The SOM Foundation has announced the 2011 SOM Prize Winner and Runner-up.   Brandon Clifford, a recent graduate of the Master of Architecture’s program at Princeton University, was selected as the winner of the prestigious SOM Prize, a $50,000 Research and Travel Fellowship.  Clifford will visit multiple countries on four continents in carrying out his research topic, “Volume: Researching Past Methods of Stereotomy.”

SOM, one of the first major modern American architectural firms to promote a corporate face, has continued to be a ‘massive and dynamically creative commercial force’ designing the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai, their commission for a new green district, Green Tech City, in Hanoi, Vietnam, and SOM was selected to design New York City’s (and the State’s) first Net Zero Energy school building, PS 62 located in Staten Island.

In 2009 SOM was recognized for just that when they were included in Fast Company’s annual list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” ranked #32 (the only AEC company on the ranking), amongst companies such as Google and Apple.  And they were also rated (by Fast Company) as number one on its list of the 10 most innovative architecture firms.

In this 30th year of Foundation Awards, the Fellowships continue to offer recent graduates the rare opportunity to travel in connection with carrying out in-depth research, collaborate with other professionals and pursue independent study outside the realm of established patterns. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than $1,000,000 to architecture, design and engineering students who have gone on to distinguish themselves in professional and academic careers.  It has been said that,”the SOM Prize is one of the primary tools that our profession has to bridge the gap between the academy and the real world.”

The official press release from SOM following the break.