The winning student architecture projects of the 2019 RIBA President's Medals

In addition to the Research Award winners, RIBA also revealed the student recipients of the 2019 President's Medals competition, which honors some of the best student architectural research projects across the globe. The 2019 edition reeled in its second highest number of entries with 318 entries from 96 schools representing 30 countries. 

“This year's winners impressed the judges with the rigor and analysis they applied to exploring ideas and solutions relevant to the problems of today. It is exciting to see such talent — and I very much look forward to seeing how their careers progress,” said RIBA President Alan Jones.

The RIBA President's Medal exhibition is currently on display at the RIBA London headquarters through February 1, 2020, before touring the UK and internationally.

Check out the 2019 student winning projects!

RIBA Silver Medal (for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 2 or equivalent):
Victoria King (University of Melbourne, AUS) for “Surface Tension: Blueprints for Observing Contamination in the Sydney Harbour Estuary”
Tutor(s): Gini Lee, Alan Pert

Project excerpt: “In what way might the delicate ecosystem of the Sydney Harbour Estuary be renewed amidst an extant landscape of post-industrial degradation? [...] Using drawing as a critical method for historical and material exploration, this thesis presents a survey of three sites of post-industrial instability. The maritime artefact is reconceived as productive infrastructure to form a network of monitoring and observation sites across the Estuary. The inherent qualities of these artefacts (The Cardinal Mark, The Slipway and The Vessel) afford performative functions for observation. A set of blueprints emerge from this survey, exploring instances where contamination may open opportunity for renewal within the Estuary.”

Silver Medal Commendations

Finbar Charleson (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for London Euston 

Samiur Rahman (University of Greenwich) for GramLiving 

Piotr Smiechowicz (London South Bank University) for The Moon Catcher

RIBA Bronze Medal winner (for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 1 or equivalent): 
Annabelle Tan (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for “Wetland Frontier”
Tutor(s): Johan Hybschmann, Matthew Springett

Project excerpt: “Following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has undergone a patchy recovery, rife with contestation and doubts. Even with new flood defense systems, experts question the long-term resilience of New Orleans which has historically been at odds with nature. Tackling the issue of urban resilience, the scheme is a speculative masterplan that challenges the current approaches towards disaster-prevention and landscape engineering in New Orleans. Straddling a 6-foot levee, the proposal aims to facilitate the regeneration of the Lower Ninth Ward community and the adjacent Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle – both currently ghosts of their former selves after historical neglect and segregation. A multi-stakeholder premise creates a narrative of co-operative value-creation through the restoration of a lost wetland. By tapping on the wetland’s potential economic, recreational, educational and ecological benefits, the scheme both attracts, mobilizes and retains a demographic that matures with restoration efforts.”

Bronze Medal Commendations

Imogen Dhesi (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for Riad Al Nisa 

Samuel Kerin (University of Nottingham) for The Coventry Ring Road Press 

Paula Pocol (University of Greenwich) for Somers Town Community for Women

RIBA Dissertation Medals:

Ruth Pearn (University of Westminster) for “Ages Through the Terrace: The Evolving Impact of Age on Social and Spatial Relations in the Home”
Tutor(s): Harry Charrington

Project summary: “Ruth’s dissertation analyses the intricacies of multiple generational living, by examining three historical case studies located in Hackney in the 1790s, 1870s and 1970s. The dissertation explores the fluidity and subjectivity of ageing and shows how shifting ideas of childhood, youth, adulthood and old age have impacted on homemaking and domestic architecture. It looks to the future and questions how the terrace may adapt to multigenerational living, as society changes.”

Naomi Rubbra (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for “Towards Effective Architectural Practice: Lessons from the Elthorne Housing Estate”
Tutor(s): Edward Denison, David Roberts

Project summary: “Naomi’s project reflects on what people need to live a good life and argues that increased understanding can have lasting benefits for health, wealth, community and society. Naomi analyzes the Elthorne Housing Estate in Islington and re-examines the Parker Morris Report (1961), questioning the standard view of residents as young, nuclear families. It also draws on the work of social scientist Jane Darke, looking at the relationship between residents, architects and housing estates (1975).”

Dissertation Medal Commendations

Fiona Grieve (University of Westminster) for The Reception of Refugees in the UK 

Lou-Elena Bouey (Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London) for A Sense of Place for the Displaced

RIBA Awards for Sustainable Design:

Part I: Annabelle Tan (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for “Wetland Frontier” 

Part II: Findlay McFarlane (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for “Blotting Ornithologics: The Calcutta Institute of Aviculture”

Serjeant Awards for Excellence in Drawing:

Part I: Thomas Faulkner (Architectural Association) for “Common Fields: An Architecture in Response to the Digital Interface”

Part II: Rachel Wakelin (University of Westminster) for “Avian Air – A Tropospheric Bird Sanctuary”

SOM Foundation Fellowships:

Part I: Annabelle Tan (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for “Wetland Frontier”

Part II: Sun Yen Yee (University of Westminster) for “SEED of Havana: Dissolving Condensers”