New Zealand designs pick up international awards — LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA

Multidisciplinary studio Isthmus has picked up two awards in an international experiential design competition. Its Hobsonville Point Habitat Markers received an honours award in the 2020 Society for Experiential Graphic Design Global Awards, while its Te Hauāuru Reserve project received a merit.

Of the Hobsonville Point markers jurors said they were “visually compelling, mixing forms and material beautifully, but it is the exploratory nature of them that I find so inspiring. They are inviting, open-ended, and wondrous, reminding us to be curious, to look closer, to touch - and to focus.”

The markers take the form of large posts, standing or lying down. They’re micro-architecture, with holds and hollows for birds and insects to make their homes within, and in turn for children to explore and encounter nature.

Te Hauāuru Reserve also known as Westgate Town Park is one of only four projects from across the globe to pick up a Merit Award in the Placemaking & Identity Category. The design connects people to place through layers of storytelling embedded into the form of the park.

Developed in collaboration with local iwi the park’s narrative is expressed throughout the integrated green space in the textures, iconography, and typography set within it. You can read more about it here.

Isthmus says it’s really pleased to have received the awards from SEGD - the global, multidisciplinary community of professionals who plan, design and build experiences that connect people to place.

Covid-19 meant a virtual award ceremony had to be held by the society to announce the 30 winners.

This year’s winning projects spanned a range of topics, disciplines and verticals, from highlighting the role of technology in addressing injustice in communal workspaces, creating interactive experiences that unearth unconscious biases to material-driven, nature-inspired park placemaking totems.

Designers represented diverse parts of the globe, but what was a common thread for many jurors said, was a commitment to use design for the betterment of society.

Jurors evaluated projects in seven categories that represent the core of experiential graphic design practice: Digital Experience Content, Exhibition, Interactive Experiences, Placemaking and Identity, Public Installation, Strategy/Research/Planning and Wayfinding.

Fourteen Honor Awards and 16 Merit Awards spanning the full spectrum of experiential graphic design were chosen from among 340 submissions.

“The winning projects have a way of connecting with you,” says Traci Sym, Global Design Awards Jury Chair. “As the jurors moved through hundreds of project submissions, you could see when they came across a project that defined excellence. We were all extremely moved by the intention, care, and focus that was taken to bring these projects to life.”

SEGD is a multidisciplinary, global community of professionals who create experiences that connect people to place.

Tomorrow we’ll feature a story on the Hobsonville Point project.