If the National Architecture Conference is an annual occasion to don our thinking hats and ponder, the Victorian Architecture awards are an occasion to toss off said hats and simply…party. Held last Friday at Central Pier in Docklands, the evening was a gathering of nearly 800 of the best minds in Victorian Architecture. The sheer size of the attendee list says volumes about the thriving design culture of Melbourne (and Victoria) as well as how engaged the local Architecture community is. I am obviously biased in this assessment! Planning an event for hundreds of very hard-to-please Architects is not something to be scoffed at and so a big, well-deserved shout out goes to the hard-working team at the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, led by the wonderful Alison Cleary. Many thanks also go to the corporate sponsors of the Institute, including AWS - sponsors of the Commercial Architecture award - who make this night possible with their support.
The evening began with informal pre-dinner drinks and it quickly became evident that a giant shed-full of Architects loves to… talk shop. A lot! I overhead multiple exhortations for attendees to make their way to their designated tables so that the ceremony could even begin. My heart went out to the beleaguered MCs of the night – Clare Hooper and Leaping Larry (stage name) – who possibly landed the hardest awards night of the year but did a brilliant job nonetheless. It says volumes about our reputation as a ‘tough gig’ that the original presenter pulled out at the last minute (!). We thoroughly deserve the reputation, however.
I am delighted to share that the winners on the night were all deserving, diverse and exemplary projects. If I were to start talking about individual winners, this will be a very long blog post - so a full list of winners is available here. The winners included high-profile practices, emerging ones as well as mid-sized practices that are carving new niches for themselves. Diversity amongst winners is crucial to keeping the awards relevant to the changing face of the industry. It was also particularly exciting to observe that amongst the Residential category (both new and additions & alterations) every single dwelling type was represented – from the legendary Australian beach or country house to the tiny inner-city terraces that dominate real-estate pages to suburban infill for families or downsizers. Residential work is the bread-and-butter of our industry and to see that it continues to be innovative and responsive to the changing needs of our population (and cities) is reassuring. Sadly aside from the juries it is not possible for the general public (or even other Architects) to visit the Residential project winners. However, I do note that amongst the nearly 50 winning projects it is possible to visit almost a third of them, as they are open to the general public to some extent. I encourage you to do so if you have the opportunity. Many of them are accessible year-round as well as during Open House in July.
I once overheard a senior Architect confess a belief that awards are as much a reflection of their juries and ‘current issues’ as they are about finding the best in a given year. In this regard, it felt particularly pertinent that the Enduring Architecture award wasn’t awarded to a grand-dame public building but to Domain Park Apartments designed by the legendary practice of Grounds, Romberg & Boyd. These apartments are now lauded for their great amenity and well-proportioned spaces. They were an apt reminder of the current debate surrounding apartment design standards. Our city is growing at an unprecedented rate, if ever there was a time to get things right and lay the foundations of good apartment building stock for future generations – that time is now.
I was also personally thrilled to see the Parlour Guides receive the National Bates Smart award for Architecture in the Media. This is an instance of Australia leading the world on a hot-button issue – in this instance Gender Equity in the Architecture industry. If you are currently living under a rock and not aware of Parlour’s crowd-funding campaign, which will enable them to continue to do their groundbreaking work, check it out and make a pledge today.
The post-dinner atmosphere near the bar and on the dance-floor was hard to beat and almost made up for the chaos that preceded it. Think Architects cant shake a leg? Think again. I saw some pretty groovy moves from the young ‘uns and the stalwarts alike - including one ‘elder statesman’ (no names, sorry!) who set the dance floor on fire with his retro jive moves. And some of the conversations (both real and overheard) near the post-dinner bar were fiery, scandalous and thought provoking in equal measure. The food and the dance floor are merely the frills, I suspect it’s the chance to indulge in some juicy industry gossip and form new friendships that are a real draw card for many…
…see you next year, then?
Written by: Sonia Sarangi of Atelier Red + Black (Victorian Event Correspondent for AWS)
Sonia Sarangi is co-director of Atelier Red+Black, an emerging architecture practice in Melbourne. She has a Masters in Architecture from the University of Melbourne and has previously worked for a small practice (Melbourne) and large international practice (Singapore). She is a proud supporter of Parlour and firmly believes that good design enriches life. She can be found on Instagram: @thesarangi
