2020’s exceptional architectural identities: NZIA Awards
Post-quake, our rebuilding city was recognised as a commercial playground for talented teams to create dynamic, contemporary designs, alongside the strengthening of some of our more grandiose architectural identities.
Although we’ve long since moved through the ‘rebuild’ phase of construction in our southern spot, the world-class level of architectural achievement has lost none of its momentum; a fact which is evident in the 35 local projects which have been shortlisted in the 2020 Canterbury Architecture Awards from a record number of entries in the awards programme of the Canterbury Branch of Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA).
The difficult task of shortlisting entries was handed to a jury led by Christchurch architect Huia Reriti, fellow Christchurch architects Bernadette Muir and Daniel Sullivan, Wellington architect Anne Kelly, and Christchurch architecture designer Tobin Smith.
“Making the shortlist is a significant achievement, especially in what was a very productive year for architecture in the Canterbury Branch region,” jury convenor Huia Reriti says.
“The shortlist includes outstanding examples of the wide range of buildings that architects design, from schools, offices, public buildings and churches to houses and apartments.”
Among the projects shortlisted for the 2020 Canterbury Architecture Awards, which is supported by Resene, are the restored Christchurch Town Hall and a new town square in Greymouth.
‘Starchitecture’ is given a new meaning by two shortlisted projects – a building on the Ilam Campus of the University of Canterbury named for the eminent New Zealand astronomer Beatrice Tinsley, and the Dark Sky building in the Aoraki Mackenzie Basin.
The COVID-19 lockdown has meant that site visits to shortlisted projects by juries around the country have been put on hold.
Resumption of the visits or the adoption of alternative means of deciding award-winners are dependent on the national measures adopted to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
