The Reserve: Archive of Top-Reviewed Essays
Since the Berkely Prize’s expansion in 2000 as an international digital essay competition for undergraduate students studying architecture, nearly 3800 students from 85 countries have participated by submitting essay proposals. These are reviewed by, now, 64 readers: the Berkeley Prize Committee Members who are architects, educators, allied professionals, social scientists, and past Prize winners. The effort is to determine which proposals show the greatest likelihood to become substantial and meaningful essays.
Although the number varies, each year approximately twenty-five to thirty students who write these promising proposals are named as Semifinalists and invited to submit a 2500-word essay. Again, the essays are reviewed by the all of the readers and a small number, perhaps eight, are named as Finalists. These top-scoring (and occasionally other "wild-card" intriguing essays are forwarded to that year's specially selected Jury to determine the normally four overall winners of the competition.
The quality of all of these essays, winners or not, is uniformly high. They exhibit a wide diversity and often intriguing responses to the Question. Even when the students are not able to express themselves in the most elegant language, there is often great passion for the subject and excitement in the writing. For whatever reason some of these essays did not place as ultimate winners, there is intrinsic value in reading and thinking about all of them. The Reserve provides the opportunity to do exactly that.
The top 16 essays from recent Prize cycles are listed below, each with links to the texts and accompanying photographs. If you would like to contact the author of one or more of these essays, simply contact the Prize. We will forward your request to the author and ask them to respond directly to you if they are interested in doing so. We assume most will do exactly that. Please take advantage of this added opportunity to learn more about the social art of architecture from some of the best undergraduate architecture students in the world.
(NOTE: The winning essays from each PRIZE cycle and the identity of their authors can be seen in the individual archives for those years. Visit the Essay Prize Competition.)
2024 - Berkeley Prize Final
2023 - Architecture Designed for Aging
BANGLADESH
[4763] Integrating The Ignored: Care through Architecture
CANADA
[4739] Housing Options for an Aging Nova Scotia
INDIA
[4847] Widows of Varanasi: The Ganga, the gallis and the grizzled
[4886] Sab-ki Mandi: Enhancing the Markets of India as an Inclusive Public Space for the Elderly
[4806] Greying Hair and Hopes: Senior Citizens of Mukarimnagar
[4777] The Young Nation's Old.
[4868] Embracing the Autumn of Life
[4760] Independent elderly of India
ITALY
[4861] A Livable City for All Generations
KENYA
[4843] FROM SPARE ROOM TO SPARE CHANGE: Adaptive reuse for economic revitalization of homesteads in Rural Africa.
[4864] Aging and the city
NIGERIA
[4828] Providing Home From Home: Senior Citizens' Lives Matter
PHILIPPINES
[4802] Espasyo: The Filipino Wisdom of Necessities
UGANDA
[4859] Environmental design for the Elderly.
UNITED STATES
[4838] A Vision for Aging in Rural Appalachia
[4736] The Built Environment’s Response to Aging in Place in Metro Atlanta
2022 - DESIGN GUIDED BY CLIENTS' NEEDS:
Applying Social Factors Research to Architecture
BANGLADESH
[4550] A Journey Towards Well-Being
BRAZIL
[4548] From occupation to community: a participatory project at the edge of the metropolis
DENMARK
[4519] The Paved Night Sky: Finding Sustainability and Inclusivity in the Age of Gentrification
EGYPT
[4433] Economic Architectonics: Local Initiatives for Live/Work Housing
INDIA
[4616] Backwater Rising
[4483] New Delhi and the Planning of Carcerality
[4591] Quilting The Crevices: Restructuring Lives Through Architecture
[4500] The Forgotten Narrative of Sex Workers and their Families
[4669] A Place Called Home
[4435] Four Walls and a Roof: The Complex Problems behind the Simple Solution
KENYA
[4598] COMMUNAL HARMONY IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
NIGERIA
[4488] Meeting the People's Needs Through Research
PAKISTAN
[4633] Development to serve all: Questioning the social gentrification in the name of development
[4559] Abode for the Vulnerable - Rehabilitating the Affectees of Karachi's Mass Evictions
UNITED STATES
[4507] Small, High-Quality, and Church-Centered Housing Development in Chicago
[4576] Housing project designed for those with cognitive disabilities in mind.
2021 - Architects in Service to the Community
BANGLADESH
[4136] Architecture for Equity: Inclusion in the Age of Diversity
BRAZIL
[3987] Until when will the real estate market dictate the rules?
ETHIOPIA
[4296] To Stand Back and Observe
GERMANY
[4202] Fostering Change through Images: How Architects Can Lead the Conversation
INDIA
[3968] To Pride From Prejudice: An Architectural Transition
[4199] Mediums to Change
[4004] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE PEOPLE: CONTEMPORARY INDIA’S QUIET REBELLION
[3963] Concrete jungle to dream homes
[4084] Less can be More: Towards an Architecture of Hope
[4167] In Search of Muted Narratives : The Beginning of Architecture for Equity
IRELAND
[4322] Irish Travellers: Architect as Listener and Spacemaker
UNITED KINGDOM
[4142] The Lost Children of the Cities
UNITED STATES
[4236] Home Means Nevada: Addressing Homelessness in Reno
[4198] The Urgency of Architectural Liberation
[4069] The Billings Scene
[4191] Prioritizing Preservation in Minneapolis
2020 - Designing Civic Buildings:
The Architect Works With a Team
BRAZIL
[3803] Sugar, coffee and real estate speculation.
CANADA
[3804] The Learned City: Civic Buildings, Information Inequality, and the Digital Divide
CHINA
[3761] Elder-Friendly Community Building: Civic Space Creation under the Renovation of the Hutong Area
INDIA
[3795] Ahmedabad: Growing through a History of Community and Conflict
[3638] Nests for a Phoenix: Building Life After Death
[3754] PUBLIC MARKETS: BUILDING COMMUNITY, BUILDING ECONOMY
[3800] Contribution of Civic Buildings in Intellectual Evolution of Society
KENYA
[3719] For the love of Museums
NIGERIA
[3838] OF COMMUNITY AND WELL-BEING: AN ARCHITECTURE OF PEOPLE
PAKISTAN
[3784] Well-being of community
[3729] Bringing the Underrepresented and Undeserved out of the Fringes
[3796] Subversion in the Colonial Public: How indigenous people reconfigure infrastructure to create democratic civic spaces in Karachi
[3815] Sacred meets Profane: Demystifying Religious Influence over Community Spaces
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
[3767] Moscow Civic Buildings and Their Variability through the Prism of Time
UNITED KINGDOM
[3623] The Storytellers of Bristol: An Exploration of Community Created by Theatre
UNITED STATES
[3648] For the People: Cultivating a Better Community
2019 - Architecture and Climate Resilience
BANGLADESH
[3465] Thinking Water, Thinking Fluid
ECUADOR
[3452] What are changes are for? Stories and realities in Ecuador that architecture reveals
GERMANY
[3178] Architecture for the Climate: Swiss Roots in Earth.
INDIA
[3463] Adapting Traditions In The New World Order
[3280] Designing for Climate and Climate Change: A Paradigm Shift
[3483] Climate : The IN and OUT of the Building
[3191] WESTERN INDIA : AT THE CROSSROADS BETWEEN TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
[3185] Built to Sustain: A Reconnaissance of the Two Faces of Himalayas
[3411] The Bespoke Museum and What It Speaks of: Studying Climate Resilient Tribal Homes and The Tribal Museum of Bhopal
[3293] Cycles of Recovery: Finding Abundance in the Abandoned
NIGERIA
[3189] PROBLEMS FROM THE PAST, SOLUTIONS OF THE FUTURE; A QUEST TO ACHIEVE THERMAL STABILITY.
PHILIPPINES
[3160] Bahay Kubo Reimagined: A Way of Future-Proofing a Disaster-Prone Country
UGANDA
[3415] Revisiting the traditional for answers
UNITED KINGDOM
[3285] Sensitivity, Nurturance, Resilience: lessons from two architectural gems in England’s Steel City
[3477] Climate change adaptive design and community-driven resilience in Kiribati
UNITED STATES
[3485] Isolated Space: Cultural and Climatic Continuity in Southern Appalachia
2018 - Applying the Social Art of Architecture
BANGLADESH
[2795] The Art of the Labyrinth of Being & Not-being
GERMANY
[2707] Redesigning Leipzig - How Urban Actions Solve Social Issues
INDIA
[2858] So-less to Solace: Solving issues across generations
[2561] From Functions to Conversations
[2980] The Range of Social Art of Architecture
[2701] The Concurrence of Anomalies
[2744] Beyond The Red Light
[2585] Transforming Society Through Spaces
[2611] From Product to Process: Crafting Social Good
[2648] People, Place and Pace - The Social Significance of Public Infrastructure
LEBANON
[2747] Architectural Preservation in Beirut: A Search for the Future in a Past that Refuses to be Forgotten
[2719] Reconciling a Wounded City: The Storytellers of Beirut
PAKISTAN
[2607] Communicating with the society through the social art of architecture
SINGAPORE
[2881] Inclusive healthcare buildings in an ageing society
SOUTH AFRICA
[2546] A Cathartic Architectural Language in a Democratic South Africa
UNITED STATES
[2939] The Story Within the Walls
2017 - Architecture Reveals Communities
CANADA
[2334] The Little Pinoy Sari-Sari Store: Of Otherness and Belonging in a Global Diaspora
INDIA
[2340] Expressions of Aspirations: United by a Night.
[2319] “Architectural Response to Struggle and Transformation”
[2396] THE LIFE OF UNTOUCHABLE: an honest depiction...
[2391] Religious Built Environment as a Collective Memory
[2183] Culture | The Determinant
[2161] AN ARCHITECTURE OF COHESION
[2447] Blurring boundaries
[2381] Home, away from home.
INDONESIA
[2407] Repurpose to Survive: a Lesson from Surakarta
SINGAPORE
[2395] The Baweanese Pondok: Pondok Tampilung
TUNISIA
[2277] From an historic site... to a place of socio-cultural identity
UGANDA
[2438] ARCHITECTURE FOR THE PEOPLE
UNITED STATES
[2442] The Architecture of Place: Amaranth Bakery and Cafe
[2383] Stories of Community: The Provo Tabernacle
[2205] Melding a National identity: The Indian Heritage Center
2016 - SHELTERING THOSE IN NEED: Architects Confront Homelessness
BANGLADESH
[2060] The Marginalized or the Resilient?
[2061] Building Dreams Together
INDIA
[1680] Paving better paths for little feet
[1641] From Squatters of Threat to Homes of Hope
[1614] Rumah in the Woods : Resurrection of the Nanga Sumpa Longhouse
[1968] Confronting Homelessness Through Community
[2029] Building Identities and Trust - The Muzaffarnagar Story
[1969] Addressing homelessness-for the people, of the people, by the people
[2023] The New Indian Home Owner
[1682] The Beauty of architecture without aesthetics: dignifying the marginalized
[1999] The story of my childhood friend Mahika (the original identity is kept hidden):SOS BHOPAL
UGANDA
[2015] Homes for the Homeless by the Homeless
UNITED STATES
[2073] Without a Home - Migrant Farmworkers in California
[1623] Intercepting Architecture
[1990] Safe Place: Designers Learning from the Informal Community Developments and Personal Desires of Homeless Individuals
[2044] Shelters from the Storm | Making It Right in New Orleans
2015 - Architects Confront Poverty
BANGLADESH
[1417] Embracing Poverty
CANADA
[1343] North End Halifax: Impact a Poverty-Stricken Community Through Small Scale Architecture
EGYPT
[1293] Parallel Practice: Bottom-Up Participatory Design in Impoverished Communities in Egypt
INDIA
[1405] Imagine There are No Slums : Mainstreaming an image with dignity
[1451] Vermilion of hope
[1409] Incremental Changes Bring Immense Happiness to the Urban Poor
[1493] Constructing dignity: a design for empowering the urban poor
[1424] Journey from unfortunate to happy!
[1504] Shelter.
INDONESIA
[1347] The Art of Confronting Poverty: Architecture by the People
PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, OCCUPIED
[1485] Enough Ripples and you change the Tide; Reshaping Palestinian refugee camps
ROMANIA
[1315] Sponsoring the Resistance.The Golden Poverty
UGANDA
[1403] Learning on the Hillside: Confronting Poverty with Education
UNITED STATES
[1444] Where Nobody Goes Away A Stranger
[1242] Milwaukee's Social Artery
[1481] Education through Environmentalism
2014 - The Architect and the Healthful Environment
BANGLADESH
[1151] Livability Vs Lovability
CANADA
[1170] Healthful Halifax: Designing Healthy Spaces, Learning by Example
[932] Building the In Between Spaces into a Healthful Environment
GREECE
[1035] Staying sane in the land of crisis
INDIA
[1075] Spaces To Grow In - A Comparative Study of Two Orphanages
[1058] The Architecture of a Healthful Learning Environment
[1053] How expensive is health in Mumbai?
[1165] Healthy Offices, Happy Employees
[882] Spaces & Spirit - The Built Form and the Human Psyche
[1022] For Kanaka.. and “namma” Chennai
IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF
[883] Sketches of Hasan’s Mom
ISRAEL
[901] Somewhere I can call HEALTHY
UNITED KINGDOM
[1162] The street in the body of the city
UNITED STATES
[1114] Old-World Markets and Post-War Grocers: a comparative analysis
[1106] A Walk in the Park: Identity and Mental Health
[1120] Residential Design and Physical Health: A Comparison of Two Communities in Beijing, China
2013 - The Architect and the Accessible City
AUSTRALIA
[787] To Create an Enabling City, Start with the Street
[586] SENSORY ACCESS: THE LIBERTY SWING
GERMANY
[650] Münster - World´s most livable city, but for everyone?
INDIA
[769] Delhi: In Hope of Equity
[746] Bringing a revolution to Roorkee : The archetypal Indian town
[734] ACCESSIBILITY AND BEYOND (Minimizing disability in New Delhi )
[696] Accessibility in Proximity
[562] 'Integrated- Inclusiveness'- The Requiste for Accessibility
[719] A Socio-Economic Approach to Universal Design
ITALY
[764] increase awarness of value of accessibility
PALESTINE
[691] A Resilient Past and a Promising Future; Disability in Ramallah
SINGAPORE
[594] Sensing Barriers: Accessibility in Spatial Perceptions
UNITED KINGDOM
[736] Access denied?
[793] A day in the life of a wheelchair user: navigating Lincoln
[595] The Disabled Traveler in Edinburgh
[572] Accessibility and Cultural Sites
2012 - Architecture for the Public Good
CANADA
[403] Creating a New Dialogue with an Old City
INDIA
[255] “So Heddan, So Hoddan” (As here, so there)
[219] The Ranchi 'pagalkhana'....garden of the frenetic.
[355] The Bridge to Education
[402] Smiling between the cracks - The Laurie Baker Building Center
[215] A Sanctuary for Expression and Transformation
[361] Building Street Dreamscapes: The Durga Puja Pandal at Kolkata
[437] A place for pause in the city of pace
[283] AADI-Beginning of a Journey Towards Inclusion
ISRAEL
[291] Generous Architecture at Yerocham Public Library
[400] Humble and great
SINGAPORE
[478] The greatest public good is public space
SWEDEN
[455] A home on the way home
UNITED KINGDOM
[491] Tate Modern, London's foremost contributor of the Public Good
[251] Empowering Design
UNITED STATES
[465] Gaining Identity
2011 - Valuing the Sacred
CANADA
[71] Museum of Music Moves a City
FINLAND
[74] Sauna: Temple of the Five Senses
INDIA
[15] Of the House, the City, the Earth and the Universe: The Otla as a Threshold Space
ISRAEL
[61] A Separate Place
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
[70] Sacred Spirit of Ruins
SINGAPORE
[73] Supernormal of the void deck
UGANDA
[85] Fort Patiko: A Tale of Gory Transformations
UNITED STATES
[47] A Wall Along the River: Fringe Graffiti in St. Louis
[145] The Locker Rooms At Anselmo Mine In Butte, Once Called Butte City
[45] Hirst, Water, and the Need to Make Art from Public Fountains
[129] Memorial Circle
[181] A Water Temple
[176] Remnants of a Mining Town
[49] To value a sacred space
[78] Archie Bray: Sacred Creation of Past and Present
[98] Temple in Transit
2010 - Historic Preservation/Heritage Conservation
AUSTRALIA
[1583] Learning from The Northcott Government Housing Estate, Surry Hills, Sydney.
CANADA
[1573] The Confederacy Council House at Six Nations Reserve No. 40:
A monument to First Nations culture and community
[1578] Where the Past and Future Meet: Cultural Regeneration of a Forgotten Block
INDIA
[1574] The story of a prison cell
IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF
[1586] The Silk Road Caravansaries: The Forgotten National Identity
IRELAND
[1581] Henrietta street - The forgotten birthplace of Irish Georgian architecture, and a type of society now lost.
PHILIPPINES
[1580] New Trains, Station in Ruins
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
[1584] History is architectural.
SINGAPORE
[1572] The Birth of a National Landscape: Warehouses along the Singapore River.
[1575] Wet Market
[1582] Past to Future: Resilience of the shophouse as a typology in Singapore
UNITED STATES
[1577] A High Price for Grandeur
[1561] History of an igloo; the story behind Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena
[1576] Seattle's Houseboat Community: Merging History with Design for the Future
[1579] Preserving Michigan Central Station
[1585] The Plight of Detroit's Historic School Buildings
2009 - Sustainable Architecture/Traditional Wisdom
CANADA
[1847] Learning from Canada's Brick Masonry History
[1854] Food in the Cellar
INDIA
[1846] Banaras- a continuing natural, cultural and architectural landscape
[1859] Expressing the Language of Architecture; Through Courtyards
PHILIPPINES
[1860] Bayanihan Caravan: The Key to Reviving the Filipino Identity through Helping Disaster Victims
UGANDA
[1853] The Building Exodus of a Going People
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
[1857] Preserving integration and community, the modern "sikka"
[1858] The Traditional House for Modern Living - Reviving a Lost Identity
UNITED KINGDOM
[1848] Mesopotamian Peace Park
[1851] Vanishing vernacular in the Casbah of Algiers: building sustainable communities based on traditional knowledge to empower future generations.
[1855] Instances of the liminal
UNITED STATES
[1849] Los Recuerdos del Barrio (The Memory of the Barrio)
[1850] Modern Day Pioneers: Providing Culturally and Environmentally Responsible Housing for Migrant Farm Workers in the United States of America
[1856] Rewriting Cinematic Space
[1861] Windtowers of the Arabian Gulf: Eastern Technology for a Cultural and Sustainable Environment in the midst of Globalization
2008 - Competing To Serve
AUSTRALIA
[1864] Shaping identity and ‘place’ in Australian Indigenous housing
CANADA
[1867] Positively Shaping Space: AIDS/Architecture/Awareness
INDIA
[1866] Goals for Equitable change
[1869] Abruption in Social Evolution by the Architecture of Post-Millennial India: A Call to re-think ‘evolution’ and ‘development’ to bring Social Sustainability in Gurgaon
[1873] Sparsha-a human touch
IRAN
[1870] Salvation by brick
[1871] To be, to become
ISRAEL
[1872] A call for Social Responsibility : Bridging the gap, a cricital solution for the Bedouin minority
NEW ZEALAND
[1865] DESIGN:wiki_HOUSE – a student competition to promote affordable sustainable housing in New Zealand
NIGERIA
[1876] Model Skills Acquisition Centres
SINGAPORE
[1863] Good Vintage - Sustainable Architecture for an Ageing Society
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
[1862] The Abolition of Congested Urbanism - A Task or a Moral Obligation?
UNITED STATES
[1874] Role of Architecture to Help Solve Problems of Rural Depopulation
[1875] Design for the Other Half
[1877] Mixing Social Issues and Environmental Awareness to Clear the Black Cloud
2007 - Making Social Architecture
ARGENTINA
[1886] A Communal Center for the Neighborhood Los Eucaliptus
AUSTRALIA
[1893] Making Architecture a verb...
CANADA
[1882] The Oput Centre: From the Tree of Reconciliation to the Architecture of Healing
[1888] Libraries of Unification
[1889] Community Rejuvenation in A Newfoundland Outport
[1891] Concrete Consciousness: Advocacy and AIDS in Toronto
IRAN
[1890] Fear of Walking
NIGERIA
[1880] Bakassi Resettlement Village
UGANDA
[1879] An “Adult child” school
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
[1881] Collective Deliberation: Rethinking the Role of the Architect
UNITED KINGDOM
[1884] Revitalizing Galt: Celebrating local outsiders by creating local traditions
[1892] A Center for Self Development
UNITED STATES
[1878] Re-presenting Public Housing: creating community in the East-End
[1885] The Promised Land
[1883] Center for the Preservation of Gullah/Geechee Oral Traditions. Savannah, GA, USA
Team: Design Corps
[1887] Cohesive Sustainable Communities
2006 - Children and the City
AUSTRALIA
[1897] Our Children, Our City: Our future
[1904] I was always told but I never really knew that I lived in this city...
[1906] "PlaySpace Children's Theatre" - An Innovative Mobile Resource
CHINA
[1895] The Revival Of The City Wall and "Paoma Dao" Currere
IRAN
[1899] The utopia for homeless children!
[1908] Nurturing a creature of nature
PAKISTAN
[1900] Children on the Move
SINGAPORE
[1896] The Real Playground - A Park Dedicated to Children in Singapore
[1909] A City Playground
UGANDA
[1894] Discover the City
UNITED KINGDOM
[1898] Proposal for a network of youth generated community environments in the city of Glasgow
UNITED STATES
[1901] People to Know, Places to Grow: Children in Downtown Eugene
[1903] Street Perception: Children and the City
[1905] Three Feet Off the Ground
[1907] Advocates For A New Client
2005 - Memorable Public Spaces
AUSTRALIA
[1923] Promenade of the Flaneur
[1925] The Untoppled Omphalos
CANADA
[1911] Granville Island: Urban Oasis Amidst a Metropolis
[1921] Epicentre of a revolution: Kyiv's Independence Square, the place of political activism
INDIA
[1924] Lending Character...
NEPAL
[1910] People, place and events
[1919] The Perfect Public Domain
NIGERIA
[1914] What makes a place truly public?
SINGAPORE
[1916] A Public Space, A Heritage
UNITED KINGDOM
[1912] Iceland > Reykjavik > Laugavegur: City within a City
[1917] Royal Exchange Square
[1922] The Barras Market: An Exceptional Public Space.
UNITED STATES
[1913] The Belmont Tunnel and Toluca Yard
[1918] Character conflict
[1920] Largo do Senado (Senate Square) in Macau, China
2004 - The Architect Reports On Refugees, The Homeless and
The Urban Poor
AUSTRALIA
[1938] Urban Survival of the Homeless - Recognizing the Homeless as People of the City
AUSTRIA
[1940] Changing Architecture
CANADA
[1927] Productive Lives: Eradicating the Barriers
ISRAEL
[1928] The Right Path
SINGAPORE
[1937] A "more public" public space
SPAIN
[1939] Immigration and public space in Barcelona
UNITED STATES
[1926] (Dis-, Mis-, Re-) Placement in the Urban Realm
[1929] At Home in the City
[1930] Let's have dinner
[1931] A Tale of Tent Cities
[1933] A Home in the Homeland?
[1934] Address Homelessness Within Ann Arbor, Not Without It
[1935] Private Sector, Public Good: The Necessity of Economic Sustainability in Architectural Activism
[1936] The Anatomy of Community
[1941] Homeless Integration into Society through Urban Farms
2003 - Buildings That Achieve World-Class Status
INDIA
[1945] A Globe in My Bag
NEPAL
[1946] Beyond the physical realm
(Fifth dimension of interaction)
UNITED KINGDOM
[1944] A place for familiar rather than foreign visitors: Project for a Bus Shelter, Koshirakura, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
[1947] The Price of Consciousness
UNITED STATES
[1942] Troublemakers
[1943] Place, Memory, and the Problem of the Architectural Image
[1948] Designing For Change
[1949] The Two Publics of San Francisco
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