Susie Kim (B.Arch ‘23) Awarded 2024 Highlands Travel Fellowship
Shacks crowded onto the Motomachi district’s western water’s edge, 1962. Source: Highlands application, Susie Kim (B.Arch '23)
Carnegie Mellon Architecture is pleased to announce that Susie Kim (B.Arch ‘23) has been selected as the winner of the 2024 Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship for her proposal “Hiroshima as Tabular Rasa: a new modern urban ethos in response to crisis and uncertainty.” The Highlands Fellowship supports Carnegie Mellon Architecture alumni in the study of collections belonging to locales to promote the professional development of awardees and contribute to the richness of our surroundings.
With this award, Kim will travel to Hiroshima, Japan this summer to study the residential and commercial locales of the central core of the city as an embodiment of a literal “tabula rasa” (blank slate) after World War II. In Hiroshima, “tabula rasa,” a term that once held emphasis on erasure over adaptation and a narrative of destruction, became tied to a need to respond to crisis and uncertainty. By exploring the social, political and economic contexts of Hiroshima and its ability to rebuild after the devastation of the atomic bomb, Kim aims to research it as an archetype of conflict zones being rebuilt and restored and how it may influence future visionary architecture and urbanism.
Using her skills in architectural sketching, analytical tools, graphic design, photography and bookbinding, Kim will collect her analyses into a three-part book collection showcasing her findings and propositions. These analyses may even act as a valuable reference for cities whose response to crises may be an opportunity for new possibilities. Kim stated in her application, “Especially with the violence and conflict occurring within the Middle East, there is no better time than this time, this place and this occupancy to study than now.”
The selection committee looks forward to seeing the final results of Kim’s study and extends its thanks to all of those who submitted proposals for consideration in this year’s call.
-
The Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship supports Carnegie Mellon Architecture alumni in the study of collections belonging to locales to promote the professional development of awardees and contribute to the richness of our surroundings. The Fellowship is named in honor of Professor Delbert Highlands, who taught courses in architectural design, design theory and architectural history at the school from the 1960s through the first decade of the twenty-first century. Professor Highlands’ teaching emphasized the “individual,” the “particular,” and the “local.” His courses were grounded in authoritative scholarship and meticulously presented fundamentals, but always went further by asking students to think of “this time,” “this place,” and this “occupancy.” He has been widely recognized as a seminal teacher whose skill and understanding enriched the educations of generations of students.
The Fellowship is offered on a biennial schedule. The school will announce the call for applications for the next award cycle in Spring 2025, with the submission deadline in Fall 2025.