A comedian with a passion for design, an architect duo who have led a movement of architect-designed social housing and community-focussed projects, and a sustainability research centre fuelling innovation were recently honoured at the 2019 National Architecture Conference.
Los Angeles-based Australian expatriates Hank Koning and Julie Eizenberg, of Koning Eizenberg Architecture, jointly won the prestigious Gold Medal for their lifelong pursuit of social and community outcomes through architecture. The pair was commended for their inclusive design approach that has raised the bar for the design of buildings particularly for marginalised people and programs.
The National President’s Prize was awarded to entertainer and broadcaster Tim Ross, who has propelled Australian design into the popular media. Ross had a prominent role in campaigns to stop the destruction of heritage landmarks and continues to advocate for Australian architecture and design.
The Leadership in Sustainability Prize was awarded to Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, which creates collaborations between property, planning, engineering and policy organisations with researchers aimed at spurring sustainability in the development and construction industries.
National President Helen Lochhead was awarded the Paula Whitman Leadership in Gender Equity Prize for her commitment to women’s participation and sustained contribution in the industry. As the first female Dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of New South Wales, she has achieved a goal of 50 per cent representation of women on the leadership team and advisory council.
Vivian Mitsogianni won the Neville Quarry Architectural Education Prize in recognition of her academic and practice leadership.
The Student Prize for the Advancement of Architecture was awarded to Bobbie Bayley and Owen Kelly for their Grand Section project traversing Australia on bicycle and discussing architecture and design with communities along the 7600km journey.
A proposal from Sobi Slingsby for a group of land-based and over-water architectural shelters on the Great Barrier Reef’s Lady Elliot Island as a response to climate change was awarded with the BlueScope Steel Glenn Murcutt Student Prize.