A creative and compelling proposal to regenerate a damaged landscape and create a public park has won the 2023 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work.
The concept of Junk Tectonics: Feral Communities by Amelia Griffin Toovey is to transform a “exclusive” golf course and adjacent landfill site in Mildura in north-western Victoria into a “inclusive”, experimental and multi-use space for the community.
The proposal is a “critique of industrial extraction and recreation as beneficiaries of exclusive access to quarantined landholdings,” said the jury. “The regeneration of the site’s damaged ecology leads to a series of structures that provide a metaphorical and physical framework for full community access and use.”
The winning unbuilt work is emblematic of the strong “retrofit and regeneration” narative among the entries to the 2023 prize. Other recognized projects include two schemes to retrofit aging public housing stock, a regenerational of a post-mining landscape, and scheme to transform “intrusive and alienating” urban infrastructure into useable public space and housing.
The jury for the 2023 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work comprised Helen Lochhead (emeritus professor, architecture and urbanism, UNSW Sydney), Amy Muir (director, Muir), Kevin O’Brien (principal, BVN), Philip Thalis (principal, Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects), and Katelin Butler (editorial director, Architecture Media).
The winning and commended proposals are:
Winner
Junk Tectonics, Feral Communities: The Metamorphosis of the Mildura Golf Club – Amelia Griffin-Toovey
Honourable mentions
Frontier Rowhouse – Lee Yang Yang, Amanda Lau and Edmund Limadinata
Lost Property – Rebecca Boland
Lyell’s Lament – Dylan Rowbottom
Power Lines – M@ Studio
Special mention
Retain, Repair, Reinvest: Ascot Vale – Office
The AA Prize for Unbuilt Work is organized by Architecture Media, publisher of ArchitectureAU.com, and supported by presenting partner Monash University.
