A 2,500-word essay titled ‘Paving Better Paths For Little Feet’, proposing innovative ways to effectively rehabilitate Chennai’s estimated 50,000 street children, has won Vishnupriya Viswanathan, a fourth year architecture student of Manipal University, first prize in an online Berkeley Prize Essay Competition (version 18), besting 150 participants from 20 countries worldwide. The 21-year-old was awarded a handsome $6,000 (Rs.402,000) as prize money. This essay competition organised annually by the department of architecture, University of California, Berkeley (USA), is open to undergrad architecture students worldwide. This year’s theme was ‘Architects Confronting Homelessness’ and the contest comprised three elimination rounds over a period of eight months, beginning last September. The elder of two children of single parent Uma Viswanathan, a Chennai-based cost accountant, Vishnupriya ascribes her success to an early age reading habit encouraged by her mother, employed at Tafe Ltd in the southern seaboard city. In class XI, she was selected by her school to contribute to Newspaper in Education, the students’ edition of the Times of India, the country’s #1 English language daily. “The conspicuous lack of affordable housing for the great majority is an issue of concern to me. I suppose my detailed description of existing shelters for Chennai’s street children and proposed spaces for them impressed the Berkeley jury,” says Vishnupriya, who has also been an active debater and creative writer since her school days. In addition to her extensive knowledge of low-cost housing, Vishnupriya also researched the impact of homelessness on Chennai’s rapidly growing population of street children. “I visited Karunalaya, a shelter for street children in north Chennai where I met many destitute children and learned about rescue and rehabilitation processes. In addition, I read numerous journals and publications to fully grasp the deep social deprivation of neglected and homeless children,” she recalls. Determined to address India’s estimated 50 million housing deficit problem, Vishnupriya is all set to sign up for a Masters in architecture criticism after completing her five-year B.Arch degree programme. “I want to design economical, energy-efficient and eco-friendly homes for better and safer living conditions for the poor and homeless. Through further study of architecture — widely misunderstood as a profession for the wealthy and well-off — I can help the country’s weak and needy majority,” says this idealistic youngster who is sure to go places. Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)
