A co-designed and co-produced remote Indigenous housing project and a health hub have been named joint winners of the inaugural ArchitectureAU Award for Social Impact.
Organized by Architecture Media, the award recognizes projects that promote the common good and rewards architectural practice that preferences emphathy over aesthetics.
“Each of [the awarded and commended projects] has something to teach us about how architecture can make a difference to society and reminds us that we need to continually re-evaluate the ways in which we practise,” said the award’s jury chair Katelin Butler.
“Design excellence is not found in the creation of beautiful buildings alone. It is also found in the architectural process – that is, how the problem or brief is defined, who is empowered to be part of the journey, and who benefits from the outcome. How does the building work to support the client? How does it align with the broader public benefit? And how does the design itself enhance these benefits?”
See the full jury overview.
The 2023 jury also comprised Troy Casey (director, Blaklash Creative), Esther Charlesworth (professor of Architecture, RMIT, and founder of Architects Without Frontiers), Ben Gauntlett (disability discrimination commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission), Jeremy McLeod (founder, Breathe). The jury was convened by Rory Hyde (Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne).
Joint winners
Groote Archipelago Housing Programme – The Fulcrum Agency
Puntukurnu AMS Healthcare Hub – Kaunitz Yeung Architecture
Commendations
Bholu 17 – The Anganwadi Project
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape – Cooper Scaife Architects
St Albans Housing – NMBW Architecture Studio in association with Monash Art Design and Archtiecture (MADA)
The ArchitectureAU Award for Social Impact is organized by Architecture Media, publisher of ArchitectureAU.com, and presented in partnership with the Melbourne School of Design and supported by Latitude, Peptolab, and NHO.
