The INDE.Awards Gala on the 22 June 2019 was a night to remember. Set against a dramatic backdrop within the iconic Melbourne Museum, the glittering evening witnessed the coming together of some of the best and brightest minds in architecture and design.

There were over 500 guests, participants and jury members from Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Australia in attendance to honour 2019’s most progressive projects, products and professionals from the region. The INDE. Awards is also the only program that works to unite the architecture and design community within the Asia-Pacific region.

One of the core themes and topics for the evening was progressive design thinking. The discussions shed light on this urgent need, in this day-and-age of our globalised design economy, to address change, social responsibility, sustainability and work-life balance. In fact, a panel talk hosted by Zenith, titled ‘Is regionalism in design relevant today?’ conducted earlier in the day could be attributed to setting the mood and tone for the evening’s program.

In the spirit of INDE.Awards’ commitment to progressiveness in architecture and design, a new award – The Gold Mark – was announced with Arc by Koichi Takada receiving the honour. The Gold Mark award is a special recognition for a project that satisfies the needs of its typology but also embraces visionary thinking and design excellence. “The project we’ve chosen to honour manages and overcomes the challenges and complexity of its market and site, but shows equal consideration for human experience – at micro and macro scales. It demonstrates sensitivity to the encounter of the building up close on the site, as well as consideration for how the building contributes to the narrative of the city at large. Recognising and contributing to that city-level narrative is so important to the experience and value of our built environment,” said Narelle Yabuka, Cubes editor. 

Gracing the event as the Emcee was Fenella Kernebone, presenter, keynote speaker and Head of Curation for TEDx Sydney. She opened with an introduction about the challenging task that the Jury had ahead of them, picking out the winners from a pool of over 430 deserving entries. Joining her on stage were co-hosts, Alice Blackwood, Editor, Indesign and Narelle Yabuka, Editor, Cubes magazine.

Fenella Kernebone, our emcee for the night.

The hosts took a moment to extend their gratitude and appreciation to the esteemed jury panel – Chan Ee Mun (WOHA) Singapore, Eleena Jamil (Eleena Jamil Architects) Malaysia, James Calder (Calder Consultants) Australia, Jan Utzon (Utzon Architects) Denmark, Joshua Comaroff (Lekker Architects) Singapore, Joyce Wang (Joyce Wang Studio) Hong Kong, Judy Cheung (Cheungvogl Architects) Hong Kong, Leone Lorrimer, Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd (PearsonLloyd) UK, Luke Yeung (Architectkidd) Thailand, Paul McGillick (McGillick Consulting) Australia, Shashi Caan (SC Collective), USA-UK, Stephen Burks (Stephen Burks Man Made) USA, Sue Carr (Carr) Australia and lastly Indesign Media’s CEO and founder, Raj Nandan.

(L-R) Budiman Hendropurnomo, Luke Yeung (Juror, Architectkidd), Florian Heinzelmann (Ambassador, Shau), David Schafer (Ambassador, Studio Make), Andrew Piva (Ambassador, B.E Architecture), and Dana Ciaccia.

They also thanked the sponsors and official partners – Zenith, Bosch, Colebrook Bosson Saunders, Cosentino, Cult, Gaggenau, Herman Miller, Living Edge, Wilkahn, PGH Bricks & Pavers, Woven Image, Zip Water and Dinosaur Designs, “without whose support the event would not have been possible.” 

Founder, Raj Nandan opened the evening with an address, noting that it truly is a night to celebrate design from the region: “Our vision for the INDEs has always been to support and build our regional community and bring a sense of togetherness to what is a geographically vast region. We thank every single person who submitted to the awards, it’s a commitment in itself and we are honoured that you have chosen to join us on the INDEs journey and share in our vision for a unified regional community,” said Nandan on the night. Following Raj’s address, it was officially time for the awards ceremony to commence. Find out the names of all the winners here.

On behalf of the entire team at Indesign Media Asia Pacific, huge congratulations to all the INDE.Awards 2019 winners. Here are some of the most memorable moments from the night.

Photography by Einwick.