As a new category to the INDE.Awards last year, The Graduate was a box office smash and has further developed in 2022 to encompass even more of our Indo-Pacific region. This year students from Hong Kong and Singapore will join those from Australia and New Zealand to vie for a place in the shortlist and then, the ultimate accolade, as winner of The Graduate.

Celebrating final year architecture students, The Graduate is a particular category, where students, who are deemed in the top six of their year, are nominated by their school and course leader. There is no doubt that this raises the creative bar, as only the very best students are invited to submit their projects to the category.

2021 Graduate Shortlister, Ashlee Murphy (Deakin University)

For a student on the cusp of professional life, The Graduate is the perfect first step into the world of design and can bring distinction to both school and the individual.

The subject of the entry can be diverse; a speculative project or an activation that responds to current contemporary architectural discourse. It can include issues that respond to urban, social, technological and environmental sectors but it can also look to the future. It can address all manner of habitation, working and living and contribute to the broader topics that confront us today.

2021 Graduate Shortlister, Rosemary Li (University of Auckland)

This year we have a special jury for The Graduate who will assess the entries for their originality, inventiveness, imagination and critical thinking.

The four jury members are,

David Teh, Director, Pakatan Reka Arkitek (PRA) – Malaysia
Tiana Jane Furner McBeath, Architectural Graduate, BVN – Australia
Alice Hampson, Director, Alice Hampson Architect – Australia
Elisapeta Heta, Associate Principal Jasmax – Aotearoa (New Zealand)

Each jury member is an exemplar in their field and will pay due diligence to the extraordinary projects that will once again see The Graduate as a pivotal category in the 2022 INDE.Awards.

Clockwise from left: David Teh, Tiana Jane Furner McBeath, Elisapeta Heta and Alice Hampson

For the INDE.Awards, The Graduate is an opportunity to foster our industry’s newest talent, surveying the region’s top educational institutions to the names and projects that will definine the future of design. We are joined on this journey by Colorbond®, a product which has come to define quintessential Australian design. Like the INDE.Awards, Colorbond® recognise that the future is in the hands of students such as those who enter the category. As a leading provider of innovative steel materials, products, systems and technologies with operations across North America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands and throughout Asia, Colorbond® is forward-thinking and ready to meet the demands of architecture over the next decades. By sponsoring The Graduate, Colorbond® is supporting the next generation of architects responsible for developing best practice in the region.

2021 Graduate Shortlister, Samuel Moloney (University of Auckland)

“BlueScope have been partners of the Australian Institute of Architects since 1985. Providing education and engagement to support the growth of architecture in Australia,” says Melissa Barlow, BlueScope Marketing Manager Commercial and Civil Construction. “We are proud of our continued support of the architectural profession as demonstrated by initiatives such as the Glenn Murcutt Student Prize Award, established to recognise outstanding architectural student work and STEEL PROFILE® magazine to celebrate superb steel architecture. We are excited to announce our sponsorship of the ‘The Graduate’ Award celebrating final year architecture students that showcase innovation and creativity through design.”

Last year’s winner of The Graduate was James McNicol, University of Technology Sydney with an innovative submission that evaluated the interdependence, between crabs and rice, that arises from the disparities of food production of North and South Korea. Proposing multiple farming sites and exploring the ideas of reciprocity, the architectural intervention was original and thought-provoking.

2021 Graduate Winner, James McNicol (UTS)

As we look forward to the 2022 program, our jury are ready to see projects that offer solutions to the challenges we face as a region and a world. Member of The Graduate INDE.Awards jury, Elisapeta Heta, Jasmax commented that an entry which would stand out from the crowd should be, “a cohesive project that is contextually responsive, innovative and sustainably driven”. So just what should we expect to see?

Perhaps a continuation on the 2021 field, where Graduates offered intelligent, culturally driven responses to the building of communities, looking to create respectful, considered spaces that centred on inclusivity. Or maybe we will see a shift towards new forms of residential architecture, where the pandemic has shined a spotlight on ways of living that have opened new conversations on sustainable, integrated housing solutions?

2021 Graduate Shortlister, Muhammad Izzat Ramli (University of Auckland)

So, watch this space to see the future leaders and innovators of the architecture and design community. There is so much talent in our Indo-Pacific region and it’s on show in The Graduate.

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Entries to the 2022 INDE.Awards close on 31/03/2022 at 23:59 AEDT. Entries can be started, modified and submitted here and should be entered according to the Awards’ category criteria.

The Graduate category is proudly partnered by Colorbond®.