Skip to Content

Winner of the 2023 Helena and Jerzy Boraks Graduate Travel Bursary

February 1, 2023

Master of Architecture student Jonathan Chung is the recipient of the 2023 Helena and Jerzy Boraks Graduate Travel Bursary.

Chung received $3,000 for travel to Seoul, South Korea, where he conducted research for his master’s thesis at a self-built community called Guryong Village. His thesis explores spatial relationships and concepts of community between the state and the city’s ignored and most vulnerable citizens.

Jonathan Chung in Guryong Village.

“This is an emotionally charged polemic about the study of community, and the document showcases excellent writing,” said the jury, comprised of three alumni of the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism. “This work engages with a global social consciousness related to the impacts of climate change on marginalized communities.

“The travel is very justified and supports a rare form of scholarship that would not be possible without the travel and could not be easily replicated.”

Chung agrees, noting the visit altered his prior understanding of the site and allowed him to understand the physical dimensions of Guryong Village and the social dynamics.

“This trip was essential as the village, the ignored, and even South Korea itself is poorly documented and misrepresented to outsiders,” he explains.

“I witnessed the injustice and mistreatment of the less fortunate and elderly through infrastructure and development,” he says. “I experienced the invisible and visible barriers and the many façades that segregate and ostracize the worlds undesired. And I witnessed the community these villagers had and how they continuously help each other live.”

His thesis advisor is Assistant Professor Jerry Hacker.

“I hope to utilize everything I’ve learned to explore what is needed to enhance community and quality of life for all the ignored citizens of Korea,” adds Chung.

The Helena and Jerzy Boraks Graduate Travel Bursary was endowed in 2019. The inaugural recipient was Devon Moar in 2021.

The bursary is awarded annually by the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs on the recommendation of the Director of the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism to outstanding graduate students in architecture to support research-related travel distant from Ottawa. Preference will be given to students pursuing research in northern regions of Canada.

About the Jury

Andy Bako is an intern architect and UX/UI designer based in Toronto. He holds a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design with Distinction and a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from Carleton University. Bako received the Harvard GSD 2019 Digital Design Prize for his master’s thesis project, Normal House. He has experience working on large commercial projects, including Phase 1 of the CIBC Square Master Plan, located in downtown Toronto. As a UX designer, Bako developed a digital platform for the Greater Toronto Art 2021 exhibition, featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto. He also co-designed the platform, GTA360. His work has been featured in publications and exhibitions, including Kooz/Arch, SuckerPUNCHdaily, and the Hot Air Gallery in New York. Bako contributed to the Countryside: The Future exhibition held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City from 2020-2021.

Benoit Maranda is a 2013 graduate of the Bachelor of Architectural Studies program at Carleton University and holds a master’s in architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (2019). He has worked in architecture firms in Canada, China, and the United States, including Hobin Architecture in Ottawa and Kieran Timberlake in Philadelphia. He has been deeply involved in academic research, contributing to the Carleton Research and Innovation in Sustainable Energy (C-Rise) house and a GSD exhibit on housing economics: From Machine of Production to Product: The American House. Maranda’s work focuses on affordable housing, emergent forms of co-living and passionately advocates for zoning reform.

Aliza Sovani co-founded LILI Media & Design Lab, an environmentally focused multimedia production company and climate research lab intersecting environmental science, journalism, and design. She is an executive producer for Lion Bridge, a documentary film in co-production with the United States National Wildlife Federation. It documents the race to save Los Angeles’ dwindling mountain lion population and comments on the global implications of building the world’s largest wildlife crossing. Sovani is a registered landscape architect in Canada and France and previously contributed to urban environmental planning policy development and implementation as part of the Toulouse Ville Rose, Ville Verte 2019 Urban Plan for the City of Toulouse, France. She completed a master’s in landscape architecture with advanced placement at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and obtained a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Carleton University.