Ecological exploration wins at Visionary Architecture Awards

“Combobulation Station: Uncanny Architecture for Uncommon Objects,” by Nicole Teh, was the Supreme winner at the 2019 Auckland Architecture Association (AAA) Visionary Architecture Awards. The project also won the Post-graduate category, and was originated in her University of Auckland M Arch (Prof) thesis.

The judges delivered high praise, describing the project as one that “reinvents objects of the Anthropocene through an architectural investigation of a community recycling centre. By reassembling familiar items into new uncanny tools for climate change, the proposal triggers a reflection on the traces we leave, from objects to urban developments. It is a powerful yet subtle critique of the current conversation about the ecological crisis, communicated in a captivating visual language that feels familiar yet new; a distorted version of reality.”

This year’s judges were Felicity Brenchley (Ākau), Magdalena Garbarczyk (CZYK Studio and Unitec), Gina Hochstein (University of Auckland) and Icao Tiseli (Jasmax).

“Combobulation Station offers an immersive experience of a visionary development of our epoch which, although represented as a fictional proposal, confronts us with the reality of our profession’s significant anthropocenic footprint,” the citation read.

Winner of the Conceptual category was Victoria University of Wellington graduate Dan Castro with “Codex of the Third Landscape”.

The Undergraduate category was won by University of Auckland Bachelor of Architectural Studies graduate Jingyuan Huang with “Between Art, Activism and Architecture”.

The Work in Progress category was won by University of Auckland M Arch (Prof) student William King’s “Te Whanau Hou Hut”.

All the winning projects were praised by the judges for their “high quality, diversity, thoughtfulness and clarity of communication.”

The AAA describes the awards as an opportunity to recognise and promote unrestrained conceptual process and thinking of theoretical or not-yet-realised architectural projects. 

Over 70 entries were received.