Staff and students from the School of Architecture and Planning are building quite the reputation for themselves. Becoming rather accustomed to their place on winners’ podiums, New Zealand’s Best Design Awards, held in September, was no exception.
An annual showcase of excellence in graphic, spatial, product, interactive and motion design, the Best Awards was established in 1970 to celebrate the very best of New Zealand design. With the Gold Pin presented to the best ‘in category’, the Purple Pin is awarded in recognition of New Zealand’s most outstanding piece of design in each discipline.
This year’s event saw staff members, Lecturers Sarosh Mulla and Aaron Paterson, awarded a Silver Pin in the Exhibition and Temporary Structures (Spatial) Category for their project Penumbral Reflections, and a Silver Pin in the Retail (Spatial) Category for Wine Cave. Aaron’s Akaora - Maison Rue Jolie design also won a Silver Pin, in the Residential (Spatial) Category.
The school’s winning students, each awarded Gold Pins in the Student (Spatial) Category, were Lewis Booth for Rondel Terrace, Natasha Trumic for To Dement: Archiecture of Empathy and Emily Wood for Compliments to the Craftsman: Constructing an Immersive Dining Experience. In addition, Linus Goh, Anita Chin, Bevin Liang and Ricky Tung were finalists with their fantastic collaborative project, Pop Up Reality Shop. This category recognises excellence in user experience and customer centred design.
It took nine judges and seven days for the well-thought-out winners to be selected, a process ultimately presenting our gold pin wins a nudge along the ‘path to purple’ at next year’s awards, and an exciting preview of promising careers that clearly lie ahead.
By Kate Sumner
