The NSW Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects held their End of Year Celebration last night, announcing the 2025 President’s Prize and the 2025 Christopher Procter Prize.
A fantastic celebration of the year that has been, the night was held at the home of the NSW Chapter, Tusculum Heritage Building in Potts Point.
NSW Chapter President, Elizabeth Carpenter, announced two Prizes throughout the evening.
The first was the 2025 Christopher Procter Prize, which is awarded to an emerging architect who has demonstrated a commitment and passion for the design of cities. This Prize is named after renowned, architect and urban designer, the late Christopher Procter, and was established in his memory by his wife, architect Bridget Smyth, colleague architect Bill Tsakalos and sponsored by Colliers Urban Planning (previously Ethos Urban), where he was a director.
Christopher died suddenly of DVT while arriving back to Sydney in November 2018 from the USA. Upon graduation in Adelaide in 1986 Christopher won the University of Adelaide Medal, the Rod Roach Design Grant and the South Australian Gas Company Prize in Architecture. These enabled him to undertake research and travel that furthered his passion for design.
In acknowledgment of the deep benefit of these experiences, the Christopher Procter Prize provides the recipient with a $10,000 grant to undertake research-based travel or study to enrich their professional development. This is made possible by the continued support of Colliers Urban Planning and Sydney Community Foundation.
The 2025 winner of the Christopher Procter Prize was Anastasia Uricher, for their submission “Country centred Memorialisation: Translating Community led Remembrance into Design Practices”.
“This award has been established in Christopher Procter’s honour to support architects that display curiosity and have a deep interest in ideas, culture and how this applies to practice. Anastasia Uricher proposes a visionary project that places Country at the centre of memorialisation and reconciliation. In partnership with First Nations communities, it recognises our responsibility to shape public spaces that hold difficult histories while celebrating resilience. The project offers pathways for truth‑telling that extend beyond design stories into the lived experience of civic spaces.
“Drawing inspiration from the Confluence Project in the US Pacific Northwest, the research will explore how modest, landscape‑led interventions can weave together narrative, ecology, and civic life. It seeks to translate these lessons into practical tools for Australian architects and urban designers, ensuring remembrance and reciprocity are embedded in everyday environments. For its commitment to reconciliation, its translation of community‑led remembrance into design practice, and its enduring impact on Australian city‑making, the jury is thrilled to celebrated Anastasia’s project with this award.”
And finally, the 2025 President’s Prize, awarded to Julie Power, senior journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Of this prize, NSW Chapter President Elizabeth Carpenter said, “It is my very special honour as NSW Chapter President, to award this Prize to an individual who has made a substantial contribution to the profession of architecture.
“For many years, Julie has been a strong advocate for architecture, seeking out stories that highlight how the profession can benefit the public. As a long-standing senior journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, her articles address key issues and challenges to our built environment while remaining accessible to a general public not always inclined to engage with “archi-speak”. A true diligence that masterfully allows architecture to be better understood and appreciated.
“Over a career spanning 40 years, Julie’s work includes time as a Fairfax journalist reporting for the Australian Financial Review in the Canberra Press Gallery and 16 years in Washington DC and Paris, before she came to be senior journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald in 2012. Julie writes on a range of issues and has become the papers’ architectural expert.
“A prolific journalist, Julie’s writings on architecture and the urban environment are always coloured with her unique and fresh take on the world, with a human-centred focus to ground each story. Relatable articles that invite public discussion, her work is the connective tissue between governments, councils, developers, architects, and most importantly, readers. Her contribution to the public discourse is especially important now, given the dual need for innovative housing solutions and mitigating the impact of a changing climate on the built environment – a space where we all need to find common ground.”