The 2015 RIBA Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship has been awarded to Charles Palmer of Sheffield University School of Architecture for his proposal, ‘Cycling Megacities’.
The study will take Charles to megacities in four developing countries – Mexico City, Mexico; Lagos, Nigeria; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Shenzhen, China, each of which presents different challenges to bicycle advocacy and urban design. He will explore how policies, investments and campaigns are transforming urban public space in a bid to make the bicycle a transportation option for all social classes.
The jury was chaired by Lord Foster and comprised Stephen Hodder, RIBA President, Lady Hopkins, Founding Partner of Hopkins Architects, Peter Oborn, RIBA Vice President International and Spencer de Grey, Roger Ridsdill Smith and Narinder Sagoo of Foster + Partners.
During the debate, the jury also highly commended ‘Extreme Environments’ by Teodora Todorova of the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia. Teodora will receive a camera as a prize for her proposal to study some of the world’s driest, wettest and coldest regions.
