Lauren Ballard was the 2018 recipient of the The Aydelott Travel Award and the Aydelott Prize. These were established by Alfred Lewis Aydelott, FAIA (1916-2008) and his wife, Hope Galloway Aydelott (1920-2010) to help architecture students at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Auburn University; Mississippi State University; and the University of Tennessee to develop effective analytical skills. Design critic Susan Szenasy was one of the jurors for the 2018 cycle of this award/prize, and she brought Ballard’s essay to the attention of COTE.
“The response of architecture to catastrophic climate change is yet to be defined even as weather-related disasters multiply, ravaging built environments around the globe,” says Szenasy. “Ballard’s careful documentation of successful and flawed rebuilding efforts puts architects at the center of the action. Not surprisingly, the best and most lasting results are always more than building for survival or worse, the grand gesture. The way she sees it, the world needs architects who can create hope by tapping into the wisdom of local communities, helping them transition from recovery to building the foundations for their sustainable future. Mr. Aydelott would be proud!”
Alfred Aydelott strongly felt that architectural-school graduates should be able to “analyze" buildings. For this reason, he and his wife, Hope, provided an endowment that annually grants each of four architectural students a $20,000 traveling fellowship, with the requirement being that they visit four buildings of their choice and then to write about their experience analytically. Mr. Aydelott put it this way: “The requirement of a written essay of criticism on each building selected prepares the recipient for what he [or she] will continually be required to do in his architectural career. He [or she] should be prepared to put into words an analysis of his [or her] own work such that a board of directors, an architectural publication, a news reporter, or any client will have an understanding of the design and the thinking behind it.”
Ballard’s essay is called “The Architect’s Role in Disaster Recovery” and focuses on four buildings.