Isabella Reynolds (pictured) and Thomas Huntingford have been announced joint winners of the 2022 Student Prize for the Advancement of Architecture at the 2022 National Prizes by the Australian Institute of Architects.
2022 Student Prize for the Advancement of Architecture | Isabella Reynolds
Jury citation:
Isabella Reynolds has made a unique and progressive contribution to the advancement of architecture and education. She has operated at the intersection of student experience and the broader profession in a skilled and sophisticated manner. She has shown strong leadership among the student cohort in the area of interdisciplinary design and collaboration.
In 2020, Isabella founded the ongoing Architecture& panel series, which seeks to engage members of the profession in discussions on architecture and its surrounding disciplines. These discussions, made accessible in-person and online, have also been archived and published in the University of Queensland Barbara Journal, allowing discourse to reach the broader community. This platform for diverse interdisciplinary engagement provides opportunity for industry leaders, engineers, students, practitioners, CEOs, artists, developers, politicians, urban planners and academics to intermingle and merge in the same physical and ideological spaces.
Isabella has acted as both student and teacher during her architectural education. Whilst working in a Student of Architecture role at BVN in Brisbane, she established an open-to-all guest lecture program at her place of employment to feature Brisbane artists and emerging architects. The program was accompanied by an in-studio design and art workshop and competition that culminated in an exhibition of works at the Queensland State Library. Furthermore, whilst undertaking her Masters of Architecture, she undertook a tutoring role at her university in Building Technology, with a focus on mass timber structures.
Isabella Reynolds has made significant contributions in architecture education, which have benefited the education to her student cohort, as well as the broader profession. She operates effectively in cross disciplinary environments, and broadly influences the architecture profession in a manner that is cross generational, and noteworthy considering her years of experience. She provides a precedent to the strong contributions that students can have on the future of the architectural profession.
2022 Student Prize for the Advancement of Architecture | Thomas Huntingford
Thomas Huntingford has made substantial contributions to the advancement of the education of architecture by inspiring camaraderie among his student cohort, promoting student engagement and consistently challenging himself and his peers to do more.
Thomas has formed meaningful relationships with his teachers, peers and colleagues, and collaborated with them to successfully initiate ways to increase student engagement with architectural discourse. In early 2020, he worked with his lecturer to start a student initiative called ‘Interviewing Designers and Architects’. He is the co-chair of the Melbourne School of Design (MSD) Student Forum, which he has made a more accessible place for all students through removing the need for formal applications. In 2019, he created the MSD Discussion Board Facebook group. This online platform, which now has more than 1,500 members, has simulated the studio culture online, allowing the sharing of work, ideas and events.
A human-scale peer-to-peer approach has been brought to SONA’s executive team through Thomas’s leadership and advocacy for meaningful engagement of SONA members. Thomas has represented students at the Institute’s Victorian Chapter Council, Victorian Education Committee, Architect Victoria Editorial Committee and Sustainability in Architecture Forum.
Thomas has made a genuine contribution to the promotion of architecture for the benefit of the profession and the student experience. His leadership has had a positive impact on the culture of the education of architecture and student wellbeing, and has included providing students with a safe place to contribute and do more through friendship and camaraderie.
Jury
Tony Giannone FRAIA (Chair) – National President | Director, Tectvs
Lisa Moore FRAIA – NEC Chair and National Councillor | Director, And Architecture
Dr Helen Norrie – University of Tasmania
Leanne Haidar – National SONA President | SJB Architects
