Her research proposal on European-settled hill stations in South India was a clear favourite with the judging panel, which included Robert Adam and George Saumarez Smith, directors at ADAM Architecture, Prof Georgia Butina Watson, Head of the Dept. of Planning at Oxford Brookes University and WAN’s own Editor in Chief, Michael Hammond.

Elizabeth plans to investigate a regional network of hill stations for patterns in the urban morphology, particularly with regards to environmental and cross-cultural conditions. The Indian hill stations were high-altitude towns formerly developed by Europeans as summer retreats. She plans to explore what urban types evolved from the exchange between the European settlers and the local Indian peoples, as well as analyze how the urban space and architectural language engaged the topography, climate, local materials, and traditional building methods.

Her study will focus on seven hill stations in the South Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, including Srinagar, Coorg, Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Kodaikanal and Munnar. Other possible sites may include Wayanad, Nelliyampatti, Devikulam, Peermada and Ponmudi. These sites were chosen because of their historical significance, regional proximity and similarity in environmental conditions. She plans to travel to India during December 2011 and January 2012.

Elizabeth, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, earned a Bachelor of Architecture in 2011 from the University of Notre Dame. She will be pursuing a Masters of Architectural History at the University of Virginia, beginning in fall 2011.