Robert Silman Award Grant

The Robert Silman Award, presented biennially by the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation, recognizes innovative proposals in the preservation, restoration, or adaptive reuse of the built environment. Open to professionals in various design fields, the award encourages originality and practical applications that advance preservation in the U.S. With a funding limit of $15,000, it seeks projects that demonstrate a clear plan for dissemination and positive community impact, especially for underrepresented groups.

The Silman Award will be presented biennially to an engineer, architect, or other design professional in a related field for a proposal exploring the preservation, restoration, or adaptive reuse of the built environment, in the spirit of Robert Silman. The proposal may focus on a real project or it may be a polemical exercise; in either case, originality is highly valued. The proposal need not be directly related to structural design, although reference to structural elements within a given project and/or the interaction of structure with related fields will be valued. The proposal must advance the art and practice of preservation in the United States. The product can be graphic, text-based or a combination of both and must be able to be shared with the preservation community.
Criteria for Evaluation
Applications are reviewed by the Fitch Trustees.
Projects will be evaluated on the following criteria and conditions of eligibility:

• A demonstrated need for the proposed study and evidence of its value to advance the practice of historic preservation in the United States.

The applicant has a realistic plan for the dissemination of research and/or the final work product within twenty-four (24) months of receipt of the Award. Modes of dissemination include papers; lectures; conferences; presentations; or exhibitions.
The project has a clear and realistic goals, timeframe, work plan, and budget.
The project demonstrates innovative thinking, original research and creative problem solving and/or design.
Projects that lean towards research and proposals that lead to positive impacts among underrepresented communities will be valued.
Funding
The award is for a sum not to exceed $15,000.

Eligibility

Grants are awarded only to individuals, not organizations or university-sponsored research projects. The applicant must be in a preservation-related field, such as engineering, architecture, historic preservation, landscape architecture, urban design, archaeology, architectural history, advocacy, resiliency design, economics, and preservation law.
Applicants must be legal residents or citizens of the United States.

Ineligibility

Grants are not awarded for professional fees.