Winners Announced | Bates Smart Award for Architecture in Media
The winners of the Bates Smart Award for Architecture in Media were announced at the Australian Institute of Architects – Victorian Awards, and we’re proud to recognise the winning entries – congratulations to all!
National Award
Gromboyd – Maria Larkins
Jury Citation:
Maria Larkins book ‘Grounds, Romberg & Boyd: Melbourne’s mid-century modernists’ is a fascinating document centred on one of Australia’s most important architectural practices, at a crucial moment in Australian architectural culture. Given the individual importance of the three architects that made up the practice often referred to as Gromboyd (as architects, educators, and in Robin Boyd’s case, a writer), the book serves as an important document for Australian cultural studies.
The book fits neatly, filling a gap, between the series of books and publications which have streamed steadily out of Melbourne in the last few decades, books which have mainly focused on Boyd. Therefore, Larkins book focuses on the gaps in the research, primarily the collaboration, de-emphasising some of the more individual smaller works. In this way the book caters to the initiated reader with an understanding of the other works and the broader architectural context.
State Award
March Studio: Making Architecture, Material and Process – Fleur Watson
Jury Citation:
This third addition to the excellent EDITIONS: Australian Architecture Monographs series is the result of an ongoing partnership between RMIT University and publisher Thames & Hudson in recognising the work of influential design practices at strategic points in their careers. Fleur Watson successfully weaves together March Studio’s eclectic output, ranging from retail, interior and product design to architecture, within a framework of making as prototyping in a refreshing pushback against blandness and design as a second- or third-hand process.
At the core of the book is a long-form essay punctuated by short project descriptions and conversations with March Studio that offer personal insight into the evolution of the practice. The author’s skill and commitment to the monograph as an enduring medium for the sharing of architectural ideas is commendable and this book is an accomplished affirmation of its relevance in an increasingly digital world.
Advocacy Award
When Robin Boyd Went to Japan – NMBW Architecture Studio and Robin Boyd Foundation with CIBI
Jury Citation:
Worthy of the highest recognition, this compelling submission focuses on the work and influence of Robin Boyd, and his associations with Japan. Comprised of the ‘When Robin Boyd Went to Japan’ exhibition and a permanent online resource, ‘Robin Boyd & Japan’, the suite demonstrates how ostensibly modest, niche or regional projects can become exemplars for architectural advocacy across a surprising range of aspects and audiences.
The Robin Boyd Foundation was central in these deeply collaborative outcomes and the two components are complementary. ‘When Robin Boyd Went to Japan’ is active, spatial and sensory with finely curated displays, installations, and allied pedagogical events. The online exhibition ‘Robin Boyd & Japan’ opens the Foundation’s collection permanently to the international design world, with rigour, clarity and accessibility.
We would also like to thank the jury panel:
Daniel Kumnick RAIA | Jury Chair
Toby Reed RAIA | Juror
Rachel Hurst FRAIA | Juror
