The Tāmaki Makaurau Architecture Awards (formerly the Visionary Architecture awards) are a renowned event on Auckland’s architectural calendar with well over 100 entries each year from leading architectural practices and architectural students, nation-wide.
The 2023 Tāmaki Makaurau Architecture Awards were possible thanks to our sponsors Steel and Tube, Blum, and Resene.
Thank you to Mor Bakery and Fat Kitty for providing the catering for the evening and to
Alistair Munro Design, and MakeShop for all their help setting up.
Photos of the night are to come, thanks to our fantastic photographer Matt Crawford.
For over 40 years, the AAA awards have been a mainstay in the architectural communities calendar. Each year the association receives hundreds of entries that are judged anonymously.
Covid impacted us all, forcing us to postpone our awards numerous times. However, it also allowed us to re-prioritise and reposition our awards to better seek and celebrate the kind of work that is important to us.
Our categories have changed, but the student prizes are still here.
There is no fee to enter and projects can be entered into multiple categories.
The TMAAs are always open to all of New Zealand - not just Architects and students. Details of the four categories and entry requirements are outlined below. These awards focus on peripheral, narratives, and degrowth of architecture in Aotearoa.
This year, we have 4 brand new categories which are open to students and professionals:
- Peripheral Architecture Award
- Narrative Architecture Award
- Degrowth Architecture Award
- People's Choice Retrospective
More info and category descriptions below.
For 2023 we were honoured to be joined by Jade Kake, Emma McInnes, Sarah Gilbertson and Dr. Charmaine 'Ilaiū Talei to once again continue our tradition of appointing an authority of industry leading wāhine.
Jade is an architectural designer, writer and housing advocate. She is the leader and founder of Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism in Whangārei. Her main interests in teaching and research are the decolonisation of architecture and urban design, the growth and re-establishment of papakāinga, and the development of design methods to support the sovereignty of hapū.
Emma is an urban designer, transport advocate and co-founder of Women in Urbanism Aotearoa. Emma is passionate about the design of fair and equitable cities and towns that work for the needs of everyone.
Sarah is a principal designer at Cheshire Architects in Tāmaki Makaurau where her work ranges from coordinating the complexities of city-changing urban master plans, to conceptualising the detailed occupation of a single room.
After spending more than a decade in Brisbane Charmaine returned to Aotearoa in 2021 to join Waipapa Taumata Rau the University of Auckland as a Senior Lecturer. Here Charmaine specialises in the research and education of Pacific architecture while simultaneously remotely continuing her role as a senior Architect in Brisbane.
Buildings are not the only form of architectural expression. This award both seeks the artefacts produced in the pursuit of ‘capital A’ architecture, and acknowledges the historical role of cross-disciplinary practice in design. Be it models, drawings, details, site offices, furniture, cutlery or lighting design, this category is for projects that sit on or within the periphery of the built environment.
This category will include a sub-prize for best student work.
FIRST PRIZE
$350 & cast bronze trophy
RUNNER UP
$150
BEST STUDENT PRIZE*
$150
This award seeks projects that creatively use storytelling and representation to explore the potential of architecture. Projects may interrogate, communicate or research a topic related to the built environment to investigate social issues, urbanism, architectural history, construction, or the effects of architecture on its users. Projects in this category may be speculative, may or may not have a ‘real’ site or client, and are not confined to Tāmaki Makaurau.
This category is also open to written, performative, or moving image work.
This category will include a sub-prize for best student work.
FIRST PRIZE
$350 & cast bronze trophy
RUNNER UP
$150
BEST STUDENT PRIZE*
$150
This award seeks projects that aim to address ‘real world’ pressures facing future generations. These projects should identify and articulate how their project addresses such issues. Themes may include, but are not limited to, the effects of climate change, inequality, colonisation, discrimination, transportation, infrastructure, material innovation, consumption or the implementation of indigenous practices. Projects in this category may be speculative, may or may not have a ‘real’ site or client, and are not confined to Tāmaki Makaurau.
This category will include a sub-prize for best student work.
FIRST PRIZE
$350 & cast bronze trophy
RUNNER UP
$150
BEST STUDENT PRIZE*
$150
This award seeks unbuilt projects hidden within the archives of designers and practices throughout Tāmaki Makaurau. These are projects which would have been impactful or innovative, but did not continue due to fiscal, social, regulatory or other external constraints. We’re searching for ‘deep cuts’ here, so projects submitted must have been designed pre-2018 and should ignite conversation within the community. Projects in this category are expected to have a ‘real’ site and client, and are confined to projects proposed for Tāmaki Makaurau.
The winner of this award will be partially selected by public vote.
FIRST PRIZE
Cast bronze trophy
SUPREME AWARD
Another cast bronze trophy
Bragging rights
Glory
Each year features a different panel of independent judges.
Entries in Round 1 will be digitally submitted for review by the judges. A shortlist of finalists in each category are then invited to provide panels for the second round of consideration, and are eligible to be included in the exhibition. Judging is always anonymous, with projects being judged on both quality of design and communication, and how well they reflect the theme of the given category.
Winners are announced at the Awards Function, following a public talk by one or more of the judging panel.
The first round takes the form of an open digital submission.
Entries must be be submitted as either a PDF, consisting of 5 landscape A4 pages with static images and text only or an MP4 file for moving image work.
PDF: The first page is reserved for a project outline consisting of no more than 250 words. The file must be less than 10MB in file size.
MP4: Moving image work should be emailed to us. The file must be less than 40mb in size.
There must not be any reference to the entrant’s name in the PDF or MP4. The files must be titled with the award you are submitting for followed by your entry’s project title.
Finalists from Round 1 will be invited to prepare and re-submit their entry for Round 2 judging.
Round 2 entries must be provided on 3 A1 landscape sheets. Models are optional.
There must not be any reference to the entrant’s name on entries.
Entries submitted for Round 2 will then be shown in the exhibition and at the Awards Function, where the winners will be announced.
Prizes are awarded at the judges’ discretion, and all decisions are final. Judges may move entries between categories if they deem it to better suit the entry criteria. While we endeavour to exhibit all projects selected to take part in Round 2 of judging, we reserve the right to show a reduced subset if necessitated by limited space.
