This would have to be my favourite time of year in design: the INDE.Awards Official Shortlist is revealed and then we hang in delicious suspense, awaiting the grand announcement of our region’s most outstanding projects. The moment of celebration is drawing close: save the date for Thursday 5 August.

What does this year’s Shortlist reveal to us? A larger number and diversity of entrants, showing us that the INDE.Awards as a program and a unifying force in the region is continuously growing. We’ve also seen an impressive quality of entries – so good in fact that it’s harboured on epically challenging for our jurors. It’s the substance of the projects, the creativity, finesse and detail while responding to local concerns, listening to users’ particularly complex needs (given the world’s current post-pandemic environment), sensitively engaging with environment, but also executing impressive architectural and design visions. Browse through this year’s Official Shortlist on page 29.

If there’s one thing we’ve observed in the past year, it’s the voracious appetite for learning and knowledge sharing. The INDE.Summit, taking place on 5 August in Sydney – same day as the INDE.Awards Gala – brings together the most intelligent and nimble minds in our region. It’s a symposium like no other: region wide, but also region specific, reaching beyond the breadth and diversity of our awards entries, to dive deep into the issues and topics that drive architecture and design within our corner of the world. The INDE.Summit is fully CPD accredited and not to be missed! Book your tickets to attend in person, or watch live digitally. Visit indeawards.com/summit

The theme of our latest issue is ‘Education and Urbanism’. It’s a topic that fills me with excitement as I contemplate the fulfilled potential and future possibility. This issue we look beyond the classroom as simply an environment for teacher and student, to consider the role of our schools and universities in building social capital within our towns and cities. I’m grateful to our contributors this issue – their perspectives and insights are incredibly valuable. I’d love to hear your thoughts, too, after you’ve spent some time with this issue of Indesign. alice@indesign.com.au

Alice Blackwood | Editor