The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winners of the 2019 Research Awards.
The winner of the 2019 RIBA President’s Medal for Research is Dr Tania Sengupta from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London for ‘Papered Spaces: Clerical Practices, Materialities and Spatial Cultures of Provincial Governance in Bengal, Colonial India, 1820s-1860s’. Dr Sengupta’s research covers a range of themes including localisation of global culture, and architecture and urbanism in South Asia.
The 2019 RIBA President’s Awards for Research were also announced this evening, divided into four categories:
Building in Quality:
Rosica Pachilova & Dr Kerstin Sailer, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Providing Care Quality by Design: A New Measure to Assess Hospital Ward Layouts
Cities and Community:
Dr Mirna Pedalo, Goldsmiths, University of London
The Gulf in Bosnia and Herzegovina: An (Un)Intentional Consequence of Peace
Design and Technical:
Oliver Wilton Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL & Matthew Barnett Howland, CSK Architects
Cork Construction Kit
History and Theory:
Tania Sengupta, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Papered Spaces: Clerical Practices, Materialities and Spatial Cultures of Provincial Governance in Bengal, Colonial India, 1820s-1860s
Speaking about Papered Spaces, Chair of the Research Medal jury, Dr Banka Dimitrijevic, said:
“This in-depth study expands the scope of research on British colonial architecture in India by focusing on the typology of administrative buildings which housed thousands of paper files containing information related to the revenue collection in Bengal in 1820s-1860s.
The analysis of layouts of several administrative offices (surveyed by the author) and various secondary sources are successfully used to depict the everyday life of the workers and their interactions with the population and suppliers. Dr Sengupta’s research findings significantly contribute to a better understanding of how the paper-based revenue collection system influenced the architecture that served it.”
RIBA President, Alan Jones, added:
“Research is essential to the development of our profession, facilitating understanding and the sharing of knowledge around the world. I was impressed with the huge international scope and variety in this year’s proposals and congratulate all of the winners for their exceptional knowledge and commitment.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. For further press information contact: Emily.Stallard@riba.org or 020 7307 3813
2. Images of the 2019 RIBA President’s Medal for Research winning project can be downloaded here.
3. Images of the 2019 RIBA President’s Awards for Research category winning projects can be downloaded here.
4. The 2019 RIBA President's Awards for Research Book of Abstracts is available here
5. The jury for the RIBA President’s Awards for Research 2019 was chaired by Prof Branka Dimitrijevic
(Professor of Architecture, Dept of Architecture, University of Strathclyde) and was comprised of Dr Edward Denison
(Associate Professor of Architectural History, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL); Dr Marylis Ramos (Director, PRP, London); Prof Christine Wall (Reader in Architectural History, University of Westminster); Prof Rajat Gupta (Professor of Sustainable Architecture and Climate Change, Oxford Brookes University) and Dr Nikoletta Karastathi (Napper Architects, Newcastle).
6. The theme and dates for 2020 President’s Awards for Research will be announced in February.
7. Commendations were also given to the following projects:
Building in Quality:
Tumpa Husna Yasmin Fellows, Mannan Foundation Trust & University of Westminster, UK
Improvised architectural responses to the changing climate; making, sharing and communicating design processes.
Cities and Community:
Ivan Valin, Xiaoxuan Lu, Susanne Trumpf, The University of Hong Hong, Hong Kong
Between, below, behind: An ontology of small urban spaces in Hong Kong
8. For general enquiries about the President’s Awards for Research contact: research@riba.org
9. The RIBA President's Awards for Research were established in 2006 in order to reward and encourage outstanding research in architecture carried out by students, academics and practitioners.
10. The Royal Institute of British Architects (@RIBA) is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment.
