The Rotch Traveling Scholarship have announced Prof. Gustavo Crembil and CASE doctoral candidate Ms. Mae-Ling Lokko, as this year’s winners of the 2015-16 Rotch Traveling Studio Competition.  Their application, entitled “Old Accra: Upcycling of Agrowaste”, was reviewed by a jury and chosen from applications submitted by faculty nationwide.  The award includes $20,000 to be used for travel.

Their application describes a plan for “an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural design-and-build studio that investigates the development of modular proto-architectural structures (canopies, kiosks) made of local waste agricultural by-products.”  Their ultimate goal aspires to develop design strategies “at multiple scales that directly engage both cultural patrimonies and modern-day aspirations to drive architectural and social innovation.”

Crembil / Lokko (vertical) studio will take place in Spring 2016 at Troy in conjunction with the CASE Interdisciplinary Studio led by Demetrios Comodromos, Anna Dyson and Josh Draper at NYC, as part of a wider academic-industrial initiative initiated at CASE to propel the upcycling of biomaterial waste from agri-industry towards critical urban development interventions. 

Plans include travel for faculty and 12 students to Ghana in March 2016, where they will work with distinguished scholars, industrial partners and cultural institutions.

In a statement, Rotch officials said, “the jury was impressed not only with the conceptual clarity of Prof. Crembil and Ms. Lokko’s proposal … but also in the high level of detail laid out in their proposed approach … Most remarkably, the jury thought this proposal best demonstrated the capacity to leverage a relatively modest award for maximum impact, meaningful local benefits, and a powerful experience for the students.  Overall, it was a socially relevant, pedagogically impactful, and thoughtfully written proposal that aligns perfectly with the goals of the Rotch Studio.”

The Rotch Travelling Scholarship was founded in 1883 in honor of Benjamin Smith Rotch, and is the oldest traveling scholarship in the United States for architects.  Benjamin Smith Rotch of Milton, MA, studied painting in Paris and understood the importance for architects to engage in foreign travel.  Following his death in 1882, his children established the Rotch Travelling Scholarship.  In 1980, the Boston Society of Architects was appointed to assist in the selection of Rotch scholars.