About the Competition

To carry out the purpose of the Trust, the Rotch Trustees asked the Boston Society of Architects to appoint a committee to advise and “develop a scheme of examinations... which shall annually secure... the candidate who is best fitted for the advantages which it is the purpose of this endowment to offer.” The Society agreed and has continued its assistance through its Rotch Scholarship Committee.

It was from the very first felt that a competition in design alone would not give the kind of selection which was desired. Originally, candidates were required to display evidence of knowledge of History of Architects, Construction, French, and Drawings from the Cast.

The establishment of the system of preliminary and final examinations was established in 1892. The preliminary jury convenes to select a group of drawings whose authors give evidence of “architectural potential.” The final jury is thus given opportunity effectively to concentrate on the selection of the recipient of the award. No test could better assure the fulfillment of the committee's duty to “secure the candidature best fitted for the advantages” which it is the ”purpose of the endowment to offer.“

In 1959, further to perfect the system, the committee recommended that the preliminary competition shall no longer ”represent an exercise in simple architectural terms calling for plan, elevation and section of a construction unit,“ but rather that it shall be ”directed“ toward a ”search for evidence of imaginative capacity“ in the student. The jury is therefore entrusted with an especially important task, one of peculiar judgment and discernment. In recent years six to eight finalists have been selected. The previous year's Alternate Scholar is invited to compete in the final stage without reentering the preliminary stage. The time allotted for the final problem is ten days, after which all finalists attend the judging in Boston to present their projects to the jury.

Today, the Rotch Scholar is selected annually through a two-stage design competition. First, a weekend-long preliminary architectural competition is held from which a jury selects those candidates most qualified to participate in the 10-day final competition.

While the Scholarship provides a rare opportunity for advanced and mature study for a period of approximately eight months to one year, it also imposes an obligation on the Scholar to excellence and conscientious fulfillment of the requirements established by the Rotch Trustees.