2022 National Prizes: Leadership in Sustainability Prize

Jury citation

The advancement of sustainability in architecture and urban design is happening through a range of inputs, all of which play a part. The 2022 Leadership in Sustainability Prize is awarded to Kenneth Yeang who, for decades, has responded to the twin planetary emergencies of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Through his pioneering actions, Yeang has led a paradigm shift in sustainable built environment research and practice, inspiring a generation of architects, planners and engineers in Australia and worldwide.

As an architect, planner, author and ecologist, Yeang’s early experiments with bioclimatic and passive design bucked trends. In the last decades of last century, when so many large-scale buildings were the by-product of mechanical and artificial systems, Yeang sought greater harmony between architecture and nature. Yet access to nature, use of vegetation and natural ventilation within skyscrapers presented many challenges. His career might, therefore, be considered a series of experiments to decarbonize large- scale projects through passive and ecological design strategies – theorized, implemented, tested and disseminated through his extensive publication and teaching, including by invitation at Australian universities.

Yeang has been recognized through the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (1996), the Institute’s International Architecture Award (1998), the Prince Claus Award (1999) and the UIA Auguste Perret Prize for Applied Technology in Architecture (1999). According to Mohsen Mostafavi: “His pioneering research and buildings, combining architecture and nature, have provided inspiration for a generation of architects and planners concerned with ecology and the future of the built environment.”

Jury

Tony Giannone FRAIA (Chair) – National President, Australian Institute of Architects | Director, Tectvs

Sarah Lynn Rees RAIA Grad. – First Nations Advisory Working Group Chair, Australian Institute of Architects | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

Dr Melinda Dodson LFRAIA – Australian Institute of Architects Past National and ACT President | Canberra Low Carbon Housing Challenge Founder | Director, Melinda Dodson Architects

Mark Lusis Affiliate RAIA – Associate Principal, Arup