Awards & Honors

B Arch Student Wins 2023 Center for Architecture Common Bond Scholarship

11. 08. 2023
  • Photo of a young woman smiling and speaking at a podium. Another woman stands nearby in the background.

    Katherine Menjivar B Arch `26 at the podium. Photo by Sam Lahoz.

  • A photo of two women standing side by side smiling.

    Katherine Menjivar B Arch `26 And Dean Marta Gutman. Photo by Sam Lahoz.

  • A woman speaks at a podium in front of a projection screen. 3 female scholarship winner headshots are projected on the screen behind her.

    Jennifer Sage, FAIA, LEED AP at the podium. Photo By Sam Lahoz.

Spitzer student Katherine Menjivar B Arch  ’26 received the Center for Architecture’s 2023 Common Bond Scholarship. Menjivar was feted at the Center for Architecture Common Bond Gala on October 26 at Chelsea Piers, where she was one of three scholarship winners presented with a cash prize of $3,500 and was given the opportunity to speak at the gala.

Menjivar is a driven architecture student and has been awarded by the NAWIC 2019 Competition and continues to apply herself through design. Committed to developing settings that meet utilitarian needs and raise human connection and well-being, she is guided by a tireless curiosity and a desire to reimagine spatial experiences. Her ambition is to create cities and landscapes that serve as examples of inventiveness and creativity. Menjivar was accompanied to Common Bond by Dean Marta Gutman.

“One of the things I’ve learned in the field is that growth is nonstop, whether you are a first-year student or an established architect with a firm,” Menjivar said. Referring to the images shown in the video, she said, “Those were projects of mine that were established my first year, and you can definitely bet that there has been a lot of progress and development between my first year and my third year. This award will not be taken for granted. Rather, it will just be taken as fuel to strive forward.”

Along with raising critical funding for the exhibitions, programs, scholarships, and activities of the Center for Architecture, the gala  is an opportunity to celebrate some of the leaders who embody our community’s most cherished values, and to look toward the future of architecture in NYC by honoring promising students pursuing architecture at NYC-based schools. The Center for Architecture is the storefront for the American Institute of Architects, New York chapter (AIA New York). The Common Bond scholarship acknowledges the outstanding accomplishments of the students honored and also invests in the future of an industry that struggles to retain talent due to high education debts post-graduation that force many promising designers out of the profession.

Many congratulations to Katherine!

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