Spirograph
an architectural model made of wood

Burdett Assistantship

B.Arch & M.Arch Student Award

“Constructing Narrative Driven Architecture” by Graana Khan (B.Arch ‘24), a recipient of the 2023 Burdett Assistantship, with partner Shray Tripathi (B.Arch ‘24). Bioswale Housing, 2021.

The Burdett Assistantship is open to all Carnegie Mellon Architecture students pursuing their first professional degree in architecture and is intended to support projects and activities that will enhance the winning student’s future work.

Jump To...

Carnegie Mellon Architecture will announce the call for applications for the next award cycle in the fall of 2024.

Mission

The Burdett Assistantship was established on December 10, 1982 in recognition of Bob Burdett’s long and outstanding service to Carnegie Mellon University and the profession. Burdett received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture in 1950 from the College of Fine Arts and spent more than 30 years as a faculty member at the university.

This award is open to all students pursuing their first professional degree in architecture and is intended to support projects and activities that will enhance the winning student’s future work. According to its charter, the winner of the Burdett Assistantship “shall possess love of their subject, integrity, patience, fairness and respect for others since these are the qualities exemplified by Bob Burdett throughout his career.” Scholarships are awarded to B.Arch and M.Arch students.

Evaluation Criteria

Applicants must submit a proposal which clearly explains the project purpose, research objectives, methods and materials. This award can support a collective project by multiple students. Selection is based on the impact of the proposal in relation to the applicant’s future work.

To be considered for the Burdett Assistantship, eligible applicants must submit a complete application that includes the following information:

  • A one-page project proposal explaining the project
  • A one-page budget and schedule plan

Fall 2023 Jury: Matthew Huber (Chair), Vicki Achnani, Nina Baird, Jongwan Kwon
Fall 2023 Award Amount: $4,000 each (two (2) available for B.Arch and one (1) available for M.Arch)

Eligibility & Schedule

The Burdett Assistantship is open to all B.Arch and M.Arch students pursuing their first professional degree in architecture.

Carnegie Mellon Architecture will announce the call for applications for the next award cycle in the fall of 2024.

Award Recipients

  • 2023: Graana Khan (B.Arch '24), Proposal: Architectural Non-Form Manifestations: How Pashtun Women Experience Their World Orally
    Ella Moon (B.Arch '26), Proposal: Cells to Structures: Applications of Biomimetic Design in Adaptable Structures
    Meghan Pisarcik (M.Arch '24), Proposal: Fabricated Light Structure
  • 2022 (fall): Vanshika Bhaiya (B.Arch ‘25) & Neha Chopra (B.Arch ‘25), Proposal: Identifying Flood Resistant Construction Techniques and Material Application in Southeast Asian Vernacular Architecture
    Gabrielle Benson (B.Arch ‘24), Proposal: Knotted: Textile Transformations from Surface to Mass
    Yonghao Zhang (B.Arch ‘24), Proposal: Speculation as Critique - Pittsburgh Mines
    Priyanka Thakur (M.Arch ‘24), Proposal: Learning from the Architecture of the Forest Towards Symbiosis
    Ajay Chovatia (M.Arch ‘24), Proposal: Affordable Housing: A Visual Handbook of Incremental Housing 
  • 2022 (spring): Olivia Werner (B.Arch ‘22) Proposal: Mediated Worlds: An Exhibition of Transformative Bodily Interfaces
    Kashmala Imtiaz (M.Arch ‘22), Proposal: Material Transition and its Socio-Cultural Impact – The Case of Azad Kashmir
  • 2021: Kirman Hanson (B.Arch ’21, MSSD ‘22) & Rachel Lu (B.Arch ‘21), Proposal: Perceived Places
    Schuyler McAuliffe (M.Arch ‘21, MUD ‘22), Proposal: The Shape of Energy
  • 2020: Shariq Shah (B.Arch ‘22), Proposal: Interrogating the Temporal and Exploring Tectonics
    Sharleen Devjani (M.Arch ‘21), Proposal: Staying Afloat 
  • 2019: Alina Kramkova (B.Arch ‘20), Proposal: The Last Clinic: An Analysis and Conversation with Contested Space
    Joao Castro, (M.Arch ‘20), Proposal: Retrofitting Shipping Containers to Passive House Criteria
    Kyle Bancroft (M.Arch ‘20), Proposal: EntRE_Margaret Morrison 
  • 2018: Zain Islam-Hashmi (B.Arch '19) & Gargi Lagvankar (B.Arch '19), Proposal: Topographic Textures
  • 2017: Fan (Francis) Yang (B.Arch ’18), Proposal: Reconstruction of Sacred Space
  • 2016: Carolina Tamayo (B.Arch '17), Proposal: Making of the "Resting Pod"
  • 2015: Avanti Daholkar (B.Arch '16), Proposal: Design of SoA InterARC, a touchscreen interface in CFA Great Hall
  • 2014: Joel McCullough (B.Arch '15)
  • 2013: Alexandre Kinney (B.Arch '14)
  • 2012: Samuel Rashid (B.Arch '13)
  • 2011: Samuel Faller (B.Arch '12)
  • 2010: Josiah Haskell (B.Arch '11)
  • 2009: Yifei Lu (B.Arch ’10)
  • 2008: Christian Wagner (B.Arch '09), Proposal: Travel to visit three Olympic villages in Europe: London, Athens, and Lausanne (headquarters)