Submissions due January 15, 2020
The Avery Review, a journal of critical essays on architecture published by the Office of Publications at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, invites submissions for its third annual Essay Prize. The call is open to current students (undergraduate and masters) and recent graduates, whether in schools of architecture or elsewhere (eligibility details below). In keeping with the mission of the journal, we hope to receive submissions that use the genres of the review and the critical essay to explore some of the urgent questions animating the field of architecture. We’re looking for essays that test and expand the author’s own intellectual commitments—theoretical, architectural, and political—through the work of others. We encourage you to (re)visit and (re)read the prize winning essays of years past:
In issue 39, Oskar Johanson journeyed to Gorda Cay to expose the counterfeit histories of Walt Disney imagineering; Marcell Hajdu rendered the demand for spectacular imagery by Hungary’s current “illiberal” regime; Alex Tell touched down on various moments that elucidate the problems and possibilities of “air rights”; and Zoë Toledo eroded the disguise of the Indian New Deal on Navajo territory in the 1930s.
In issue 31, Tizziana Baldenebro confronted the undervaluation of critical black female art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s inclusionary curatorial practices; Elsa Hoover investigated the violent intersection of resource extraction, land ownership, and tribal sovereignty in the “man camp”; Kahira Ngige speculated on the megachurch and the urban implications of ecclesiastical architecture in Nairobi; and Sajdeep Soomal situated family history within the colonial orders of Ontario and the Punjab.
We plan to award one first-place prize ($5,000) and three second-place prizes ($2,500) across the various categories of eligible participants. The winning essays will be published in our April 2020 issue.
Submissions
Submissions for the Avery Review Essay Prize should take the form of critical essays on books, buildings, and other architectural media, broadly defined. We’re delighted to receive work that was developed in the context of classes and seminars as well as independent writing. Our essays are typically 2,500–3,500 words in length and have some object of review at their core. We like stylish, concise, accessible, and earnestly felt writing. Texts should be submitted as double-spaced Word files without images; you may provide six to eight images compiled into a separate PDF (keep attachments to 3mb max please). Submissions should be emailed to editors@averyreview.com.
Eligibility
Current undergraduates, current masters-level students, and recent graduates (graduation date after 12/1/2018) from any undergraduate or master’s program at any university are eligible. Please include your student status and graduation date (actual or anticipated) in your submission email. We encourage submissions from any field of study that takes architecture as a subject.
If you will be a student in the 2020–2021 academic year, please be aware that in accordance with university and federal policy, prizes and awards are taxable and are reported for inclusion in student financial aid packages, and may reduce other financial aid the student may receive.