Researcher-in-Residence

In 2024, the MAK Center for Art and Architecture and the SOM Foundation initiated Researcher-in-Residence, a joint residency program based in Los Angeles to provide space and time for rigorous work that addresses pressing issues related to the built environment. Each year, a $5,000 fellowship and summer residency are awarded to an architect, artist, and/or researcher based in the US or abroad to conduct original research that contributes to the current topic.

The Researcher-in-Residence program is open to professionals around the world researching or practicing in a discipline that relates to the built environment. Disciplines may include, but are not limited to architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, engineering, architectural history, sociology, writing, and/or visual art.

In addition to an award of $5,000, in 2026 the fellowship offers a four-to-six-week residency at R.M. Schindler’s Mackey Apartments in Los Angeles. The Mackey Apartments highlight R.M. Schindler’s ability to transform the most common typology of apartment building found in the Los Angeles area and adapt it with his own spatial language. Unlike international-style architects, Schindler seldom designed identical apartment units; his apartments are as complex, individual, and innovative as his houses. The Mackey possesses typical Schindler characteristics: compact apartment layout, exceptional incorporation of natural light, built-in furniture, variable ceiling heights, and private outdoor gardens or mini-balconies. The building was purchased by the Republic of Austria in 1995 and made available for the activities of the MAK Center.

Residency recipients are encouraged to participate in the activities of the MAK Center and engage with the art and design communities of Los Angeles. Each residency will culminate with a public talk or program related to the recipient’s research and interests.

Residency Overview

In 2026, the Researcher-in-Residence is a $5,000 award and four-to-six-week summer residency at R.M. Schindler’s Mackey Apartments 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

Exploring the Potential of Mobility Corridors

This year’s topic aims to explore how every scale of movement infrastructure shapes our built environment. How might new approaches to mobility corridors provide sustainable growth, from improving how people and goods move from place to place to supporting the ecosystems, communities, and activities that surround them? Ultimately, how can existing or proposed interconnected systems help define the future of our cities?

Eligibility

The Researcher-in-Residence program is open to professionals researching or practicing in a discipline that relates to the built environment.

The SOM Foundation and the MAK Center recognize that research and innovation benefit from a diverse range of perspectives, backgrounds, and approaches. That said, successful applicants will likely demonstrate a history of commitment to one or more of the following disciplines: architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, engineering, architectural history, sociology, writing, and/or visual art.

• Applicants can be based in the US or abroad. US citizenship is not required.
• Currently enrolled students are ineligible to apply, however doctoral candidates who have completed all coursework (ABD) may apply.
• Couples are eligible to apply together, however only one amount will be awarded, and the residency room must be shared.
• MAK Center employees, SOM Foundation board members and paid consultants, and SOM employees are ineligible to apply.
• Previously awarded SOM Foundation fellows may apply.

Dates and Location

• The term of this residency is four-to-six weeks between July 6 and August 31, 2026. Exact dates during this timeframe are flexible.
• The residency in 2026 is located in Los Angeles at the 1939 Mackey Apartments designed by R.M. Schindler’s. It showcases Schindler’s ability to transform the most common typology of apartment building found in the Los Angeles area and adapt it with his own spatial language. The building was purchased by the Republic of Austria in 1995 and made available for the activities of the MAK Center. For more information about the location, please visit makcenter.org/mackey-apartments.
• Due to space constraints, the residency is unable to accommodate additional family members or pets (except service animals).

Award

• A $5,000 award will be provided on the following schedule: 50% within 30 days upon signing the residency contract; and 50% within 30 days after the successful completion of the residency.
• The $5,000 award is intended to cover residency expenses such as flights, rental car, gas, food, materials, etc., as these expenses are not covered by the residency.
• Please note that the Mackey Apartments are located at 1137 Cochran Avenue in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles. It can be accessed via public transportation (a car is not provided by the residency).

Expected Outcomes

During the research period, the MAK Center and the SOM Foundation will schedule periodic check-ins with the recipient.

The MAK Center and the SOM Foundation will provide mentorship and networking support to recipients.

Each residency will culminate with a public talk or program related to the recipient’s research and interests. The nature of this program is flexible and will be proposed by the recipient and organized with MAK Center staff.

The public talk or program can present work in progress or can be final. Work and research conducted during the residency can be continued after the residency period.

Research projects are not required to be directly related to Los Angeles in order to be considered.

Application Requirements

Title Page

• Name of applicant
• Title of research project
• Proposed dates of residency (Specify exact dates applicant is available; must be at least four weeks and no more than six weeks, between July 6 and August 31, 2026)
• Date of application
• Keywords

Abstract

• Provide a maximum 250-word abstract summarizing the topic of the proposed research. Specifically, describe the problems or the conditions that demonstrate the need for the research, the research question that will be addressed, the scope and proposed methodology of the work, and the expected outcomes of the project.

Description

• Provide a maximum 750-word expository description of the area of focus, scope, and outcomes of the proposed work during the residency, including a proposed idea for a public talk or program at the culmination of the residency. Please, also include information about any relevant work before and after the residency period related to the research project. Images that support the description of the project are encouraged.

Proposed Budget

• Provide a preliminary project budget for the residency period (e.g., itemized travel costs with estimated expenses, materials needed, etc.). Please include additional funds or in-kind support, if any, provided by other funding sources.

Proposed Schedule

• Provide a preliminary project schedule for the residency term and any relevant work before and after the residency period related to the research project.

Supporting Documentation

• CV of applicant
• List two references, including name, title, email, phone number, and relationship to each
• Provide a maximum of 8 pages of additional documentation directly related to the proposed research program (e.g., copies of completed or speculative creative work or building designs, relevant writings/artwork or other documents that establish unique qualifications).

There is no application fee.

Application Format

• Single PDF format
• 8.5ʺ x 11ʺ, portrait orientation
• 10 pages maximum
• 25 MB maximum

Application Deadline

Submit information via the application page form no later than Friday, April 3, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. PST. Applications received after that time will not be considered.

You should receive an email confirming the information you submitted. If not, please contact us at info@somfoundation.com.

Selection

The selection of awardee will be made by representatives of the SOM Foundation and the MAK Center for Art and Architecture.

Notification of Award

The winners will be notified no later than Friday, May 1, 2026.

Recipient Responsibilities

By accepting an award, the recipients agree to:

• four-to-six week research stay in Los Angeles in July and/or August 2026.
• one public presentation or program at the end of the residency.

Any changes to the proposal need to be submitted in writing and approved by the MAK Center and the SOM Foundation.

Copyright

The winning applications will become part of the MAK Center and SOM Foundation’s archive. The MAK Center and the SOM Foundation reserve the right to use the winning applications—and the recipients’ monthly progress reports and final report—or any portion of them in press releases, presentations, exhibits, history books, and similar publications, as well as for public access and educational purposes in all media, including online. Authors will retain the copyright of their work.

Questions

For any questions or clarifications about the requirements and residency program, please contact info@somfoundation.com and office@makcenter.org.

Mackey APartments

The resident will live and work in one of the units of R.M. Schindler’s Mackey Apartments.

About the Mackey Apartments

Pablo Castillo Luna
A Permeable Atlas

Rather than seeking a single resolution, this project engages in a research-based material and spatial study that makes visible the hidden circulations of water within architecture. The outcome was A Permeable Atlas—a collection of drawings, maps, and prototypes documenting how water moves through buildings, landscapes, and bodies. This atlas traced the relationships between historical water-harvesting techniques, contemporary infrastructural failures, and speculative architectural responses that embrace rather than resist water’s agency. It served as both a research archive and a design toolkit, offering strategies for working with seepage, condensation, and controlled dissolution as design tools rather than failures.

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Maya Livio
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Los Angeles, one of the most diverse and biodiverse urban centers in the world, faces significant challenges related to rapid urbanization, unhoused peoples, climate change, biodiversity loss, and the need for sustainable development. As such, it is home to a rich set of organizations, artists and designers, engaged communities, and activists who center housing justice, conservation, Indigenous land justice, and habitat connectivity across the city’s fractured landscapes. These projects and communities often lack space for dialogue around shared goals and commitments such as habitability and are sometimes even positioned as in false conflict due to scarcity logics.

This project not only surfaced the points of friction but particularly highlight the affinities among these groups, make space for conversation, and investigate the organic and technological landscapes in which they operate through research and curation.

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