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Arts, Design & Architecture Built Environment

Student Awards

Many talented UNSW students and alumni won prestigious awards in 2024

Good design awards group

  • Australian Design Review‘s 30UNDER30 program is a showcase of the nation’s most inspiring architects and innovators of the built world aged 30 and under. Of the 30 names recognised in 2023-24, seven are recent graduates from UNSW’s Architecture and Interior Architecture programs, including Hugo Chan, Jacky Chen, Fiona Ho, Harry Kealy, Claire Oh, Isabelle Orr and Alvin Zhu. Learn more about all the winners .
    UNSW graduates recognised in Australian Design Review’s 30 under 30

  • The Design Institute of Australia awarded , a graduate of UNSW Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours), as the winner of the prestigious Australian Graduate of the Year Award (GOTYA) 2024 Madeline Lester Prize. The Madeline Lester Prize honours the most outstanding graduate across all design disciplines in Australia. The jury citation noted:

    “Maoxin Yuan, a graduate of the University of New South Wales, has certainly proven himself worthy of this prestigious accolade. Maoxin's entry demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of design principles with a keen eye for detail and a thoughtful approach to user experience. His diverse portfolio showcases not only strong conceptual thinking and creativity but also a commendable grasp of materials, technology, and sustainability.”

    Maoxin’s award-winning project, SOOZE, is an innovative modular eye care device designed for individuals with Keratoconus. This progressive eye disease causes thinning and protrusion of the cornea, leading to severe vision impairment in approximately one in 84 young Australians.

    Maoxin was also awarded many other prizes at the GOTYAs, along with several other UNSW Industrial Design and Interior Architecture students.

    This is the second year in a row a UNSW graduate has received the Madeline Lester Award with Interior Architect Sandra Sun named winner in 2023.
    SOOZE: a detachable visor module that provides vision support through retinal projection. Image by Maoxin Yuan

  • Master of Architecture student, Mackenzie Peachey, was awarded a prestigious Renzo Piano Foundation internship, spending 6-months working at Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Genoa, Italy. UNSW Sydney is the only Australian university to be offered a Renzo Piano Foundation internship, which covers flights, accommodation, living expenses and salary. The Pritzker Prize-winning architect established the non-profit foundation to promote architecture through study and research.
    Mackenzie Peachy during her internship at the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (left) and with Renzo Piano (right)

  • Bachelor of City Planning studentsTim Atkinson, Tim Hutton and Jack Vellawere awarded second prize in the Student Competition for Policy to Create a Sustainable Safe City at the . Their presentation entitledUtilising University Campuses & Promoting Sustainable Livinghighlighted the work for education and research purposes.
    From L-R Timothy Hutton, UNSW Professor of City Planning Hoon Han and Tim Atkinson

  • Interior Architecture studentsRocaille Argos, Tia Yapp, Christine Pazpinis,andLin Lin Win Tunwere awarded third prize for, exploring art and sustainability. As part of the award, the students travelled to the Maison & Objet Design Fair in Paris in September.
    UNSW Interior Architecture students recognised at the Maison & Objet Design Fair, Paris

  • Liam Lo Casciofrom Industrial Design took home the top honours at the Good Design Australia Awards, winning both the Best in Class and Gold Winner in the Next Gen category for his assistive kitchen sink, , designed to empower stroke survivors. His achievements make him the third consecutive Best in Class Next Gen win for students from UNSW Industrial Design.

    Marcus Kellyfrom Industrial Design was also recognised as a Good Design Award Winner for his innovative fruit-picking bag, . This bag reduces fruit damage during harvest while protecting workers from injury.

    Finally, Ethan Whitty Pikefrom the Master of Architecture program was also awarded a Next Gen Award, for his .

    Left: Staff and students from UNSW Industrial Design at the Good Design Australia Awards. Right: Ethan Whitty Pikefrom the UNSW Master of Architecture program (images: Good Design Australia)

  • Recent MPhil graduate, William Thackway, was awarded the Australian Property Institute (API) for his thesis, "Developing the Use of Machine Learning Models to Detect Physical and Social Indicators of Gentrification".

    The Peter Barrington Award, established in 1985, is designed to encourage research excellence in the study of land economy.The award is open to students undertaking a Property Masters or PhD at an Australian academic institution. Peter was supervised at UNSW by Prof. Chris Pettit, Prof. Chyi Lin Lee and Dr Matthew Ng.

  • Two recent UNSW City Planning graduates were winners at the 2024 NSW Planning Institute of Australia Awards. Aaron Petersen was named Young Planner of the Year, with the jury being impressed by “his role in promoting a career in planning to university and high school students and his willingness and passion to be role model for what young and emerging planners can aspire to.”

    Karina Turvey also won the Tertiary Student Project Award for her thesis entitled ‘Night at the Library’, which advocates for the role that community libraries can play in deepening our night-time economies.
    2024 NSW Planning Institute of Australia Awards (with UNSW City Planning Graduate Aaron Petersen front and centre)

  • Master of Architecture graduate, Caleb Burke, was awarded the Brian Patrick Keirnan Prize for his final year studio project ‘Community Building: Building Community’. The jury citation noted:

    By constructing a physical framework through which the stages and life of the building can evolve Caleb thoughtfully considers materiality, waste, and reuse. Scaffolding and screening become an opportunity for community interaction and display. This is the architect as an agent for social change, facilitating community interaction and codesign of space. This is our role in advocating a better future for the communities and the built environment.
    Community Building: Building Community. Image by Caleb Burke.

  • Two UNSW Bachelor of Industrial Design graduates were recognised at the

    Jemery Marchant was awarded Australia’s first-ever overall Silver Medal, a Gold Medal for Sustainability and a Silver Medal for Food Packaging, for his Sushi Takeaway Packaging.

    Ziqian Kevin Chen won a Silver Award in Health & Personal Care for his Railok: Child-Resistant & Accessible Vitamin Bottle.
    Railok: Child-Resistant & Accessible Vitamin Bottle. Image by Ziqian Kevin Chen

  • Two recent UNSW Landscape Architecture graduates were winners at the NSW Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture (AILA) Awards. 2017 Alumni and 2020 Alumni were jointly awarded the Future Leader ‘Graduate’ Award – an award that recognises “achievement in design, planning, communications andresearch that is based upon the development of innovative, creative and practicalsolutions to landscape architectural challenges.”

    UNSW graduates Mathew Nenadic and Abbey Davies awarded the 2024 AILA Future Leader ‘Graduate’ Award

  • Two UNSW Master of Architecture students – Jenny Lin and Henrick Michael – had their projects shortlisted for the , which aims to promote debate and generate ideas about architecture by rewarding compelling work in its conceptual stages.

    Henrick’s project ‘The Lay of the Land’ looks at the adaptive reuse of an existing building to establish a seed repository for the endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub in Sydney. Jenny Lin’s project entitled ‘Acts of Care’ looks at how architecture can enable intergenerational support and access to community networks.

    Left: The Lay of the Land, by Henrick Michael. Right: Acts of Care, by Jenny Lin