Architectural wins at Best Awards 2022
Master of Architecture (Professional) graduate Matangireia Yates-Francis, and School of Future Environments Associate Professor Dr Kathy Waghorn have added to AUT’s total haul at the Best Awards 2022.
The Design Institute of New Zealand’s annual Best Awards recognises excellence in graphic, toitanga, digital, moving image, spatial and product design.
Matangireia Yates-Francis' work, TŪHONONGA, received a silver pin at the Best Awards in the Spatial category. The vertical papakāinga design, explores the use of indigenous Māori narratives to create architecture that co-exists with more-than-human entities like maunga, wai, rangi and whenua.
Matangireia is one of AUT’s first graduates of the Master of Architecture (Professional) programme. Of Te Arawa, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Rongowhakaata and Ngāti Maniapoto descent, the Rotorua-raised graduate completed a Bachelor of Design in Spatial Design at AUT in 2019 before enrolling in the School of Future Environments Master of Architecture (professional) programme.
Also a silver pin winner at the Best Awards, with creative direction from Associate Professor Dr Kathy Waghorn, Learning from Trees is a collaborative project that was exhibited in the Italian Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. The Venice Architecture Biennale is the leading and longest-running architectural event in the world.
Learning from Trees is a complex, lattice-like, 35 square metre structure that appears to be woven out of wood. Comprised of 436 ‘sticks’ and 287 brackets, if the sticks were lined up end-to-end, it would measure 1.2 kilometres in length.
The Learning from Trees team members were, from AUT, Kathy Waghorn (Creative Director), from the University of Auckland, Dr Andrew Barrie, Dr Michael Davis, Dr Paola Boarin, contributors Max Smitheram, Denice Belsten, Melanie Milicich, Robyn Chin, Mark Andresen, Bronte Perry, students Dylan Waddell, Josh Crandall, William Challombe-King and engineering consultants Ruamoko Solutions.
Learning From Trees was commissioned for the Italian Pavilion by curator Alessandro Melis.
An additional 29 awards went to students and staff at AUT’s School of Art and Design, making 31 the total awards count for AUT at the Best Awards 2022.
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists at the Best Awards 2022.