Prix de Rome in Architecture — Emerging Practitioners

Current Winners

Paulette Cameron

Paulette Cameron works as a designer at MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects. She holds a master’s degree in Architecture from Dalhousie University, having completed Dalhousie’s Environmental Design program with Sexton distinction after a bachelor’s of Environmental Design with Honours from the University of British Columbia. During her studies, she received several awards, including the John D. Watson Memorial Travel Scholarship, the Design and the Construction Institute Scholarship, the Salvatore Paradise Scholarship, the Peter Yeadon Scholarship, and, upon completing her thesis, the Alpha Rho Chi Medal in Architecture. Additionally, she participated in Coastal Studio’s Highlands Gridshell design build, led by Ted Cavanagh, and Roger Mullin’s Third Obstruction, in Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia. She was also a member of Catherine Venart’s team for an exhibition in honour of Diane Lewis at the 2021 Venice Biennale. Her personal work focuses on issues of identity, ruralism, and equity—methodically conducting deep reads of site context and narrative.

She is interested in exploring how women-led architectural intervention can challenge the status quo in subversive and cross-disciplinary ways. Having grown up in the village of Mabou, Cape Breton, as well as in Calgary, Alberta, she now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Julia Nakanishi 

Julia Nakanishi is a designer at Public Work, an interdisciplinary design studio in Toronto/Tkaronto. She has a Master of Architecture (M.Arch) degree and a Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS) degree from the University of Waterloo. During her graduate studies, Julia’s research was supported by the DIALOG Michael Evamy Scholarship, the Mitacs Globalink Program and an SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Alpha Ro Chi Medal and inducted into the RAIC Honour Roll. 

Learning through a post-growth perspective and land-based initiatives in rural Japan, Julia pursues work that explores how designers can build relationships with communities in ways that resist the pressures of capitalist growth and environmental degradation, while also nourishing land, culture and kinship in the process.  

Ivee Yiyai Wang

Ivee Yiyao Wang is a designer, researcher and intern architect at LGA Architectural Partners in Toronto. She received a master’s degree in architecture (MArch, 2021) from the University of Toronto and a bachelor’s degree in architectural studies (BAS, 2018) from the University of Waterloo. Her exploration of design innovation has led to several research initiatives, including a project with the University of Toronto’s School of Cities on the design integration of sustainable architectural materials. 

Her current research focuses on exploring and expanding the design potential of future-facing and adaptive residential architecture. By analyzing creative renewal and the rehabilitation projects and practices involved, she aims to develop a design handbook for adaptability in residential buildings. She plans to investigate relevant projects and practices in Canada, the UK, France and China, and explore creative design processes and solutions that transform obsolescence into metamorphosis.