During the week commencing 31 August, responding to a national brief formulated by Creative Directors, Cameron Bruhn and Claire Humphreys in collaboration with UQ graduates Kieren Dolores and Hudson Smith, participants were invited to be imaginative, caring, serious-minded and romantic in their response.
The event was delivered virtually. While this presented some challenges, the refreshed program proved to have many rewarding benefits. With distance no longer a barrier, students were able to connect with mentors from all over Australia with representation from all states and territories participating.
The top proposal in each chapter will now progress through to the national competition where national winner will be decided. The national judging and announcement will occur on Thursday 24th September click here for more details.
The event could not have gone ahead without the mentors, jury members, design day speakers and the creative directive team who contributed to the program. Thank you to the SONA executive team and the network of SONA representatives across the country, and to chapter staff who helped to support the SONA teams to deliver a rewarding event.
For a list of top teams in each state and teams progressing through to national judging see below.
Victoria results
national winner
Ceremonial Shards
Nithya Ranasinghe and Caleb Lee
Shattered glass as a consequence of the Beirut explosion is transformed into ceremonial objects. They have no set form, but are everyday posessions: memorabilia, paraphernalia.
The gravity of these objects begin to erode with their continued use. However their ability to memorialize the event will not.
Though the collection of this glass is the start of the healing process. We are interested in the effect of everyday interaction with these ceremonial objects.
Unknowingly interwoven into the way we interact and think, lies our response to the tragedy. The resulting consideration then becomes largely focused on acceptance.
Therefore, our proposition is not an architectural space of collection, but rather a gradually disappearing ceremony which takes place everyday with these possessions, in hopes to aid a process of renewal.
As a consequence we begin to question our behavioural response to this transmutation. Intrinsic qualities of glass inspire awe and a sense of preciousness.
For those unaffected by the Beirut explosion, this idolization raises discourse around the sustainability of everyday paraphernalia that pollutes our environment. In many cases, these possessions become unrecyclable and contribute to the growing waste management problem in Lebanon.
Second Place
PottersField
Ali Azamy, Leelee Chea and Jean-Marc Tang
Third Place
Charcoal Scars
Enzo Lara-Hailton, Sith Cooray, Andy Nguy, Haroula Karapanagiotidis
ACT winners
POD
Brad Ellidge and Steph WIlliamson
We explored a protective shell form, something to turn the focus inwards, away from the devastation and to process the situation. The ‘shell’ acts as a message board, gathering messages of love, support, hope, and encouragement. Given to the victims of a disaster, the gentle gesture of giving and receiving. The curved form fits delicately inside the palm of a hand, cradled by the holder who is drawn in to focus on the inscribed messages.
We envisage the shell to be made of a delicate material such as ceramics or porcelain, glazed in vibrant white as a direct contrast to the blackened and burnt landscape. A shining hope amongst the darkness. Our site is not geographical. Instead it is in the palm of your hands, and the hearts and minds of those affected. The shell is an enabler, allowing people from all over the world to write messages to those affected, a small gesture to bring the world closer together.
The project aims to relieve crisis, drawing the focus away, even for a moment, from the disaster. The tactile and fragile quality of the shell forces one to slow down and focus on the gentle curve in their hand. A kind of contemplation, or mindfulness. We’ve focused on touch as the primary sense in this proposal, something we feel is explored less in architecture. This could be experienced in silence, though not necessarily alone. Through the shells, we hope to offer renewal with collective messages of hope and support.
NT winners
Message In a Bottle
Stefano Verdi & Emmanuelle Clarke
The death of George Floyd earlier this year, caused a ground swell of protests across the world. There were scenes of utter chaos. People flooded the streets to protest the killing of Floyd in police custody.
While the police officer pinned Floyd down, Floyd couldn’t breathe. He cried a single tear. He died.
This tear swelled into a wave. A tsunami of emotion and protests. Disruption and noise, yet no change was achieved.
If we slow down, we can think more clearly, to find a better way to protest that will make lasting change. We need to reach decision makers in governments, with face-to-face meetings, sending letters and creating media stories. If we want to be heard, we need to protest calmly.
Floyd’s tear is the inspiration to make this change. To renew. Although aggressively used in cannons to disperse protesters, water has also been scientifically proven to slow the heart rate, with a calming effect. Messages from a bottle, will create a calm place. A place to protest, a place to be heard, a place to make change.
Resting in a pool of water, the huge transparent bottles are a meeting place, a safe place and a place to leave messages. Symbolic of respecting and accepting the past, while renewing our voice to make lasting change.
Second Place
A New Knowing
Pio Gillamac III, Nicole Ng and Kristian Mortlock
THIRD PLACE
NSW Winners
The Reviving Point
Lisushan Meng
The chosen site for this design proposal is the fire destroyed NSW bushlands. Though a year has passed since the start of the Black Summer Bushfire, when we think of it, the charcoal black forest, the devasted people who lost their homes and loved ones, the animals lost their habitants and lives are still very fresh in our memory. With this design proposal, I intended to offer hope for those people and animals who still live in terror and grief because of the bushfire. Meanwhile, the design is meant to remind everyone of us what has happened; so we would do what we can to avoid another disaster like this.
The design proposal is an installation which collects rain water and connects to underground water source. Small animals and birds can drink from this water installation. The cracked skin and charcoal black holes of the installation reminds people of a tree trunk burnt by fire and survived. The water installation can be multiplied and connected in the bushlands, so a network of reviving points can be created, through which people can witness the resilience of nature and restore their hope for a better future.
Second Place
Tracing the Fire
David Barko and Siar Atar
Third Place
Morri
Yuzhen Xin and Yuki Zhou
Queensland winners
Beacon
Kelton Boyter-Grant, Jesse Grant and Abigail Lee
The BLM protests have erupted with renewed passion following the death of George Floyd. Supporters of the cause are subjected to constant strain on their emotional psyche, and yet they find strength in their unity.
The Beacon harnesses the power of community, offering itself as a place of renewal; a sanctuary; a rallying point. The Beacon is a series of thresholds which offer unique experiences of the space, focussed on a central tower. Its location provides a point to congregate and express solidarity. Crossing the ring of light, people are immersed in the impact of human interaction – messages and offerings of emotion.
Entering the enclosure of the tower is a protected place for more personal reflection. The spotlight of the beacon will connect with people beyond the immediate impact of the form – a reminder that the people endure, that we stand with you, for you, calling across the city that ‘We Shall Overcome’. However, the Beacon must have the potential evolve beyond this political moment, a reminder of the struggles faced, and battles won and lost. Its function will evolve into the future, past these current battles, perhaps becoming a place of storytelling.
The trauma borne from racism and oppression exists across time and place. The principles of the Beacon can be repeated across the world using local vernacular. But this space cannot exist without the community; their intention and engagement makes the space a powerful symbol of hope.
Second Place
Nymphea
Sionnan Gresham, Liam Leblond and Senlina Mayer
Third Place
Looking Through the Mirror
Hal Chandler, Jack Peters, Anupa Ranchagoda and Yuxuan Wang
SA winners
Tunnel of Light
Shirley Ong, Aleksandra Kuczek and Nhi Trinh
This year, Covid-19 has affected people worldwide. There are massive amounts of fatalities and some do not have the means to take care of private burial ceremonies, for various reasons. We aim to create a place on Hart Island that represents how these people are still an honoured part of the community, regardless of how they lay to rest.
Our design concept encompasses light to form a tunnel aboveground of Hart Island. The light energy will be generated from decomposed bodies of the victims using Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology, where the decomposing bodies are converted into electricity using bacteria. This is an extraordinarily powerful way to convey the message to the world – the victims are still honoured for their contribution to the world even after their unfortunate deaths. It also creates a sense of affinity when people walk through the tunnel to realize that it is a tunnel lit up entirely by the victims, literally.
Access to the tunnel will be through “portals” from NYC, bringing the people directly to the tunnel, and back to NYC. In the tunnel, names of victims will be displayed on the side and facial recognition technology will be engaged to reveal their future appearance if they were still alive. This proposal is meant to heighten the world’s sense of empathy for the victims.
The proposed concept is also revivifying Hart Island with the perpetual and sustainable light powered by the respected victims. It gives the victims a chance of renewal through light, where each light beam represents their identity.
Second Place
Tanaka Chikwati
Second Place
The Pavilion of Lost Identities
Anish Mistry, Keneil Jiwan, Anali Dzouza and Pratyush Munjal
Tasmania winners
PROGRESSING TO NATIONAL JUDGING
The Muse Show
Nur Zarifah Hanis Sanusi, Harits Daffa and Angelica Sujana
This world is stuck in a constant flow of routines and systems, despite warnings and our own prescient thoughts. Humans have been living in our own isolation/bubble way before the global pandemic, despite our substantial freedom. If we knew our world would turn upside down, would we have changed our ways?
Beauty, form, and beat are things we can hold on to in these extraordinary times. This project’s concept enables a sense of unity in people, with the ability of experience from each our own private spaces. The event’s approach is about a sense of reflection and renewed consciousness to look forward into our “quintessential” future. The event consists of sky light visuals, sky content projections, and amended/altered street projections.
New York is experiencing this pandemic worse than most. This big compact city is characterized significantly for its social street life. The street light projections are meant to visualize the future (altered past) or its ideal concept, giving beauty, form, and beat a purpose. Furthermore, this will project the street life of New York, discarding our old isolated and ignorant mindsets.
The content projections are allocated in the skies for accessibility to all social demographic, including light shows (beauty and form) along with symbiotic music (beat) and a platform to share stories/reminisced memories from participants/people. The purpose behind its grand placement is to evoke togetherness from our confined individual spaces, and to capture a direct sensation, enforcing a reformed state of comfort and hopeful continuity for a future past this.
Second Place
Afterglow
Nuri Mohamad, Pamela Balk and Jacob Tripp
Third Place
Wailing Woods by Ivan Hayes
