Over one week in June, Student Organised Network for Architecture (SONA) members across the country participated in the 2022 Super Studio national conceptual design competition.
The student body of the Australian Institute of Architects, SONA’s competition followed the theme of sustainable and regenerative design, posing the challenge to designers to envision a future beyond sustainability, where design has the capacity to reverse the damage inflicted on the planet.
Designers were asked to select a familiar place to propose a design response that has the capacity to positively impact its community. More than 60 submissions were made, including presentations to local juries in each state and territory, after which a shortlist of designers progressed to national judging.
Submissions were judged on how well they responded to the brief; their design approach; the uniqueness and innovation of the submission; the concept’s promotion of sustainability and regenerative design; and the communication and expression of the submission components.
The national prize was awarded to “The Rinse Cycle” by Caleb Lee and Nithya Ranasinghe.
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Courtesy of the Australian Institute of Architects
The national prize went to Caleb Lee and Nithya Ranasinghe (masters students, RMIT) for their proposal “The Rinse Cycle”: a concept for the reclamation of gas stations as laundromats with innovative greywater solutions for decontaminating the soil on the site.
In a two-pronged approach, the communal laundromat is envisioned to address social disconnection, while the water from the initial rinse cycle of the machines will be used in the process of “soil washing” to flush contaminants from the soil.
“The Rinse Cycle is an exemplary response to this year’s Super Studio brief,” the national Super Studio jury said. “The approach to the challenge is subtle, subversive, and powerful, providing not only a clever integration of regenerative design principles, but also a commentary on our social rituals, and current and future living arrangements.”
For their winning concept design, Lee and Ranasinghe received $3,000.
This year’s Super Studio state winners included a combination of systems, installations and policies that used architecture to generate better social and environmental outcomes.
The state winners were:
Australian Capital Territory
Community Hill by Jacob White, Ciaran French and Cameron Roxburgh – a “no phone dome” within the apex of Canberra’s federal triangle, intended to encourage connection and foster a sense of community.
New South Wales
Altogether by Kangcheng Zheng and Hongyu Huang – a network of living installations providing habitat for local species.
Northern Territory
Repairment of Community and Environment through Fragments of Paper by Albertina Ugwu – a system for recycling paper that gives back to the community.
Queensland
Textiles to Tectonics by Kaytee Warren, Maddi Whish-Wilson and Lucy Stefanovic – a pavilion for facilitating the exchange of unwanted clothes.
South Australia
Warnpangga Park by Wenxiu Zhang – a regeneration project intended to restore Warnpangga’s ecological integrity.
Tasmania
Re-Alley by Pei Kai Tan and Xing Ting Ng – a three-stage design to rebuild, reunite and regenerate a disused back alley.
Western Australia
The Usefulness of the Useless by Stephanie Alama Chavez – a design for a biodiversity corridor from the Canning River foreshore to Kensington Bush.
For more information visit the Australian Institute of Architects’ website.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
