Winners of 2018 architecture writing competition announced

A Whangārei architecture graduate and a South Korean high school student have won the top awards in New Zealand’s annual architectural writing competition.

Jade Kake (Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa, Whakatōhea), who works with Maori organisations on marae, papakāinga and civic projects, won the Open category of the 2018 Warren Trust Awards for Architectural Writing.

The competition’s Secondary School category was won by Brian Park, a grade 11 student in Seoul International School.

Highly commended awards were won by three competition entrants: Craig Martin, a Nelson-based teacher, writer and photographer; Michael Davis, a Wellington architect; and Jillian Sullivan, a writer and teacher who lives in the Central Otago village of Oturehua.

The Architectural Writing Awards are a programme of the New Zealand Institute of Architects supported by the educational trust established by the eminent New Zealand architect, Sir Miles Warren.

The purpose of the competition is to encourage writing and commentary about architecture, and to promote architectural criticism in this country.

New Zealand Institute of Architects spokesperson John Walsh said this year’s Warren Trust Awards for Architectural Writing attracted a wide range of writers, from school students to published authors.

The variety of essay subjects was also a feature of the competition, Walsh said.

“For example, the topics tackled by the winning and highly commended writers included a marae on Banks Peninsula, a house on the Kapiti Coast, a church in Hastings, a hut in Central Otago and the Walt Disney Concert hall in Los Angeles.”

The competition was judged by Massey University Press publisher Nicola Legat, Christchurch architect Richard McGowan, and New Zealand Institute of Architects Communications Director John Walsh.

The New Zealand Institute of Architects will publish a book of selected essays from the 2018 Warren Trust Awards for Architectural Writing in early 2019.

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