Seven NZ projects make 'Architectural Oscars' finals

Seven New Zealand projects have been shortlisted in the 2013 World Architecture Festival, the international awards programme that has been dubbed the “Architectural Oscars.”

The annual festival, which attracts hundreds of entries from dozens of countries, is being held in Singapore from October 2-4.

Two New Zealand architecture practices each have two entries in the festival shortlist. Auckland’s RTA Studio has made it to the final of the shopping category with Mackelvie St, a cluster of retail stores in Ponsonby, Auckland, and to the final of the future projects-leisure-led development with Ice Hotel, a proposed Queenstown project designed with Spi.rus Architecture.

The other practice with two shots at glory is Nelson-based Irving Smith Jack Architects, which has the Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre on the shortlist in the new and old category, and the Alexandra Tent House shortlisted in the Villa category.

The other New Zealand projects to make the festival finals are Auckland Art Gallery by FJMT + Archimedia in association, an entry in the culture category, Auckland Zoo giraffe house, by Glamuzina Paterson Architects + Hamish Monk Architecture, an entry in the display category, and 387 Tamaki Drive, Auckland, an apartment building designed by Ian Moore Architects, which is entered in the housing category.

NZ Institute of Architects communications manager John Walsh says making it to the World Architecture shortlist is a significant achievement.

“The World Architecture Festival attracts entries from the world’s leading architecture practices, all of whom would love to make the finals of the event. It’s good to see New Zealand architecture practices are footing it with international firms and that the country is benefiting from world-class buildings.”

He says the festival is a great opportunity for architects to benchmark their work but finalists are in for a tough time.

“It’s not just that the competition is strong – the judging process can be daunting. Architects have to explain their projects before juries that include some of the world’s best architects and architectural critics. There’s a level of inquisition that can be disconcerting to the unprepared.”

Among the jurors are the acclaimed English architect and critic Sir Peter Cook and American landscape architect and theorist Charles Jencks.

The festival is the sixth iteration of the event which, since its inauguration in Barcelona, Spain, in 2008, has become a major landmark on the international architectural calendar.

RTA Studio has the best record of all New Zealand architecture practices at the event, having made the shortlist five years in a row.

Last year, it became the first New Zealand architecture firm to win a festival category when its proposed house for a Central Otago site took out the Future Projects award.