Madlener House
4 West Burton Place
Chicago, Illinois 60610
Telephone: 312.787.4071
info@grahamfoundation.org
Criteria for Evaluation
Given the foundation’s interest in identifying the most promising dissertation projects, the following criteria are taken into consideration during the application review.
We are primarily interested in projects that are original and have the potential to impact the field of architecture:
- Originality: the dissertation demonstrates an innovative, challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new approach or methodology
- Potential for impact: the dissertation makes a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry; raises awareness of an understudied issue
We also look for the project’s feasibility and the applicant’s capacity:
- Feasibility: the dissertation project has a sound methodology and clear, realistic goals; a reasonable timeframe for research or writing; available and accessible sources
- Capacity: applicant possesses strong qualifications and/or knowledge and demonstrates ability to complete the dissertation successfully
Eligibility
PhD students who are presently candidates for a doctoral degree are eligible to apply.
- Students must be nominated by their department to apply for the Carter Manny Award.
- A department may nominate up to two candidates: one for the research award and one for the writing award.
- At the time of application, students must have completed all requirements for the PhD except the dissertation and have had their dissertation proposals formally approved by their academic departments.
- A student may reapply for the Carter Manny Award if a previous application was not successful. Due to limited funds, a student who received a research award or a writing award is not eligible to apply for another Carter Manny Award in subsequent years.
- The award is open to students officially enrolled in schools in the United States and Canada, regardless of citizenship.
Work being undertaken in pursuit of an academic degree is not otherwise eligible for Graham Foundation support.
Award Types
The Graham Foundation offers two Carter Manny Awards: one for a student at the research stage of the doctoral dissertation and one for a student at the writing stage of the doctoral dissertation.
Research award
The research award assists students with research that is essential to the doctoral project. The research award can be used for travel, documentation, materials, supplies, and other research and development costs. Applicants for a research award should have a clearly defined work plan, travel plan, and goals.
The research award is acknowledged with up to $15,000.
Writing award
The writing award encourages timely completion of the PhD by assisting students who are in the advanced stages of the dissertation with one year of writing. While some of the award funds may be used for final research, the award is intended to support and facilitate uninterrupted writing. Applicants for a writing award will be asked to submit a writing sample from the dissertation, a dissertation table of contents, and a writing schedule.
The writing award is acknowledged with up to $20,000.
Citations of Special Recognition
A limited number of Citations of Special Recognition may be determined in some years in recognition of outstanding projects.
How to Apply
Applicants for the Carter Manny Award undergo a competitive selection and review process. Students must be nominated by their department to apply for the Carter Manny Award. Submitted applications are thoroughly reviewed by a diverse panel of recognized scholars in the fields of inquiry represented by the award.
The panel’s recommendations are presented to the foundation’s Board of Trustees for consideration. Upon award, recipients are asked to sign an Award Agreement that outlines the conditions of the award, such as reporting.
The annual application deadline for the Carter Manny Award is November 15. Applicants are notified of funding decisions in early spring of each year.
Calendar for the 2018 Carter Manny Award
Application available online: September 15, 2017
Application deadline: November 15, 2017
Award decision notification: April 2018
Award period: The one-year award period begins between June 1 and September 1, 2018 for the 2018–19 academic year
Application
To start an application for the 2018 Carter Manny Award, you will need a grant application account with an email address and a password.
When registering for a grant application account, applicants should use an e-mail address that is frequently used and monitored. The email address will also be the primary form of correspondence throughout the application process. If a grant is awarded, grantees will continue to maintain and access their account throughout the duration of their award for functions such as grant reporting.
- To create an account or to start a new application, click here
- To resume work on your application, go to My Account
The Carter Manny Award application will request the following information:
- Applicant name, contact information, school affiliation, and program status
- Applicant’s Graham Foundation grant history
- Dissertation title
- Dissertation abstract (150 word maximum)
- Work plan for research or writing
- Project statement (1000 word maximum)
- Bibliographic essay (750 word maximum)
Nomination Letter: This is a brief letter from your department or program administrator confirming that you have been nominated by your department to apply for the Carter Manny Award. The letter must also verify that you have completed all coursework; that you have advanced to PhD candidacy; and that your proposed dissertation has been formally approved by the department.
Reference Letters: Three letters of reference are also required as part of your application.
- A letter of support from your thesis advisor
- A letter of support from a specialist in your area of research who is outside your university and not a member of your dissertation committee.
- A letter of support from a reference of your own choosing
Attachments: Attachments will be uploaded with your application. The maximum size for all attachments combined is 20MB.
- Curriculum vitae (3 page maximum)
- Writing sample (20 page maximum; applicants for the writing award must submit a writing sample from the dissertation. Applicants for the research award are encouraged to submit a writing sample that is related to the dissertation topic.)
- Visuals, such as image samples (optional)
Carter Manny Award
Since the Carter Manny Award’s establishment in 1996, over $775,000 has been awarded in recognition of outstanding doctoral students whose work represents some of the most innovative and advanced scholarship on architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The Carter Manny Award supports dissertation research and writing by promising scholars whose projects have architecture as their primary focus and the potential to shape architectural discourse. Projects may be drawn from the various fields of inquiry supported by the Graham Foundation: architectural history, theory, and criticism; design; engineering; landscape architecture; urban planning; urban studies; visual arts; and other related fields. (See the Overview of our grant programs). The award assists students enrolled in graduate programs in architecture, art history, the fine arts, humanities, and the social sciences working on architecture topics.
The Graham Foundation offers two Carter Manny Awards: a research award for a student at the research stage of the doctoral dissertation and a writing award for a student at the writing stage of the doctoral dissertation. The research award is acknowledged with up to $15,000 and the writing award is acknowledged with up to $20,000.
The Carter Manny Award applications are reviewed by a diverse panel of recognized scholars in the fields of inquiry represented by the award.
The Graham Foundation offers this prestigious annual award in honor of Carter H. Manny (1918–2017) and his long and distinguished service to the Graham Foundation. Manny served the Foundation since its inception in 1956, first as a trustee, then as the director from 1971, and after his retirement in 1993, as director emeritus.
Award Recipients
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The Space of Sanctions: Architecture and Construction in Contemporary Iran
Razieh GhorbaniDepartment of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley2017 -
The Psychotechnical Architect: Perception, Vocation, and the Laboratory Cultures of Modernism, 1914–1945
James GrahamGraduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University2017 -
Welt bildend: Architectures of Security and Infrastructural Modernism in Germany and Beyond, 1848–1952
Hollyamber KennedyGraduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University2016 -
Rearing the Royals: Architecture and the Spatialization of Royal Childhood in France, 1499–1610
Elisabeth NarkinDepartment of Art, Art History and Visual Studies , Duke University2016 -
A City Is Not A Picture: Yona Friedman, 1945–2015
Jesse LockardDepartment of Art History, University of Chicago2015 -
A Concrete Alliance: Modernism, Communism, and the Design of Urban France, 1958–1981
Vanessa GrossmanSchool of Architecture, Princeton University2015 -
Embedded Remnants in Modern Architecture: Karl Friedrich Schinkel and the Historiography of Remains
Steven LauritanoDepartment of the History of Art, Yale University2014 -
Citizen Architects: Ethics, Education, and the Construction of a Profession, 1933-2013
Anna GoodmanDepartment of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley2014 -
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German Architecture and Modern Acoustical Science
Joseph Clarke2012 -
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Ownership, Entrepreneurship, and Identity: The Gens de Couleur Libres and the Architecture of Antebellum New Orleans, 1830-1850
Tara DudleySchool of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin2011 -
Designing Destinations: Hotel Architecture, Urbanism, and American Tourism in Puerto Rico and Cuba since 1898
Erica MorawskiDepartment of Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago2011 -
The Shape of Utopia: Architectures of Radical Reform in Nineteenth-Century America
Irene ChengGraduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University2010 -
Alvin Boyarsky's 'Well-Laid Table': Experiments in Architectural Pedagogy
Irene SunwooSchool of Architecture, Princeton University2010 -
The Informal as a Project: Self-Help Housing in Peru, 1954–1986
Helen GygerColumbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation2009 -
Vision in Motion: Architectural Space Time Notation and the Ecological Perception of Space
Divya Rao HeffleyHistory of Art and Architecture, Brown University2008 -
Wasteland: American Landscapes in/and 1960s Art
Emily Eliza ScottDepartment of Art History, University of California, Los Angeles2007 -
The Modern Church in Rome: Architecture, Theology, and Community, 1945-80
Timothy ParkerSchool of Architecture , University of Texas at Austin2006 -
The Origins of the American School Building: Boston Public School Architecture, 1800-1860
Rachel RemmelDepartment of Art History, University of Chicago2005 -
Seizing the Means of Consumption: Kooperativa Forbundet and the Swedish Home, 1924-1957
Lucy CreaghGraduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University2004 -
Nature and the City: Class, Power, and the Creation of Metropolitan Boston, 1820-1920
Michael RawsonDepartment of History, University of Wisconsin at Madison2003 -
Entertainment for Men: Playboy and the Construction of Masculinity, 1953–1986
Elizabeth FraterrigoDepartment of History, Loyola University Chicago2002 -
The Politics of Food in Modern Morocco
Stacy E. HoldenDepartment of History, Boston University2001 -
The Transformation of the Schoolhouse: American Secondary School Architecture and Educational Reform, 1880-1920
Dale Allen GyureDepartment of Architectural History, University of Virginia2000 -
Painting in Stone: The Symbolic Uses of Coloured Marbles in the Visual Arts from late Antiquity until the Age of Enlightenment
Fabio BarryDepartment of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University1999 -
The Road to Consumption: Outdoor Advertising and the American Cultural Landscape, 1917-1965
Catherine GudisAmerican Studies Program, Yale University1998 -
The Logic of the Bones: Architecture and the Anatomical Sciences at the Museum D'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 1789-1889
Paula Young LeeDepartment of Art History, University of Chicago1997 -
Public/Private Geographies: Constructing Order in Chicago's City Streets, 1893-1922
Laura K. SwartzbaughProgram in American Studies, University of Minnesota1996
The Richard Solomon Award for Architectural Journalism
Richard Solomon, Director of the Graham Foundation from 1993 to 2005, was a consummate professional whose thoughtful and careful consideration of informed and creative architectural discourse contributed immeasurably to a far-reaching architectural community.
Richard had a particularly deep interest in architectural journalism. Whether through support of a student publication or an emerging or mature journal in the field, he sought to assure the highest standard and breadth of architectural journalism. This commitment is evident in Richard's generous bequest of $50,000, in the form of a challenge grant, to the Graham Foundation in support of architectural journalism.
Owing to the generosity and kindness of friends and colleagues of the Graham Foundation, we are pleased to announce that we have met and surpassed Richard’s challenge. We are currently working to establish the Richard Solomon Award for Architectural Journalism.
How to Apply
The Graham Foundation’s application is a two-stage process and is open submission. The review is a very competitive process as we receive many more applications than we are able to fund. Funding decisions at all stages of the review are based on:
- Priority of the proposed project as related to our mission and interests
- The project’s fulfillment of our criteria for evaluation
- Availability of Graham Foundation funds
Stage One/Inquiry Form: Eligible candidates interested in applying for a grant from the Graham Foundation must first submit an Inquiry Form. The Inquiry Form becomes available on our website with each grant cycle and must be submitted online.
Stage Two/Proposal Form: After Inquiry Forms are reviewed, applicants whose projects best match our priorities and interests are invited to submit a Proposal Form and supplementary materials. Applicants who are not invited to submit a Proposal Form are sent a decline letter at this stage. An invitation to submit a Proposal Form does not guarantee eventual funding. Please note that we cannot accept proposals other than those invited.
Award Decision: Funding recommendations are presented to the Board of Trustees for consideration. If a grant is awarded to you, you will be asked to sign a grant agreement that outlines the conditions of the grant, such as annual reporting.
Calendar for 2019 Grants to Individuals cycle
Stage One/Inquiry Form deadline: September 15, 2018, 5pm Central Time
Stage Two/Proposal Form notification: after December 15, 2018
Grant decision notification: April 2019
Earliest project start date: June 1, 2019
Inquiry Form
Eligible individuals interested in applying for a grant from the Graham Foundation must submit an Inquiry Form by September 15, 2017. Applicants whose projects best match our priorities and interests are invited to the second stage review and submit a Proposal Form and supplementary materials.
To create a grant application account or to start a new Inquiry Form, click here
To resume work on your existing Inquiry Form, go to My Account
Note: If you are awarded a grant or if you apply for another grant in the future, you will use this same grant application account. Your email address is associated with your account log in. You should therefore use an email address that you expect to be able to access in the future. (If you change your email addresses, you will need to contact the Graham Foundation to update your account.)
The deadline to submit an Inquiry Form is September 15, 2017, 5pm Central Time.
You may only submit one Inquiry Form per year.
Calendar for 2018 Grants to Individuals cycle
Stage One/Inquiry Form deadline: September 15, 2017
Stage Two/Proposal Form notification: after December 15, 2017
Grant decision notification: April 2018
Earliest project start date: June 1, 2018
Eligibility
Our grantmaking focuses on individuals in the United States, however, we do make a small percentage of international grants. Please note we require that final projects be disseminated in English.
Grants to Individuals:
- Individuals are eligible to apply for Production and Presentation Grants and Research and Development Grants.
- Collaborative projects by individuals are eligible for funding. A collaborator is defined as a co-author of the project. A collaborator is not a participant who is providing contracted services for the project.
- Individuals may only apply for one grant per year.
- Applicants who have received prior Graham Foundation support must have satisfied all grant requirements before applying again.
- Individuals working on independent projects who are required by their organizations to apply for and receive funding under the aegis of the organization (e.g., a faculty member of an academic institution) may use a fiscal agent.
Fiscal Agent:
The Graham Foundation does not require individuals to have a fiscal agent. However, in the event that an organization requires an individual employee working on an independent project to apply for and receive funding under the aegis of the organization (e.g., a faculty member of an academic institution), the organization may serve as a fiscal agent. Individuals that require a fiscal agent must follow all guidelines, eligibility requirements, and deadlines for Grants to Individuals. Applicants must indicate on the Inquiry Form that they have a fiscal agent.
Ineligible Costs:
- Endowment
- General operating expenses
- Capital projects
- Scholarship aid or work in pursuit of an academic degree (advanced doctoral candidates are eligible to apply for the Carter Manny Award)
- Work focused on K-12 curriculum or learning and/or intended for K-12 audiences
- Debt or expenses incurred prior to the date of grant request
Priorities and Criteria
For individuals, our priorities are to:
- Provide opportunities to create, develop, and communicate a project about architecture and the designed environment that will contribute to their creative, intellectual, and professional growth at crucial or potentially transformative stages in their careers.
- Support their efforts to take positions, develop new forms of expression, and engage debate.
- Help them communicate their work in the public realm and reach new and wider audiences.
- Support new voices by giving priority to first-time applicants.
Overall we are most interested in opportunities which enable us to provide critical support at key points in the development of a project or career.
Criteria for Evaluation
Given our priorities, we believe projects of the greatest potential should fulfill the following criteria:
- Originality: the project demonstrates an innovative, challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new or experimental approach
- Potential for impact: the project makes a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry; raises awareness of an understudied issue; promotes diversity in subject matter, participants, and audience
- Feasibility: the project has clear and realistic goals, timeframe, work plan, and budget
- Capacity: applicant possesses strong qualifications and/or knowledge; demonstrates ability to carry out the project successfully; has access to necessary resources outside of the grant request
Grant Types
The Graham Foundation offers two types of grants to individuals: Production and Presentation Grants and Research and Development Grants.
Production and Presentation Grants:
These grants assist individuals with the production-related expenses that are necessary to take a project from conceptualization to realization and public presentation. These projects include, but are not limited to, publications, exhibitions, installations, films, and new media projects.
Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, budgets, and production and dissemination plans.
Committed Producers: Individuals applying for Production and Presentation Grants should have a Committed Producer(s) for the project, that is, an entity committed to producing and/or presenting the project with the individual, such as a publisher, exhibition venue, etc.
Grant amount: Production and Presentation Grants to individuals do not exceed $20,000 and are likely to be less. Given the demand for funding, the Graham Foundation is not always able to fund projects at the full request amount.
Grant period: Production and Presentation Grants must be completed within two years. Applicants should allow sufficient time to plan, implement, close out their project, and, if funded, acknowledge Graham Foundation support in all published media.
Research and Development Grants:
Though the majority of our grantmaking focuses on Production and Presentation Grants, we recognize that projects may require support at early stages of formation. Research and Development Grants assist individuals with seed money for research-related expenses such as travel, documentation, materials, supplies, and other development costs. Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, and budgets.
Upon completion of research projects, recipients of Research and Development Grants must complete a research report and provide documentation that can be archived at the Graham Foundation and/or presented on our website.
A recipient of a Research and Development Grant is eligible to apply for a Production and Presentation Grant for the same project once the first grant has been satisfied, however, future funding is not guaranteed.
Grant amount: Research and Development Grants do not exceed $10,000 and are likely to be less. Given the demand for funding, the Graham Foundation is not always able to fund grantees at the full request amount.
How to Apply
The Graham Foundation’s application for Grants to Organizations is a one-stage process. Organizations with eligible projects are invited to apply for funding consideration. The review is a very competitive process, as we receive many more applications than we are able to fund. Funding decisions are based on:
- Priority of the proposed project as related to our mission and interests
- The project’s fulfillment of our criteria for evaluation
- Availability of Graham Foundation funds
Application: Candidates interested in applying for a grant from the Graham Foundation must submit an application. The application becomes available on our website with each grant cycle and must be submitted online.
Award Decision: Funding recommendations are presented to the Board of Trustees for consideration. If a grant is awarded to you, you will be asked to sign a grant agreement that outlines the conditions of the award, such as annual reporting.
Calendar for 2018 Grants to Organizations cycle
Application available online: January 9, 2018
Application deadline: February 25, 2018, 5pm CST
Grant decision notification: July 2018
Earliest project start date: September 15, 2018
Application
The application deadline for the Graham Foundation’s 2018 Grants to Organizations is February 25, 2018, 5pm CST. Organizations with eligible projects are invited to apply for funding consideration for projects that begin after September 15, 2018.
To start an application, you will need a grant application account with an email address and a password.
When registering for a grant application account, applicants should use an email address at their organization that is frequently used and monitored. The email address will also be the primary form of correspondence throughout the application process. If a grant is awarded, grantees will continue to maintain and access their account throughout the duration of their award for functions such as grant reporting.
Application for 2018 Grants to Organizations
- To create a grant application account or to start a new application, click here
- To resume work on your existing application, go to My Account
The application will request the following information:
- Organizational information, including the organization's Graham Foundation grant history
- Project title
- One-sentence project description
- Project abstract (150 words)
- Project statement (500 words)
- Short answer questions
- Project start date and end date (Production and Presentation Grants must be completed within two years.)
- Work plan and project timeline
- Biography for project author/artist and for project collaborators
- Project production and presentation specifications
- Names of two references
Attachments (Uploaded with the application. The maximum size for all attachments combined is 10MB.)
- Project budget (One page maximum)
- Organizational budget (One page maximum)
- Curriculum vitae of artists/authors
- Work samples
- Presentation Images
Calendar for 2018 Grants to Organizations cycle
Application available online: January 9, 2018
Application deadline: February 25, 2018, 5pm CST
Grant decision notification: July 2018
Earliest project start date: September 15, 2018
Eligibility
Our grantmaking focuses on organizations in the United States, however, we do make a small percentage of international grants. Please note we require that final projects be disseminated in English.
Grants to Organizations:
- Organizations are eligible to apply for Production and Presentation Grants.
- 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations are eligible for funding. Under some circumstances we will make grants to other entities when there is clear evidence that the public interest will be served, for example, in the case of a publisher or an emerging organization that does not yet have tax exempt status.
- An organization or academic department/unit may only apply for one grant per year. (In the case of large institutions with multiple departments, a subsidiary department/unit may apply for one grant per year. For example, an academic department/unit at a university may apply for one grant per year.)
- Applicants who have received prior Graham Foundation support must have satisfied all grant requirements before applying again.
Ineligible Costs:
- Endowment
- General operating expenses
- Capital projects
- Scholarship aid or work in pursuit of an academic degree (advanced doctoral candidates are eligible to apply for the Carter Manny Award)
- Work focused on K-12 curriculum or learning and/or intended for K-12 audiences
- Debt or expenses incurred prior to the date of grant request
Priorities and Criteria
For organizations, our priorities are to:
- Assist with the production and presentation of significant programs about architecture and the designed environment in order to promote dialogue, raise awareness, and develop new and wider audiences.
- Support them in their effort to take risks in programming and create opportunities for experimentation.
- Recognize the vital role they play in providing individuals with a public forum in which to present their work.
- Help them to realize projects that would otherwise not be possible without our support.
Overall we are most interested in opportunities which enable us to provide critical support at key points in the development of a project or career.
Criteria for Evaluation
Given our priorities, we believe projects of the greatest potential should fulfill the following criteria:
- Originality: the project demonstrates an innovative, challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new or experimental approach
- Potential for impact: the project makes a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry; raises awareness of an understudied issue; promotes diversity in subject matter, participants, and audience
- Feasibility: the project has clear and realistic goals, timeframe, work plan, and budget
- Capacity: applicant possesses strong qualifications and/or knowledge; demonstrates ability to carry out the project successfully; has access to necessary resources outside of the grant request
Grant Types
The Graham Foundation offers Production and Presentation Grants to organizations.
These grants assist organizations with the production-related expenses that are necessary to take a project from conceptualization to realization and public presentation. These projects include, but are not limited to, publications, exhibitions, installations, films, new media projects, conferences/lectures, and other public programs.
Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, budgets, and production and dissemination plans.
Applications for Publication Support: Unless the applicant is a publisher, an organization applying for publication support should have a committed publisher for the work, that is, a publisher with whom you have a contractual agreement to publish your project.
Grant amount: Production and Presentation Grants to organizations do not exceed $30,000 and are likely to be much less. Given the demand for funding, the Graham Foundation is not always able to fund grantees at the full request amount.
Grant period: Production and Presentation Grants must be completed within two years of the project start date. Applicants should allow sufficient time to plan, implement, close out their project, and, if funded, acknowledge Graham Foundation support in all published media.
Carter H. Manny
Richard Solomon
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