UDRF Competition
Applications Due
September 12, 2024
About the Competition
Welcome to the 2024–25 University Design Research Fellowship Competition! Thank you for your interest in Exhibit Columbus and your willingness to contribute to the extraordinary modern design legacy in Columbus, Indiana.
This year, University Design Research Fellows will be awarded to full-time university/college professors in any area of design, architecture, art, and landscape architecture. UDRFellows will be shortlisted and selected by the 2024–25 Curatorial Partners based on the Request for Qualifications process.
Upon application and acceptance, participants are required to participate in the 2024 Symposium, 2025 Design Presentations, and ultimately, in the 2025 Exhibition to design/build a public installation that showcases their research.
Follow along to apply!
Questions? Email UDRF Coordinator Laura Garrett (laura@landmarkcolumbus.org) with your questions by August 26, 2024. Our team will review and publish responses on August 31, 2024.
Request for Qualifications
Step One
Complete the form below for collecting standard contact information.
Step Two
Once Step One is complete, email a single PDF responding to all the elements of Step Two (outlined below) to Laura Garrett. Applications are due September 12, 2024.
Requirements of a UDRFellow
Prior to applying to the RFQ, please ensure the following are met:
Required to attend all key events
2024 Symposium (24–25 October);
2025 Design Presentations (21–22 February);
2025 Exhibition Opening Weekend (15–16 August);
2025 UDRF Colloquium (Fall 2025);
A full-time university or college professor(s) in the United States;
A person(s) who can showcase a body of research that will form the basis of their concept and eventually a project/installation proposal for the 2025 Exhibition;
Interested in connecting with a community that loves the modern legacy of Columbus.
Application Step One: Complete Information Form
Application Step Two: Email
Once Step One is complete, email UDRF Coordinator Laura Garrett: laura@landmarkcolumbus.org your Qualifications and Project Prompts following these formatting instructions:
8.5" x 11"
Maximum 12 pages
Single PDF file
Qualifications
Lead professor resume;
Up to 3 work examples of built projects with associated budgets and 150-word project descriptions;
Biography for team member(s), maximum 100 words each.
Project Prompts
Describe what you and your team bring to Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellowship and how it relates to the theme, Yes And (please do not create or submit a drawing).
Describe your vision/process for engaging students and the community in your proposed project.
Are there specific community partners or community ideas that you hope to engage in your project? If so please describe.
Will your project be able to be disassembled/be removed/be recycled at the closing of the exhibition (could it go to another community or another place within our community)?
(If applicable) If you are proposing to exhibit an existing project, please clearly indicate that project in the work samples and explain how it engages or will be modified/adjusted to meet the specific goals of Exhibit Columbus.
Exhibit Columbus Timeline
October 24–25, 2024
Exhibit Columbus Symposium
February 21–22, 2025
Exhibit Columbus Design Presentations
June–August, 2025
Fabrication/Installation
August 22, 2025
Installation Completed and Installed on Site
August 15–26
Exhibit Columbus Exhibition Opening
Fall 2025
UDRF Colloquium
November 30, 2025
Exhibition Closes
November–December, 2025
Installations Decommissioned
Competition Timeline
August 15, 2024
Request for Qualifications Announcement
August 26, 2024
All Questions Received for Public Q&A Process
August 31, 2024
Answers to Questions Released
September 12, 2024
Request for Qualifications Due
September 26, 2024
UDRF Participants Notified
Questions and Answers
Published August 31, 2024
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Eligibility is currently limited to full-time university professors. We encourage all interested parties to stay updated on future competitions as Exhibit Columbus continually seeks new ways to evolve and improve the program.
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Yes: Each team requires one full-time professor, who will be the main "point of contact" of the team. The rest of the team can be made up of part-time professors or others. Yes: Teams can be made up of multiple universities as well.
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Related to the example project budgets, we don’t need a full budget breakdown. We are looking for an estimate as a way to give us an idea about the scale of the project.
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We are looking for general concepts and research areas unless you are proposing that you bring an already-created installation (which is okay). In that situation, we are trying to better understand your installation. We do not require any design work to be done at this point, as there isn't knowledge of the site or partners at this point. We hope each designer will work with the community and the site to create something wonderful.
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Yes, that additional information is fine, but please keep it to the 12-page limit.
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We are only seeking applicants who teach within the United States.
Evaluation Criteria
Applicants presented a body of innovative, research-based work that relates to the theme, Yes And;
Work and ideas presented addresses audience engagement that is broadly accessible both physically and conceptually;
Work and ideas presented provide an opportunity for student involvement that is meaningful for university students who may participate in the project, as well as students of all ages that visit the exhibition;
Work and ideas presented creates opportunity for community engagement responding to the call for community partners.
About the Jury Process
The 2024–25 University Design Research Fellowship Competition will be juried by the Curatorial Partners and Landmark Columbus Foundation Staff.
Yes And Curatorial Partners are:
Could Be Design
Architects, Chicago and Urbana-Champaign, IllinoisMila Lipinski
Architectural Associate, Jackson, MississippiRasul Mowatt
Writer and Educator, Raleigh, North CarolinaPreservation Futures
Preservationists, Architect, and Historian, Chicago IllinoisToo Black
Artist and Poet, Indianapolis, Indiana
Learn more about Landmark Columbus Foundation Staff here.
About the 2024–25 Curatorial Theme Yes And
For the fifth cycle of Exhibit Columbus, Yes And invites contributors to explore the legacy of Columbus, Indiana, by adding to the multiple and overlapping lives of buildings and spaces. Originating in improv theater, Yes And is a technique for affirming and building upon an idea to create a shared narrative. It is a participatory call to work from existing material to shape positive change.
Through a cycle of events, Exhibit Columbus will encourage the public to collaborate in the creation of the ongoing performance of the city. Whether we’re recovering architectural remnants, reflecting on cultural legacy, staging a dramatic spectacle, or reimagining public play, Yes And invites everybody to the public spaces of Columbus to expand what forms of togetherness and collaboration are possible.
The theme, Yes And, was created by the 2024–25 Curatorial Partners as the theme for the fifth cycle of Exhibit Columbus.
About the University Design Research Fellowship
Request for Qualifications Due
September 12, 2024
Installation Budget
$15,000
2025 Exhibition
August 16–November 30, 2025
Introducing UDRF
Entering the fifth cycle of Exhibit Columbus, LCF is proud to launch the University Design Research Fellowship (UDRF) as an open competition in an effort to attract the most innovative and thoughtful ideas that are connected to the theme of this cycle.
UDRFellows have consistently been outstanding participants in Exhibit Columbus that create a unique showcase of current design research at a scale that is rarely seen in the United States. In their projects, leading professors have provided excellent educational opportunities for university students that have translated into inspiring installations.
This cycle, UDRFellows will be awarded to full-time university/college professors in any area of design, architecture, art, and landscape architecture.
Major events
A successful applicant must participate in the 2024 Symposium (24–25 October), 2025 Design Presentations (21–22 February), and ultimately build a public installation that showcases their research in the 2025 Exhibition (Opening Weekend 15–16 August). Learn more about these events on the Exhibit Columbus About webpage.
During the exhibition, UDRFellows will also be invited to participate in the UDRF Colloquium that will be produced in partnership with the Indiana Communities Institute at Ball State University’s Miller College of Business and Indiana University’s Center for Cultural Affairs at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Additional support will be provided that will allow UDRFellows to participate in the Colloquium in Fall 2025. The Colloquium event is a unique way for UDRFellows to showcase their work in an academic setting and discuss their processes of making and teaching.
About the Fellowship
Professors whose work explores community-based urban design and the challenges facing activating historic downtowns are invited to apply for a design/build stipend of up to $15,000 to support the realization of an installation during the three-month exhibition in downtown Columbus.
If applicable, list information in your RFQ application about existing or matching funds that would be used. If you have plans to apply for other funds, please note that the total budget for the project should not exceed $30,000.
Travel stipends will be provided to participants who are required to attend Exhibit Columbus’ major events: 2024 Symposium, the 2025 Design Presentations, the 2025 Opening Weekend, and the UDRF Colloquium.
Projects may include existing research, work that has already been fabricated, or new projects created specifically for this cycle. LCF recognizes that the award amount is not often sufficient for a new commission and therefore is open to showcasing projects that have already been exhibited.
UDRFellows will be shortlisted and selected by the Curatorial Partners based on the Request for Qualifications process.
UDRF and Community Partners
Exhibit Columbus is partnering with community organizations and businesses in an effort to enhance its downtown and create a more welcoming, diverse, accessible, and active city. Organizations and/or businesses have been invited to submit a statement of interest to be an Exhibit Columbus Community Partner and to host a UDRFellow installation.
The curatorial team will work together to match Community Partners and their corresponding sites with a UDRFellow(s). This open call centers Yes And as an effort for existing and new partners to get involved in Exhibit Columbus and help move it forward. Through this process, it is hoped that meaningful connections can be made.
The University Design Research Fellowship is a key part of Exhibit Columbus. The goals for this cycle’s UDRF component are:
Goal 1
Respond to the theme of the fifth cycle, Yes And, while engaging community partners in new and creative ways.
Goal 2
Grow interest in the Midwest as a place where design connects with innovative and community-based ambitions;
Goal 3
Create singular opportunities for university students (and others) to engage with and learn through the process.
Resources
→ New York Times
Columbus, Ind., Renews Its Big Design Legacy
Ted Loos, August 18, 2017
→ Bloomberg
A Small City Famous for Architecture Rolls Out the Welcome Mat
Kriston Capps, September 3, 2019
→ Forbes
Exhibit Columbus Returns to Indiana’s ‘Athens of the Prairie’
Chadd Scott, September 8, 2021
→ The Architect’s Newspaper
Process as Project: This year’s Exhibit Columbus raises the bar for design expositions looking to partner with local communities
Dan Roche, September 12, 2023
→ Heritage Fund
Creating an Equitable Community
About Landmark Columbus Foundation
Mission
Landmark Columbus Foundation cares for, celebrates, and advances the cultural heritage of Columbus, Indiana and like-minded communities.
Values
We love the modern legacy of Columbus.
Good design positively shapes our lives.
We create stronger communities by working together.
Vision
Transforming communities through design excellence.
Process
To fulfill its mission, Landmark Columbus Foundation works in three key program areas intertwined in building the organization’s vision.
Columbus Design Institute is a technical service effort that promotes the value of good design which built Columbus and was defined by Heritage Fund. Collaborative projects and events are completed with partners to encourage meaningful investments in the sustainable and equitable development of communities.
Exhibit Columbus is an exploration of community, architecture, art, and design that activates the modern legacy of Columbus, Indiana. It creates a two-year cycle of programming that uses the context of Columbus to convene conversations around innovative ideas and then commissions site-responsive installations to create a free, public exhibition that demonstrates the power of art and architecture to make cities better places to live for everyone.
Progressive Preservation efforts assist in caring for buildings, landscapes, and art in Bartholomew County. Through research, conservation, fundraising, and documentation, it educates and advocates for the stewardship of cultural resources. This work demonstrates a community-based approach to addressing some of the country’s most complex heritage challenges.
Applications Due
September 12, 2024