winners announced - click here for full list or above links for individual award levels
AILA 2008 National Awards
Jury Report
Australia is a vast country with diverse landscapes and Australian landscape architectural practices are showcasing how quality design can respond to that diversity and improve the quality of life and the environment.
The AILA National Jury is proud to announce the twenty seven 2008 AILA National Awards. These projects will touch the lives of people in different ways and at different scales from the Rottnest Island (Wadjemup) Coastal Walk Trail, to our more confined urban environments such as Barcom Park, they will even improve the experience and lives of hippos at the Kubu River Hippos Exhibit, Werribee Open Range Zoo.
The diversity of our work does not end with landscape and location but with the approach to interpreting these sites, we are illustrating a profession that can embrace both art, science and cultural difference in our design.
The AILA 2008 National Jury met in Canberra in early July to assess the 97 award submissions received. The submissions were received from a broad range of practices, reflecting the complex array and variety of current work being undertaken by the profession nationally and internationally.
As in more recent years, the submissions reflected the major role that AILA Registered members are playing in leading design teams for major projects as well as demonstrating a high level of collaboration within a larger design team ensuring integrated outcomes for the built.
While every state and territory has shown depth and quality with their submissions, this year our Queensland colleagues have taken out a high number of the national awards, they achieved ten of the twenty-seven awards being announced. They have set a high standard across the breadth of landscape work form skate parks to land management and as with all the winning projects, they will contribute to the quality of life and sustainability of urban and regional environments.
However, in the spirit of competition between our states, it was very obvious to the Jury that Victorians know quality design and what it means to lift the ordinary to the extraordinary. Our Victorian members know how to make bold moves from infrastructure to landscape architecture. The three major awards being presented by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects for 2008 are going to Victorian projects.
The AILA Australian Medal for Landscape Architecture has been awarded to Urban Initiatives Pty Ltd (in association with Meinhardt Infrastructure & Environment Pty Ltd) for their Coastal Towns Design Frameworks.
The National Landscape Architecture Award of Excellence in Design goes to Taylor Cullity Lethlean with Paul Thompson for The Australian Garden Stage One, Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne.
Urban Initiatives have also been honoured with a National Landscape Architecture Award of Excellence in Land Management for the Kubu River Hippos Exhibit, Werribee Open Range Zoo.
These bold and innovative projects showcase our profession and illustrate what landscape architects are capable of achieving.
Victorian practices also received awards for Raglan Street Parkland in the City of Port Phillip - a rare and beautiful example of less is more and receives a Small Project Innovation Citation. These along with several other small projects, such as Barcom Park in Sydney by Sue Barnsley Design, acknowledge that so much of the work done by landscape architects is in the arena of smaller sites with limited budgets when compared to the nationally significant big budget items.
The national jury awarded the AILA National Edna Walling Award for Residential Design to a special suite of residential projects submitted by Fresh Landscapes (Jennie Curtis) of Canberra.
The Jury had a difficult time with so many great entries this year. However the Jury was unanimous in making the judgement that these submissions were pointing to the future and indicated that the profession is growing more complex daily. Landscape architects are having to confront ever increasing challenges and provide leadership to the community and the clients through design.
Thanks to all my colleagues who spent an intensive two days in Canberra as well as having to make our way through the submissions in the weeks leading up to the meeting.
Congratulations to all those the practices that submitted and in particular to those whose projects are to receive the national awards.
Debbie Saegenschnitter FAILA
2008 National Jury Chair
The 2008 National Award Jury
Chair: Debbie Saegenschnitter (AILA SA)
Catherine Townsend (RAIA ACT)
Katharina Nieberler-WalkerĘ (AILA Qld)
Andrew Turnbull (AILA NSW)
Gweneth Leigh (AILA ACT)
Mark Frisby (AILA Vic)
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