Last year, Perkins+Will launched the Phil Freelon Fellowship Fund, a program intended to support African-American and other minority students during their architecture and design education at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD). On Monday, the firm and the Harvard GSD named M.Arch. student Aria Griffin, AIAS, the first Phil Freelon Fellow.
Griffin, who started her M.Arch. studies at the GSD in September, has received a B.S.Arch. with minors in African and African American Studies from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. She also has multiple awards and scholarships on her portfolio, including the John B. Ervin Scholarship and Leslie J. Laskey Sophomore Design Challenge Award.
“We are delighted to award this fellowship for the first time to such a talented, driven, and promising designer as Aria,” said Philip Freelon, FAIA, design director of Perkins+Will's North Carolina practice since his solo practice merged with Perkins+Will in 2014, in a press release. “Aria exemplifies the academic excellence and opportunity we were hoping to advance at the GSD when we established the fellowship. We look forward to seeing her grow academically and professionally in the years to come."
“Phil Freelon is a passionate advocate for equity and diversity in the design sphere. These values are deeply supported by and ingrained in the GSD,” said GSD dean and Alexander and Victoria Wiley professor of design Mohsen Mostafavi, Intl. Assoc. AIA, in the same release. “The GSD is thankful for the generosity of Perkins+Will and Phil Freelon in establishing this Fellowship and enabling talented, creative, top design students like Aria Griffin to attend the GSD.”
