“Pair of Dice, Para-dice, Paradise” by Calvin Boyd and “Cripping Architecture” by Shaina Yang are both masters theses completed for the satisfaction of MArch I degrees at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Both projects were jointly awarded the 2021 James Templeton Kelley Thesis Prize for the MArch I program; Shaina’s was also awarded the Clifford Wong Housing Prize.

 
The two projects, despite being significantly different to each other in topic and scope, reflect a shift in conversation within the architectural discipline and academia – one which seeks to return architecture to a more socially-minded raison d’être. In particular, this architecture comes with an emphasis on the bottom-up, a sensitivity to concerns of identity, and a strong emphasis on collaboration that privileges no single master builder or planner.

For Shaina, Calvin, and Son – another MArch I ’21 graduate from the GSD, who was the recipient of the Clifford Wong Prize in 2019 – the awards were a sign to cement their commitment to this new guard of exploration that challenges contemporary conceptions of architecture’s role whilst remaining firmly rooted in the architectural practice. Their studio yangboydvu will continue a collaborative focus on similar design solutions and architecture’s wider role in social justice to come.