The Harvard Graduate School of Design has named Polish-born architect Aleksandra Jaeschke as the winner of the 2019 Wheelwright Prize, a $100,000 travel-based research grant for up-and-coming architects.

Jaeschke’s winning proposal, UNDER WRAPS: Architecture and Culture of Greenhouses, will take her on a two-year exploration of Taiwan, Morocco, Poland, Israel, Spain, South Korea, Mexico and other countries, to study the diversity of urban and rural greenhouses, in an effort to better understand how humans interact with the botanic world.

The impact of building typologies on the environment is a recurring theme for Jaeschke, whose doctoral dissertation at Harvard, Green Apparatus: Ecology of the American House According to Building Codes, focused on how residential building codes and products are shaping environmental awareness.

“With her pioneering work on greenhouses, Aleksandra Jaeschke reasserts that the field of architecture can and should continue to engage deeply with nature, with horticulture, and with ruralism and the countryside,” said Mohsen Mostafavi, jury member and Dean of Harvard GSD.

Under Wraps was chosen from more than 145 proposals, submitted by architects from 46 countries. Mostafavi also applauded the two other finalists, Maria Shéhérazade Giudici and Garrett Ricciardi, “for their outstanding proposals, which made the decision about this year’s award exceedingly challenging.”

The 2019 Wheelwright Prize jury included Tatiana Bilbao, Loreta Castro Reguera, K. Michael Hays, Eric Höweler, Mohsen Mostafavi, Megan Panzano, and 2015 Prize winner Erik L’Heureux.

The jury’s full comments on Jaeschke’s proposal will be posted on the award’s website shortly.