SuperStudio is a national conceptual design competition open to all SONA members – Think of it as a creative license to do the things you wouldn’t get to do in a regular studio or assignment. Participants are encouraged to focus on the ideas and thoughts that can never be made real at all rather than a realistic approach.
Responding to one national brief, participants will be mentored to help with design development and present their proposal to a judging panel in each state and territory. Winners in each state will then go into the national competition for a chance to win $3000
The winners from each state will go into the national competition for the chance to win $3000!
SuperStudio is open to All SONA members.
Non SONA members can participate for $39, which is the cost of SONA membership for the remainder of 2021.
| Competition | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading of the Brief | Saturday 8 May | 11am AEST | Connect here |
| Last chance for teams to register | Monday 10 May | 7:30pm AEST | Register Here |
| Design Day talk | Monday 10 May | 5:30pm AEST | Connect here |
| Virtual Mentoring | Tuesday 11 May | from 5:30pm AEST | Link will be shared after registration |
| Design Day talk | Wednesday 12 May | 5:30pm AEST | Connect here |
| Virtual Mentoring | Thursday 13 May | from 5:30pm AEST | Link will be shared after registration |
| Presentations | Saturday 15 May | from 3pm Local time | check below competition information by state |
| National Judging and Announcement | |||
| National Winner Announcement | Friday 21 May | 5:30pm AEST | Connect here |
SuperStudio Design Day presentations are an opportunity for students to dive deeper into the themes of the SuperStudio brief, spark creativity and connect with other students and design professionals.
Designed for individuals with built environment related qualifications or those holding a degree from a recognised architecture course, but not registered. Maintain and extend your connection with the profession with opportunities for networking and continuous learning.
A profile of Caleb Lee and Nithya Ranasinghe from Victoria and their winning proposal – Ceremonial Shards.
Participants of SuperStudio and all design students are invited to attend SuperStudio Design Day presentations.
These presentations are an opportunity for students to dive deeper into the themes of the SuperStudio brief, spark creativity and connect with other students and design professionals. Participants of SuperStudio can attend with their initial ideas or concepts for their proposal to discuss in an open forum.
Each state will host a presentation day on Saturday 15 May for participants to present their proposal to their state jury. Winners from each state go into the next level of judging for the national prize of $3000.
Stay tuned for more details of the presentation day in your state.
Participants of SuperStudio can access 2 mentoring sessions to help with design development, ask questions and to get some advice. Mentoring sessions are virtual, and participants could be connected to any of our below mentors from all over Australia,
Levi Fletcher, City Geeks QLD
Sam Mcqueeny, Vokes and Peters QLD
Paul Worroll, Reddog Architects, QLD
Paul Wakelam, Paul Wakelam Architect, TAS
Alistair Kirk, Local Architects PTY LTD
Sam Auckland, SA
Taya Brooks, BHI Architects, NSW
Paola Incer, QLD
Sarah Yap, JPW, NSW
Benjamin Greaves, NSW
Jiri Lev, Atelier Jiri Lev, TAS
Kim Mudie, VIC Chloe Pellicer, TKD Architects, NSW
Angus McNichol, John Wardle Architects, NSW
Matias Chadwick, HASSELL, QLD
Belinda Allwood, POD (People Orientated Design) QLD
Colin Strydom, design+architecture, QLD
Paola Incer, QLD
Hugh Michelmore, Walter Brooke & Associates, SA
Sarah Aisworth, Cottee Parker Architects, QLD
Peter Hirst, Environmental Design, VIC
Gary Henighen, Architectus, NSW
Simon Rochowski, studioplusthree, NSW
Rosie Norris, TEMPO STUDIO, WA
Bronwyn Litera, Litera Trotta Architecture, NSW
Mary Ann Jackson, Visionary Design Development Pty Ltd
Hugh Michelmore, Walter Brooke & Associates, SA
Robert Davidov, Davidov Architects. VIC
Belinda Griffin. VIC
Abigail Humphreys, Hassel, WA
More details to come for each state jury
Our team immediately recalled the devastating Beirut port explosion in August, streets littered with shattered glass, possessions and paraphernalia strewn on the ground like trash – compounding Lebanon’s waste problem. We critiqued this year’s brief to be respectful of place. In order to be considerate, we strongly believed that we needed to be knowledgeable too. Thus we began the project by questioning the systems, culture, history and how would those indirectly affected resonate with this tragedy?
Under quarantine, the sphere in which we experience space has condensed yet conflated. Objects that surround us suddenly have a profound influence in how we act. Building upon the idea of lost possessions and sustainability, our team was interested in how material transmutation of objects affect our behavior. What if we woke up and all our possessions were made from glass? Would we value them as much as our memorabilia? What would we be willing to discard?
Those who have been through trauma tend to gravitate towards rituals of consistency and routine, aspects found in religion. Therefore, we believed that a built outcome was not the answer to grief. We saw an opportunity to address Lebanon’s pre-existing problems surrounding waste disposal. Resonating with this year’s theme of “renewal”, we sought to propose a gradually dissipating ceremony, in a domestic setting to empathize with those in grief.
View the winning proposal here
Yes you can, you must register yourself/your team as usual.
How to submit if you can’t present live:
Record your presentation via Zoom as if you were presenting live – this cannot exceed 7 minutes in length – if it does, we will cut the recording short. On the briefing document there will be clear instructions on how to submit your recording.
It is highly recommended participants present live. If you are prerecording, you will miss out on a Q&A session with the jury and the opportunity to clarify elements of your proposal.
To participate in Super Studio, you firstly need to register your team (4 people max) or register as an individual.
At the time of registering select your preferred mentor time slot links to access mentoring are above ensure you connect at the time you register for.
Attend the reading of the brief session. If you are unable to participate in this session, the recording will be available on our website afterwards.
Start designing!
Connect to one of the design day presentations during the week. We have some interesting speakers who will be conducting interactive chats around topics connected to our brief to help you to expand your thinking.
Connect to your mentoring session to get some feedback about your proposal from an industry professional.
Presentations and submission due on Saturday 15 May.
You can participate as an individual or as a team of 2,3 or up to 4 students.
Team members don’t need to come from your university but all team members should be SONA members.
Get in touch with Madelynn at the Institute – sona@architecture.com.au
This is important to let us know rather than not turning up as our mentors are giving up their time to help you.
There will be two virtual mentoring sessions available for all teams to help with their proposals.
Tuesday 11 May & Thursday 13 May from 5.30pm onwards.
At the time of registering you select your preferred mentoring time slot. The link to access mentoring time slots is above in the table titled SuperStudio dates and activities.
Refer here for more information on who the 2021 SuperStudio mentors are
Register for SuperStudio here. The last chance to register is Monday 10 May 7.30pmAEST
The Design Day Talks are not compulsary for participants. We do encourage you to come along though, its a chance to explore the themes of the SuperStudio brief further with fellow participants and design professionals. Refer here for more information about the Design day presentations.
1-2 business days after you register for SuperStudio you will receive an email with information about your states presentation day and access to your mentoring session.
you can also refer here to view the location of your states presentation day.
