Provided/AAP

Work by Jenny Sabin.

Jenny Sabin, assistant professor of architecture, has been named a United States Artists (USA) Fellow in Architecture and Design for 2011, which includes a $50,000 grant.

USA fellowships are awarded each year to 50 outstanding performing, visual, media and literary artists from USA, an independent nonprofit philanthropic organization based in Los Angeles.

"While in L.A. to accept the fellowship, I was overwhelmed by the company that I was in," says Sabin.

Sabin

Sabin was named the 2011 USA Knight Fellow, and Elena Manferdini, a visiting critic in architecture at Cornell for the fall semester, is the USA California Community Foundation Fellow.

Sabin, whose work focuses on the intersection between architecture and science, joined the Cornell faculty in August. She is the principal of Jenny Sabin Studio, an experimental design studio; and is a cofounder of the hybrid research and design unit LabStudio.

The USA fellows are awarded after a lengthy process that includes an initial nomination, formal application and peer panel review. Founded in 2006, USA has awarded more than $15 million in annual grants, and is second only to the MacArthur Foundation in total funds awarded. Fellows are allowed to use the funds in any way they wish.

Other current and past USA fellows from architecture and design include Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano, who gave a lecture on campus in September; Teddy Cruz, Greg Lynn and Neil Denari. The organization also recognizes luminaries from literature, visual arts, dance, theater arts, media, and crafts and traditional arts.