Australasian Student Design Awards Announce Winners

The Design Institute of Australia (DIA)’s hotly contested 2009 Australasian Student Design Awards (ASDA) concluded recently, with design students from Australian and New Zealand tertiary institutions submitting their best final year work for judging by some of the industry’s most experienced designers.

The caliber of the work submitted resulted in the Overall Winner’s Award being declared a tie – the first ever – judges being presented with eight category-winning entries, and a very difficult choice.

Outstanding quality

The judges commented that ‘while the two winning projects were widely different in their presented solutions, the quality of the work was outstanding in both, and the judges found it difficult to separate them.’

Nazia Kachwalla (Interior Design) from the Victorian University of Wellington, New Zealand, and Ching Tan (Industrial Design) from Swinburne University in Melbourne, both received Awards of Excellence for their entries, with each student receiving an Eco-Design Internship at WSP Group and a $1,500 design travel grant to further their careers.

A clever solution

Ching’s winning entry, ‘Aqua Anytime,’ was described by judges as ‘a very thoughtful and responsible project that answered the question of community attitudes and brought a practical and clever solution to the conservation of our water resources.’

‘I am delighted to have won two categories in the DIA competition,’ exclaimed Ching. ‘It is the first external competition I have won and I have hit two birds with one stone by taking out two awards. ‘I feel it has refreshed my direction and I have the confidence to aim towards the stars. ‘I am honored to be selected for the internship at WSP Group. ‘Thank you for these great opportunities!’

Excellence and originality

Nazia’s project, ‘The Museum of Ephemera: Interior Design of the Museum of Wellington City and Sea,’ impressed the judges as ‘a very mature solution to a difficult brief. ‘The .. degree of originality was excellent, and the quality of the presentation and the standard of visual expression were outstanding,’ the panel concluded.

‘On receiving the award I was dubbed the Kiwi who conquered the Australians, but to be honest, I didn’t care who conquered who!’ said Nazia. ‘I was honored and flattered to be recognized on an international level. ‘This award has filled me with an overwhelming sense of assurance that I have chosen the right career path. ‘I could not ask for a better end to the four years of my degree.’

Increasing profile

Caroline Benzie, DIA National Program and Events Officer, said that overall entries for the 2009 ASDAs were up sixty-three per cent on last year, a reflection of ASDA’s rapidly increasing profile amongst design institutions throughout Australasia. ‘ASDA is a program that rewards design excellence and proudly promotes the region’s top tertiary students, the future of innovation and sustainable design practice,’ she explained.

Prizes, fame and feedback

‘Students are judged by thirty-six of the nation’s best designers, design academics and associated industry representatives across a wide range of categories. ‘It’s a fantastic way for students and design institutions to get ‘real world’ feedback about their design talent – and the chance to win major prizes from our sponsors.’

Winners on show at designEX

This year’s event continued the successful partnership with designEX, with over one hundred and fifty ASDA entries on display at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from April 30 to May 2. Next year’s awards will be exhibited at designEX in Sydney.

Images: Design Institute of Australia