Alyssa Duran, Paloma Nunciato, and Lydia Richardson have been awarded the 2023 Selldorf Architects Scholarship, a prestigious award offered exclusively to City Tech students in the Bachelor of Architecture program. The annual scholarship was established by Annabelle Selldorf, the founder and lead designer of Selldorf Architects. This practice is well known for projects such as the Frick Madison, Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, DEP Gowanus CSO Facility, and the Neue Galerie transformation.

The scholarship is meant to inspire and encourage the diverse population of students with strong design and technical skills who seek to enter the profession but struggle to find opportunities, recognition, and support.

Recipients of this scholarship are students in their third or fourth year of the Bachelor of Architecture program. Applicants must submit references and a portfolio of design and technical projects. The Scholarship and Awards Committee, led by Professor Lia Dikigoropoulou and several faculty members from the department, carefully review all of the applications. The scholarship money goes toward tuition, books, and materials required for the completion of coursework the following academic year. 

Alyssa Duran, now in her third year as a Bachelor of Architecture student at City Tech, is interested in facade detailing, biophilic design, and architecture visualization. With a 4.0 grade point average, her academic achievements include the 2021 Dean's list, an Associate's degree with honors, participating in the Emerging Scholars Research Project "Mapping the Campus," and being part of the Architectural League Mentorship Program. Outside of school, she loves watercolor paintings and sketching, watching nature and real-life-based documentaries, exploring art galleries and museums in the city, and creating architectural-related content for her Instagram account @drn.archi.

Paloma Nunciato, now in her senior year as a BArch student, hails from Argentina. She is passionate about art and design, light and space, and sustainability. With a multimedia art and photography background, Paloma worked at büro svenja design, and won the CUNY photography challenge in 2013. Beyond design and architecture, Paloma plays and loves soccer, biking, plants, and designing interiors.

Lydia Richardson is in her final year of the BTech Architecture program. Originally launching her professional development as an optician and team manager for about 10 years, she realized she needed to expand her skillset and challenge herself as a creative designer. She recalls that quitting a job and starting her career as an architecture student was "terrifying, but exciting."

"By setting myself up for this evolution, I have been able to gain experience and knowledge in the disciplines of architecture and learned how much good and intentional design means to me and the impact it can have on others," said Richardson. "Taking what I learned from my last career and now as an architect, I am able to fuse those experiences together and become the designer and leader I know I am capable of."