Vishnupriya Viswanathan, a student of sixth semester, Faculty of Architecture (FOA), Manipal University, has bagged the first prize in the 18th Annual Berkeley Prize Essay Competition under the “International Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence” endorsed by Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.
According to a press release issued by the varsity here, Ms. Viswanathan, who is keen to pursue postgraduation in Architecture Criticism in the U.S. or the U.K. after completing her undergraduation at FOA, said, “It means a lot to me. I was always interested in writing and this is going to be a big booster for me.”
“I want to be an architecture journalist … that is why I thought of taking part in the essay to see for myself how best I can do it. I am surprised by the result,” she added.
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The essay question was, “Architects Confronting Homelessness” and the guidelines for writing had two parts—who is doing what in your community to confront the issue of the men, women, young people and children without shelter, and, as both an individual and as a professional, and how do you see yourself assisting in providing shelter to those in need? Ms. Viswanathan’s 2,500 words essay titled, “Paving Better Paths for Little Feet” won the first prize and a purse of $6,000.
“Being the biggest competition of the kind for architecture students, it is a great achievement,” said Nishant Manapure, Director, FOA.
Hailing from Chennai, Ms. Viswanathan based her essay on a script taken from the lives of hapless children being taken care of by Karunalaya, a social service organisation run by Paul Sunder Singh, which transforms the lives of these children of Chennai’s beaches, streets, railways stations, bus stops and harbour.
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The two shelters run by Karunalaya are home to 36 boys and 29 girls.
Ms. Viswanathan gives a complete analysis of everything about the children.
She portrays their past and present effectively in the essay and describes of the changes in their lives in the new setting, the release said.