Ansal University's Disha Sahu Selected for '2013 BERKELEY PRIZE Travel Fellow'

NEW DELHI and GURGAON, India, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Ansal University, Gurgaon, an autonomous university dedicated to providing advanced trans-disciplinary education added another feather in their cap with a 4th year student from Sushant School of Art & Architecture, Disha Sahu being selected for the prestigious 2013 BERKELEY PRIZE Travel Fellowship. The BERKELEY PRIZE Competition was established in 1998, made possible by a generous gift of Judith Lee Stronach to the Department of Architecture in the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley.

Through three distinct competitions - the Essay Competition; the Travel Fellowship Competition; and new this year, the Teaching Fellowship Competition - the international BERKELEY PRIZE competition encourages undergraduate architecture students and their teachers worldwide to go into their communities for the purpose of thinking and writing about issues central to the understanding of the social art of architecture. 

Speaking on the occasion, Dean Dr. Rupinder Singh, Sushant School of Art & Architecture, said, "At SSAA, we are geared towards developing in each of our students a strong sense of design, technical sensibility and all-round awareness about their surroundings early in their career. We are proud that our student Disha Sahu has been shortlisted for the coveted BERKELEY PRIZE Travel fellowship. This opportunity will give her exposure to a broad range of issues and will inspire her to experiment, create and refine her ideas."

The 2013 BERKELEY PRIZE focuses on the topic: The Architect and the Accessible City. 152 architecture students from 26 countries responded to this year's question: Provide us with an overview of what is being done in your city to make it accessible to people who have physical disabilities.  

Disha Sahu who participated in the 2013 Essay Competition communicated the idea of integrated inclusiveness, exploring the need for accessibility in mass transit infrastructure and a seamless vertical integration between various modes of urban transit to achieve first and last mile connectivity.

About the BERKELEY PRIZE:

Each year, the PRIZE Committee poses a question on the competition website. Students enrolled in any undergraduate architecture program throughout the world or those in collateral disciplines teamed with such students are invited to submit a 500-word essay proposal in English responding to the question. 

From this pool of essays, approximately 25 are selected as particularly promising by the PRIZE Committee, a group of, currently, 64 international architects, architectural educators, social scientists, writers, and general thinkers. The 25 semifinalists are then asked to submit a 2,500-word essay expanding on their proposals. 

The Committee then selects five to eight of the best essays and sends these finalists on to a jury of international architects and academics to select the winners. The BERKELEY PRIZE Essay Competition is announced, papers submitted, and reader- and jury-reviewed all online. 

The essay semifinalists are also offered the opportunity to participate in the BERKELEY PRIZE Travel Fellowship Competition. Simultaneously, faculty at accredited schools of architecture worldwide who teach undergraduate architecture students are invited to apply for a year-long Teaching Fellowship.

About Sushant School of Art & Architecture:

In the last 20 years, Sushant School of Art and Architecture has established itself as one of the top 3 architectural institutes in the Indian subcontinent (as per the EUMD India List of Top Architectural Institutions in India by the British Council). Established in the year 1989, by the Chiranjeev Charitable Trust, the school finds its faith in the agenda of change, which inspires students to experiment, create, and refine their ideas. Sushant School has had many past associations with International Universities such as the Oxford Brookes' University, University Of York, University Of Melbourne, Frank Lloyd Foundation, USA, University Of Virginia, University Of British Columbia, Vancouver, University Of Montreal, Aristotle University Of Thessaloniki, Greece and Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago etc. Sushant School is also an affiliate member of the Association of the Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), U.S.A. and various other such relationships with International organizations make SSAA well-recognized and respected by the world design community.

About Ansal University, Gurgaon:

Established in 2012, the Ansal University is dedicated to providing an advanced quality of education with a futuristic approach for students drawn from around the world in the disciplines and professions that have the greatest bearing on the future of India and the world. Located in a sprawling campus in the heart of Gurgaon, the campus of Ansal University is a marvel in itself. The organization has a rich intellectual capital comprising of about 150 highly qualified and experienced faculties from diverse fields. Interactive sessions with the students and faculty under the Platform Lecture series are conducted every month by eminent personalities like Mr. Raj Jain, MD & CEO, Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal, Joint Managing Director, Hero Moto Corp and Chairman of Hero Corporate Service and Dr. H K Chopra, Chief Cardiologist, MoolchandMedcity, New Delhi.

Primary Media Contact: Pallavi Sharma, [email protected], 91-8394901869

Secondary Media Contact: Rinu Jha, [email protected], 91-9999687155