The 2022 RAMSA Fellowship jury selected a winning entry during a videoconference deliberation session. The winner, Giuliana Vaccarino Gearty, a Master of Architecture candidate at the Tulane University School of Architecture, will be awarded $10,000 to travel to Syracuse, Palermo, and Trapani in Sicily to study the architectural styles and preservation techniques of eight tuna fisheries, known as tonnare.
In her submission, titled Mapping Memory: Linking the Landscape of Sicily’s Tuna Fisheries, Giuliana proposes to produce “a folio of drawings and photographs, accompanied by a written article, exploring how these buildings have changed over time, both physically and symbolically, and the ways in which medieval industrial structures can be utilized and experienced in the present.”
The jurors—RAMSA Partners Melissa DelVecchio, Daniel Lobitz, and Grant F. Marani—stated that “the adaptive reuse of these significant industrial buildings, which have become focal points in their communities, is an interesting subject matter—the reinvention of tonnare for current and future use is a pressing question in the context of sustainable thinking.” The jury also noted the proposal’s tight itinerary and focus on a singular typology that encompasses varying architectural styles and site conditions. “We appreciated seeing a passion for the topic in Giuliana’s portfolio, which included compelling drawings and watercolor renderings.”
Impressed by the quality of this year’s 69 submissions from 19 schools, the jurors designated Qiuyi Bian, a Master of Architecture in Urban Design candidate at Harvard University, as a runner-up for her proposal Woven Wooden Bridge: Chinese Floating Shrine. The jury also named two finalists: Cesar Delgado, Columbia University, Strengthened by Collective Care: The Fujian Tulou; and Zach Felder, Yale University, Architecture for the Artist: Rural American Artist Communities
The jury recognizes that summer travel may be postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. If safe travel to the proposed location is not feasible in 2022, RAMSA will work with the fellow to determine an alternate timeline and/or proposal.
About the RAMSA Fellowship
The RAMSA Fellowship is a $10,000 prize awarded annually by Robert A.M. Stern Architects for travel and research. The fellowship seeks to promote investigations into the perpetuation of tradition through invention—key to the firm’s own work—and is given to an individual who has proven insight and interest in the profession and its future, as well as the ability to carry forth in-depth research. The fellows typically complete their travel in the summer and present their research to RAMSA’s office in New York City the following spring.
The fellowship is open to graduate students in the penultimate year of a professional or post-professional degree program in architecture at a NAAB-accredited school. Now in its tenth year, past recipients have traveled to Austria, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and various cities in the United States, where they have studied a wide range of topics. For more information about the fellowship, read our recently published article “A Discussion About Travel, Research, and the RAMSA Fellowship” on RAMSA Storyboard. To view the proposals of previous recipients, visit www.ramsa.com/fellowship. The fellowship is administered by RAMSA Research, email fellowship@ramsa.com with any questions.
