The 2007 Vernon F. Shogren Endowment Call for Entries

Exclusively for NC State University College of Design Students and Former Students

Proposals are now being received for endowment assistance in the undertaking of projects. Although the specific project is up to the participant, it should be of such a nature as to be useful to others within the environmental design professions. To that end, the final product will be in the form of a publication, available to others at their request.

Multiple awards up to the amount of $7,000.00 are available.

Professor Shogren’s comments on the endowment:
“I have always been annoyed by the heavy emphasis which schools, and a few star-struck architects, have always placed on the formal and symbolic as the goal of architecture. It works with a few obviously (very few), but for the other 90% it leads to the bizarre and grotesque. My own efforts in school were directed toward re-defining goals in terms of the contextual and regional, and away from the abstracted object; in short, to give the building something of a mission beyond simple existence, which has physical and worldly consequences, and not just a platonic concept. Another alternative would be in the direction of innovation, which usually turns out to be technical in nature. The argument can be made that only a few architectural issues seem to originate in the technical areas, which in current practice is probably true. What we cannot say, however, is whether this is valid, or simply due to the stereotypical priorities which architects set for themselves. I think the endowment should favor and encourage projects that emphasize technical innovation. I understand the problems. Most will, at least initially, be conceived in the servant capacity, (As the Pittsburgh Glass commercial says: “To allow the architect to express himself (sic) better”.) The challenge will be to move beyond this primitive stage to something more substantial. (The endowment) will encourage an approach of exploration and discovery. Many are ready for this chance.” ( -Excerpts from VFS letter to Clark Hipp, February 1994 )

The Proposal Should State:

A. The Objective: To what or whom the project is directed; who might find it useful; where and when it might be relevant, etc.

B. The method, system, or format to be used, developmental strategy employed; resources to be used or relied on.

C. Goal in terms of form or appearance of final product; how you propose to interpret “publishable form”.

D. Biographic information: Name, Address, telephone, email address, academic degrees or programs, association with NC State College of Design, recent occupation or academic status.

Proposal Format: Proposals shall be limited to ten 8.5” x 11” pages formatted as a PDF document.

Deadline: Proposals will be received until midnight, July 31, 2007 at the following email address: mark@williardferm.com Include the words “Shogren Endowment Submittal” in the subject line. Questions regarding the endowment may be submitted to the same address.

Announcement of Awards: Recipient(s) of the 2007 Vernon F. Shogren Endowment Awards will be notified by email on October 1, 2007. Winning proposals will be posted on this website.

Terms and Conditions:
1. The awards are not grants, but are intended as financial assistance in the pursuit of a project.
2. Projects shall be educational or scientific, rather than performance oriented (as in a competition).
3. Projects shall be completed within one year’s time.
4. Award payment will be 20% at the beginning and 80% upon completion of the project.
5. The final product shall be submitted in publishable form, written and/or illustrated in a format suitable for color printing on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. An electronic media version shall also be submitted in PDF format. One printed copy shall be provided for deposition in the Design Library.
6. Any former or current student of the North Carolina State University College of Design (formerly “School of Design”) is eligible to apply. Students and former students of all design disciplines of the College of Design are encouraged to apply.
7. Recipients must agree to make a verbal presentation of their project at the College of Design.
8. Recipients will not receive an additional stipend for the expenses related to the verbal presentation or the expenses of printing the library copy of the final product.