Manipal: A student of Manipal University has won international award in the 18th Annual Berkeley Prize Essay Competition held in US. Vishnupriya Viswanathan, a sixth semester student, Faculty of Architecture (FOA), Manipal University participated in the essay competition held under ‘International Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence’ endorsed by Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.
Vishnupriya, after her 2,500 words essay titled, “Paving Better Paths for Little Feet” won the first prize and a purse of $6,000., she said, ” I am keen to pursue postgraduation in Architecture Criticism in the U.S. or the U.K. after completing my undergraduation. It means a lot to me. I was always interested in writing and this is going to be a big booster for me. I want to be an architecture journalist that is why I thought of taking part in the essay to see for myself how best I can do it. I am surprised by the result,” she added.

The essay question for the competition was ‘Architects Confronting Homelessness’. The guidelines for writing had two parts – who is doing what in your community to confront the issue of the men, women, young people and children without shelter, and, as both an individual and as a professional, and how do you see yourself assisting in providing shelter to those in need?

Vishnupriya, hailing from Chennai wrote the essay on Karunalaya, a social service organisation run by Paul Sunder Singh, which transforms the lives of these children of Chennai’s beaches, streets, railways stations, bus stops and harbour. In the shelter, as many as 36 boys and 29 girls are taken care.