2025 researcher-in-residence

The SOM Foundation and the MAK Center for Art and Architecture are now accepting applications for the 2025 Researcher-in-Residence.

A fully funded summer residency program based in Los Angeles, the Researcher-in-Residence program provides an architect, artist, and/or researcher dedicated space and time for innovative work that addresses pressing issues related to the built environment. This year’s topic is “Advancing Toward a Water-Secure Future,” which corresponds to the SOM Foundation’s 2024–25 research topic.

Residency Overview

The Researcher-in-Residence is a $5,000 award and four-to-eight-week summer residency at R.M. Schindler’s Fitzpatrick-Leland House in Los Angeles, California. The residency is awarded annually to an architect, artist, and/or researcher to conduct original research that contributes to the current topic. The Researcher-in-Residence Program was jointly established in 2024 by the MAK Center for Art and Architecture and the SOM Foundation to provide space and time for rigorous work that addresses pressing issues related to the built environment.

Topic: Advancing Toward a Water-Secure Future

As shared during the United Nations 2023 Water Conference, two billion people lack access to safe drinking water; 40 percent of the world’s population is affected by water scarcity; agriculture demands alone account for 70 percent of water usage; more than 90 percent of disasters are water-related; and pressure on freshwater is projected to increase by more than 40 percent by 2050.

From macro multinational ecosystems to microclimates, there is an urgent need for bold and collaborative solutions to a myriad of existing and future water-related challenges. This year, the SOM Foundation will direct its support toward proposals that address the complex relationship between water, people, and the built environment. Creating a sustainable, equitable, and water-secure future will require innovative and multidisciplinary ideas that shape long-term policies, define comprehensive plans, and identify immediate actions.

Dates & Location

The term of this residency is four-to-eight weeks between June 1 and July 31, 2025. Exact dates during this timeframe are flexible. The residency is located in Los Angeles at the Fitzpatrick-Leland House. Originally designed by R.M. Schindler as a model home in 1936, the Fitzpatrick-Leland House also serves as the MAK Center’s Study Center. The residency includes a private bedroom, work space, bathroom, and access to communal kitchen and social spaces of the Fitzpatrick-Leland House. The residency spaces are located on the second floor of a residential house, which require one flight of stairs. Due to space constraints, the residency is unable to accommodate additional family members or pets (except service animals).