Ļć½¶Ö±²„seniors receive prestigious architecture travel awards
Contact: Christie McNeal
STARKVILLE, Miss.āA Mississippi State senior architecture student will experience the trip of a lifetime and learn more about her field of study with help from a $20,000 Aydelott Travel Award.
Due to the COVID-19 public health crisis, the Aydelott Foundation has granted a deferral for this yearās Travel Award winners, who include MSUās Nada Abdel-Aziz of Greenwood. She is the fifth Ļć½¶Ö±²„recipient since the regional endowed award was established in 2016.
āWe are so pleased that Nada will be able to fulfill her planned field research, and that we will be able to have a robust collection of stellar students around the world deepening their understanding of architecture and its service to our human experience,ā said College of Architecture, Art and Design Dean Angi Elsea Bourgeois.
Abdel-Aziz plans to visit some of the worldās most renowned buildings in Sweden, Egypt, Italy and Japan. Her itinerary includes studies of architects Erik Gunner Asplundās andĀ Sigurd Lewerentzās Woodland Cemetery in Stockholm, Sweden; Hassan Fathyās New Gourna Village in Luxor, Egypt; Carlo Scarpaās Castelvecchio Museum in Verona, Italy; and Tadao Andoās Water Temple in Hyogo, Japan.
The $2.4 million endowmentāestablished by late Memphis architect Alfred Lewis Aydelott and his wife Hope Galloway Aydelottāprovides an award each year to four architecture students currently enrolled in the professional architecture degree programs at Mississippi State as well as the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Auburn University; and the University of Tennessee.
Additionally, Ļć½¶Ö±²„senior John D. Spraberry of Clarksville, Tennessee, is receiving a $5,000 Trussell Travel Award to support his research on how urban riverfronts might be used for flood mitigation. Spraberry plans to look specifically at three buildingsāSilodam by MVRDV in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the Central MarketĀ Complex byĀ Jože PleÄnik in Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Niederhafen Promenade by Zaha Hadid Architects in Hamburg, Germany.
The Ļć½¶Ö±²„Trussell Travel Award is funded by Ļć½¶Ö±²„alumnus Ted T. Porter, principal of Ted Porter Architecture in New York City.
Abdel-Aziz will focus her research on how architecture can reveal and amplify the spirit of a place.
āI chose this topic on the belief that architecture should tell local and regional narratives, acting as a mirror for citizens to see themselves and their place, not just global ideas,ā she said. āThese four buildings address place through landscape, mythology, regional references, history and the spirit of the present.ā
After her travels, Abdel-Aziz will work with her faculty advisor Associate Professor Hans Herrmann to compile her research and observations into a report to be judged against fellow Aydelott Travel Award recipients from other universities. One student will receive the Aydelott Prize and an additional $5,000.
Abdel-Aziz also looks forward to serving as a featured speaker for the Ļć½¶Ö±²„School of Architectureās Harrison Lecture Series and curating an exhibition of her work in the Charlotte and Richard McNeel Gallery at Giles Hall.
āI am excited to get to see architecture masterpieces in person and to see the beautiful cities theyāre found in,ā she said. āPlus, I get to study these buildings through drawing, photography and writing and then share what I learned with my friends and colleagues in Giles and at the university.āĀ
Ļć½¶Ö±²„School of Architecture Professor and Interim Director Jassen Callender said he enjoyed reviewing this yearās Aydelott Travel Award applications from Ļć½¶Ö±²„students.
āIn total, the proposals evidenced a wide array of interests amongst our student body and striking abilities to convey those interests in words,ā he said. āDespite this high overall level of development, the committee was unanimous in its selection.ā
āNada Abdel-Azizās proposal to understand how great architecture responds to place by careful, in-person drawing of four exemplary buildings in their contexts is ambitious,ā Callender said. āThis project will take Nada to various parts of the world eventually and, we assume, mark the beginning of an extraordinary career with a focus on place.ā
For more information about the Aydelott and Trussell Travel Awards and other fellowships in MSUās School of Architecture, visitĀ .
Ļć½¶Ö±²„is Mississippiās leading university, available online atĀ www.msstate.edu.