NOMA AZ in partnership with Multistudio is offering the Amineh Warrayat Memorial Scholarship which is intended to honor Amineh’s work and her impact made on communities through design and engagement as a young architect-in-training. This scholarship is intended to support diversity within the student body of design schools by providing financial assistance to a NOMAS member or a NOMA AZ student member that most embodies the spirit of NOMA AZ’s core mission:
- Create a team of students and professionals who want to inspire and empower under-served communities in Arizona, regardless of socio-economic status, culture, language, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age. Our strength is our diversity.
- Strive to increase the number of minorities and women in our profession in general, but especially in positions of leadership and influence by supporting their professional development. We want our organization to be a valuable resource that is welcoming, reliable, socially and environmentally progressive, and which encourages fellowship across disciplines.
This scholarship is not need based but rather merit based. Arizona residency is not required. Application period opens on September 16th and closes on October 31st.
As a student and in her work, Amineh believed that shaping the physical environment was important to nurturing people and communities, and she was a peaceful, talented, and diligent champion for equity. For her, work was about making something for others—using her talents to express what others could not draw, model, write, organize, or design for themselves—to improve the community and people’s daily lives. She contributed to local as well as global architectural projects in higher education, healthcare, and justice. During her education and her seven impactful years of practice as an architect-in-training she contributed to many projects. In reflection of her careful and persistent work, it is clear that her influence has reached far beyond her years of experience might suggest. Her Multistudio legacy will live on in the South Central Transit-Oriented Development Community Plan, Edison Eastlake Impact Hub, and Raza Development Fund Community Hub, among many other projects she touched. Her interests in promoting architecture for the community and designing for cultures led to her involvement in a study abroad program in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which deepened her passion for architecture. Her sense of justice also led to her involvement with non-profit groups and through Freedom by Design, she participated in a project to create wheelchair-accessible raised planter beds in the Mesa Urban Garden while a student at ASU. To raise money for materials to build the planter, she sold lemonade.
Amineh Warrayat passed away on January 14, 2022. She inspired her colleagues through her persistence, high standards, and understanding that hard work can be joyful when great purpose is the driver. With Amineh as a constant inspiration, NOMA and Multistudio offer this scholarship opportunity to honor her and her belief that design has power in shaping places for community benefit.