As summer wanes, we can see how swiftly a damp, green landscape becomes yellow, dry and combustible. As we struggle with the clash of ecology preservation and bushfire hazard management, our drying bushland tells us much about seasonal impact and the way we approach site and design. This particularly noticeable in Tasmania, where even many urban sites can be proximate to bush.
The first six weeks have been busy and the Tasmanian Chapter has hit the ground running. Committees are planning their 2022 agendas and new members of Chapter Council, Lucy Burke-Smith and Aaron Lougoon, who is the EmAGN co-chair, have been warmly welcomed. They join re-elected councillors, Kate Symons, Gaetano Palmese and Megan Baynes. We look forward to their learned contribution.
It is vital that we entrust our committee members and Chapter Councillors to act in the best interests of all our Institute members in Tasmania. To do their best work, we need constructive input from members about issues that arise within their day-to-day practice. This way, specific issues can be distilled to the appropriate committee and in many cases this results in Chapter Council ratifying a matter to be raised externally, such as with the Board of Architects, the State Government or other associated professional organisations.
To this end I will be holding a President’s Forum at the end of March. I encourage members to attend, as I hope to have the chairs of committees present so that key issues that come out of this discussion might be delegated to be discussed at their next meeting. More details will be released soon.
The 2022 Australian Institute of Architects Tasmanian Architecture Awards are on our doorstep, with the deadline for submissions passing last week. A total 30 entries across the categories were received, which is excellent given the comparatively small and dispersed profession in our state. Tasmanian architects continue to produce work of an exceptionally high standard and I believe it says something about how connected we are with place. We often work for lean fees, yet we continually put our commitment to design quality above all else, something that we consistently see through our awards programs.
The Emerging Architect Prize is currently open for entries, and I encourage established practitioners to nominate an emerging architect who you think is deserving. There are a host of young architects who contribute to our architectural community in so many ways. Nominations close next Monday 28 February.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Awards Task Force and the Chapter Office for their hard work each year on the awards program. I look forward to seeing everyone at the Presentation to the Jury event this Saturday.
