Inaugural ATW Tapestry Design Prize for Architects announced
The Australian Tapestry Workshop and the Tapestry Foundation of Australia, in partnership with Architecture Media and Denton Corker Marshall have announced the inaugural ATW Tapestry Design Prize for Architects.
The new prize invites architects to use their knowledge and skills to create a Tapestry design for a specific location: the hypothetical site is the Denton Corker Marshall-designed Australia Pavilion in the Giardini in Venice.
Australian Tapestry Workshop Chairman Peter Williams hopes to see architects embrace this competition as a chance to explore and deepen their understanding of the longstanding relationship between textile art and architectural space.
This prize encourages architects to consider Tapestry as an intrinsic component of their creations, not a peripheral concern. Architects responsible for some of Australia's most famous buildings such as Romaldo Giurgola, Jørn Utzon and Harry Seidler incorporated Tapestry into specific spaces in their architecture. We hope to support architects to employ their conceptual skills to design textiles that enhance and define public space.
Peter Williams, Chairman, Australian Tapestry Workshop
The competition will be assessed and the prize awarded by a panel of six judges, they are:
- Professor Kay Lawrence AM (SA): Chair, Adjunct Professor, School of Art, Architecture and Design at the University of South Australia
- Professor Leon von Schaik AO (VIC): Professor of Architecture, Innovation Chair - Design Practice Research at RMIT University.
- Mr Brian Zulaikha (NSW): Director at Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects
- Ms Hannah Tribe (NSW): Principal Architect - Tribe Studios
- Mr John Gollings (VIC): Architectural photographer - John Gollings Photography
- Mr Jason Smith (QLD): Curatorial Manager, Australian Art - Queensland Art Gallery / GoMA
About the competition
The 2015 ATW Tapestry Design Prize for Architects is open to architects, multidisciplinary design groups (including at least one architect) and students in the field of architecture. Entrants are requested to provide a design or designs (limit of three) that celebrate contemporary architectural space through the placement of Tapestry.
The design can be in any form: drawing, digital image, painting, collage etc. so long as the form is two dimensional. Entrants may submit their applications in digital format or physical format.
The hypothetical site as context for the Tapestry design is the Denton Corker Marshall designed Australia Pavilion in the Giardini in Venice. Entries opened on the 7th of October 2014 and close on the 20th of February 2015.
The finalists will be selected for an exhibition in 2015 where the winner will be announced. The competition has a total prize pool of $10,000: first prize is $5,000, second price $2,500, third prize $1,500 and the people's choice prize will award the recipient $1,000.
For more information - including selection criteria and detailed biographies on the judging panel - see the competition's dedicated website: www.tapestrydesignprize.org
Lead image credit: Image Supplied. "The Games Children Play" 2009, designed by Robert Ingpen AO, woven by Sue Batten, John Dicks & Emma Sulzer at the Australian Tapestry Workshop, materials: wool, cotton, size: 1.5m x 4.2m. Photo: in situ, Royal Children's Hospital by John Gollings. View larger image.
