Foster.

"The findings from her study on the permanent nature of refugee camps will be universally valuable as well as advancing her own career."

Image Courtesy of Iulia Cistelecan

The 2020 scholarship jury comprised of: Norman Foster, Lord Foster of Thames Bank (Founder and Executive Chairman, Foster + Partners; President, Norman Foster Foundation), Elena Ochoa, Lady Foster of Thames Bank (Publisher and curator; Vice-President, Norman Foster Foundation), Farshid Moussavi (Founder, Farshid Moussavi Architecture; Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design; Trustee of the Norman Foster Foundation), Nicky Watson (Director JDDK Architects; RIBA Board Trustee; RIBA Council member for the North East, RIBA Vice-President for Education,) and Victoria Simpson (Associate Director dlg Architects, RIBA Education Development Group member).

Shatila Refugee Camp. Image © Andreas Jacob

"Iulia’s research promises to cover some of the most pressing matters of our time: the global refugee and climate crises," said RIBA President Alan Jones. 

"I am inspired to see Iulia - who represents the future of our profession - investigating architectural solutions to these complex issues – with her research considering space,education, social infrastructure and resilience. I very much look forward to seeing the findings ofIulia’s research."

Kutupalong Refugee Camp. Image © Mohammad Ponir Hossain

Shatila Refugee Camp. Image © Andreas Jacob

Zaatari Refugee Camp. Image © Panayis Chrysovergis

Past recipients of the RIBA Norman Foster Foundation Travelling Scholarship:

2019: Siti Nurafaf Ismail – University of Malaya, Malaysia
‘Architecture of Humility’

2018: Steven Hutt – University of Greenwich, UK
‘East of Eden’

2017: Chloe Loader – University of Lincoln, UK
‘Emerging Cities: Sustainable Master-Planning in the Global South’

2016: Abel Feleke – University of Western Australia, Australia
‘Weaving the Urban Fabric: Examining the Significance of Community’

2015: Charles Palmer – University of Sheffield, UK
‘Cycling Megacities’

2014: Joe Paxton – Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), UK
‘Buffer Landscapes 2060′

2013: Sigita Burbulyte – Bath University, UK
‘Charles Booth Going Abroad’

2012: Thomas Aquilina – University of Edinburgh, UK
‘Material Economies: Recycling Practices in Informal Settlements Along
African Longitude 30’

2011: Sahil Bipin Deshpande – Rizvi College of Architecture, Mumbai, India
‘Sanitation: A Case Study across Eight Metropolises’

2010: Andrew Mackintosh – Robert Gordon University, UK
‘In Search of Cold Spaces’

2009: Amanda Rivera – University of Bio Bio, Chile
‘Ancestral Cities, Ancestral Sustainability’

2008: Faizan Jawed Siddiqi – Rizvi College of Architecture, Mumbai, India
‘The Role of Public Transport in Shaping Sustainable Humane Habitats: Case
Studies Across Three Continents

2007: Ben Masterton-Smith – Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), UK
‘Emerging East: Exploring and Experiencing the East Asian Communist City’

Top image: Zaatari Refugee Camp. Image © Panayis Chrysovergis

> via Norman Foster Foundation & RIBA