Joseph Bjelic-Webster from Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka, Unitec, School of Architecture is a finalist for his project 'Foregrounding Urban Futures: Bio-regional Materiality at Te Rimutahi'.
Judges citation
There’s a big task at hand in addressing the environmental damage caused by conventional building materials and there’s bravery and innovation in this heroic architectural proposition. In speaking to place, the designer presents a noble commitment to Karangahape’s layered history and the urban fabric.
Humble materials are built into a sculptural form that can’t be ignored on this highly visible site that bisects two ridgelines, activating our minds are activated to engage with bioregionalism and use what we have.
A heart-on-sleeve response that’s infectious in its enthusiasm for architectural responsibility.
Project description
This bio-regional materials hub tests the possibilities of a new class of materials in a prominent urban context. The project addresses the harms caused by the continued use of high-carbon-footprint materials by rethinking architectural materiality.
The hub, in a prominent site on the corner of Karangahape and Ponsonby Roads, is constructed with materials sourced within 100 kilometres. It houses exhibition, learning and making spaces, demonstrating the possibility of a sustainable urban built environment. The site has a pre- and early colonial history of a bio-regional building culture when timber, harakeke, nikau and clay bricks were once commonplace.
The hub reveals an alternative urban reality where bio-regional materials are foregrounded.
