Leaders of Australian architecture have been honoured at the 2015 Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards held in Melbourne on 19 March.

Prizes were awarded by the Australian Institute of Architects to respected practitioners, emerging architects, academics and students for their exemplary contribution to the profession across a range of disciplines.

The Institute’s highest honour, the Gold Medal, was awarded to NSW based architect Peter Stutchbury (see separate release).

Architecture Media’s Managing Director, Ian Close, and Publisher, Sue Harris, were jointly awarded the 2015 President’s Prize by National President David Karotkin. Under the guidance of Close and Harris, Architecture Media, in addition to publishing the profession’s preeminent magazine Architecture Australia, has expanded to include extensive offerings within the digital realm, awards and events – all aimed at broadening the exposure of the profession.

Australia’s leading scholar and applied researcher on Aboriginal housing and settlement, Professor Paul Memmott, is the 2015 recipient of the Neville Quarry Architectural Education Prize. Memmott, a Life Fellow of the Institute, was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of the profession through research, education, public service and advocacy focused primarily on the welfare of Indigenous Australians.

The Leadership in Sustainability Prize was presented to Professor Emeritus Allan Rodger in recognition of over 40 years’ contribution at a local, national and global scale to research, community understanding and architectural education in the field of sustainability including the establishment of a UIA working group in 1990 looking at the implications of the greenhouse effect for architecture and the built environment.

WA Chapter Councillor and director of WA practice Post-, Nic Brundson, was honoured with this year’s National Emerging Architect Prize. Brundson is also the co-founder of Spacemarket, a not-for-profit urban program that pairs empty urban spaces with potential tenants.

Institute Life Fellow, Louise Cox received the William J Mitchell International Committee Prize in recognition of a significant contribution to the profession internationally. Cox was elected as the first female National President of the Institute in 1994 and went on to become President of the International Union of Architects from 2008 to 2011. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2014 and was invested with the rank of Chevalier d’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, one of the highest honorary distinctions granted by the French Republic, in 2011.

Former SONA President Barnaby Hartford-Davis was the recipient of the Student Prize for the Advancement of Architecture. In 2011, Hartford-Davis co-founded the One:One student and architect design-build event in Sydney which has since expanded to nearly every state. The jury were impressed with Hartford-Davis’s ‘major role in advocating for the student body in addressing unpaid internships and highlighting students’ rights at work’.

Five ‘passionate and committed’ emerging architects have been selected to participate in the 2015 Dulux Study Tour visiting Tokyo, Paris and London, where they will experience firsthand some of the best architectural sites and practices. The recipients are Nic Brunsdon, Bonnie Herring, Casey Bryant, John Ellway and Monique Woodward.

For the first time, the biennial BlueScope Glenn Murcutt Student Prize has been jointly awarded. Matthew Hyland from the University of Tasmania and Jin Chen Lee from the University of New South Wales were praised for their submissions which each ‘responded to two very different conditions, yet both displayed depth of understanding for place-making and each achieved authenticity,’ the jury noted.

2015 Winners

Gold Medal
Peter Stutchbury, Peter Stutchbury Architecture (NSW)

Emerging Architect Prize
Nic Brunsdon, Post- and Spacemarket (WA)

National President’s Prize
Ian Close and Sue Harris, Architecture Media (Vic)

Student Prize for Advancement of Architecture
Barnaby Hartford-Davis, RMIT (Vic)

BlueScope Glenn Murcutt Student Prize
Matthew Hyland, University of Tasmania (Qld)
Jin Chen Lee, University of NSW (NSW)

Leadership in Sustainability Prize
Professor Emeritus Allan Rodger LFRAIA (Vic)

William J Mitchell International Committee Prize
Louise Cox AO LFRAIA (NSW)

Neville Quarry Architectural Education Prize
Professor Paul Memmott, University of Queensland (Qld)

Dulux Study Tour Prize
Bonnie Herring, Breathe Architecture (Vic)
Casey Bryant, Andrew Burns Architect (NSW)
John Ellway, James Russell Architect (Qld)
Monique Woodward, WOWOWA (Vic)
Nic Brunsdon, Post- and Spacemarket (WA)

The Institute would like to thank BlueScope for their sponsorship of the BlueScope Glenn Murcutt Student Prize, Architectural Window Systems for their support of the Emerging Architect Prize and Dulux for sponsoring the Dulux Study Tour Prize.

The Australian Institute of Architects’ highest honour, the Gold Medal, has been awarded to NSW based architect Peter Stutchbury at a special ceremony tonight held at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

In awarding the honour, Institute National President and Jury Chair David Karotkin praised Stutchbury for his ongoing contribution to the advancement of architecture through practice, teaching and participation in professional activities and organisations.

‘In 34 years of practice, Stutchbury has mastered the art of creating architecture that speaks of the place it inhabits – buildings that are environmentally sustainable, culturally specific and locally embedded,’ the jury said.

‘Since establishing his own practice in 1981, Stutchbury and his firm have received 47 Institute awards(including two Robin Boyd Awards for Residential Housing), have won or been placed in approximately 20 national and international design competitions, have been published in around 200 books and publications, and have been exhibited in Australia, Europe, America and Asia.

‘While the work of Peter Stutchbury Architecture is best known for its residential responses to unique Australian regional landscapes, Stutchbury’s work is not limited to this genre.

‘The firm’s awarded projects include public works in urban environments and in recent years Stutchbury has successfully applied his meticulous, site-sensitive design approach in international locations as diverse as Japan, Vanuatu and Russia,’ the jury reported.

A professor in architecture at the University of Newcastle, Stutchbury has been engaged in teaching throughout his career, including tenures as a guest professor at a number of international universities.

Stutchbury is a founding director of the Architecture Foundation Australia and has taught at the foundation’s Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class since its inception in 2001.

Stutchbury’s most famous works include his two Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture winning projects, Springwater (2005) and Bay House (2003), Deepwater Woolshed and Invisible House, winner of a 2014 NSW Architecture Award for Residential Architecture.

1999 Gold Medallist and friend of Stutchbury, Richard Leplastrier, reflected on their relationship in the March 2015 edition of Architecture Australia.

‘Since those early days we have spent much time together, raising our families concurrently, occasionally doing projects together and, most importantly, I think, teaching together…

‘That the land underpins and informs one’s architectural thinking has always been fundamental to this Gold Medallist. The contribution he has made in teaching alone substantiates his award, let alone the beauty of the work itself. ’

The Creative Directors for the 2015 National Architecture Conference – Risk have revealed the complete line-up of international and local speakers ahead of early bird closing on 26 March.

Curated by Hamish Lyon, Andrew Mackenzie and Donald Bates, the three day festival takes place in Melbourne 14-16 May and features over 20 speakers interrogating risk from all perspectives within the profession and beyond.

‘We are thrilled to confirm a powerhouse of speakers from near and far to explore the troubled nexus between the architectural necessity of risk-taking and a building environment predicated by risk minimisation.

‘These exciting speakers come from within and outside the profession, small practices and large practices, public sector and private sector, creating a diverse conversation to push our profession forward at a time when our role is challenged,’ the Creative Directors noted.

Risk will include a range of keynote speakers, extended panel discussions and short sessions in addition to an extensive collection of fringe events before, during and after the main program.

Risk speakers:

Caroline Bos – UNStudio, Netherlands
David Gianotten – OMA, Hong Kong
Kasper Jensen – 3XN, Denmark
Cheong Koon Hean – Housing and Development Board, Singapore
Gregg Pasquarelli – ShoP Architects, USA
Deborah Saunt – DSDHA, United Kingdom
Mitchell Silver – City of New York, USA
Jeremy Till – Jeremy Till, United Kingdom
Thomas Bailey – Room11, Australia
Camilla Block – Durbach Block Jaggers, Australia
Anthony Burke – University of Technology Sydney, Australia
John Choi – CHROFI, Australia
John Daley- Grattan Institute, Australia
Kristen Green – KGA Architecture, Australia
Ben Hewett – NSW Government Architect’s Office, Australia
Jeremy McLeod – Breathe Architecture, Australia
Juliet Moore – Edwards Moore, Australia
Paul Morgan – Paul Morgan Architects, Australia
Finn Pederson – Iredale Pedersen Hook, Australia
Hannah Tribe – Tribe Studio, Australia
Suzannah Waldron – Searle x Waldron, Australia
Charles Wright – Wright Architects, Australia

Registration and program available at wp.architecture.com.au/risk