Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winning student projects for this year's President’s Medals, the awards were established in 1836 and are the RIBA’s oldest awards. 

This year's awards attracted the highest number of entries in its history: 328 design projects and dissertations were submitted by 101 schools of architecture located in 37 countries.

Among winning projects, the reinterpretation of contemporary typologies over physically-carved Finnish folk story by Sonia Magdziarz from Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, the project of the complex nature of the nook by Rosemary Milne from Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and Camille Dunlop's "Pipeline Hijacking",  proposing a speculative glimpse into alternative means of dwelling and building construction, hit the winning list in President’s Medals.

Sonia Magdziarz's "How to Carve a Giant" won the RIBA Silver Medal

The RIBA Silver Medal has been awarded to Sonia Magdziarz (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL), for "How to Carve a Giant". The project (tutored by Penelope Haralambidou, Michael Tite, and Keiichi Matsuda) explores the relationship that individuals and communities have with their cultural heritage.

Sonia’s proposal physically carves a Finnish folk story into the fabric of a city and reinterprets contemporary typologies such as a library, workshop, and cultural archive to question whether we can preserve and disseminate knowledge. Sonia’s new building subtly emphasises the powerful role architects play in defining the cultural heritage and identity of communities.

Sam Coulton's "London Physic Gardens: A New Necropolis" won the Commendation in the RIBA Silver Medal category

Commendations in the RIBA Silver Medal category were given to Sam Coulton (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for "London Physic Gardens: A New Necropolis",  Kevin Herhusky (California Polytechnic State University) for "Infrastructures of Memory, Phygital Bodies in a Concrete Cloud" and Ruth McNickle (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for "Tilling the Prado: A Furrow of Re-Construction".

Kevin Herhusky's "Infrastructures of Memory, Phygital Bodies in a Concrete Cloud" won the Commendation in the RIBA Silver Medal category

"The breadth and scale of talent evidenced in the design proposals and writings produced by this year’s winners is truly remarkable. This is an emerging generation of skilled thinkers who are able to distil complex ideas and resolve them into sophisticated architectural proposals. They are all talents to watch," said RIBA President Ben Derbyshire. 

Ruth McNickle's "Tilling the Prado: A Furrow of Re-Construction" won the Commendation in the RIBA Silver Medal category

The President's Medals website features all nominations made since 1998. The site includes a comprehensive visual archive of tens of thousands of images and statements produced by students, as well as photographs and films of the judging of entries, the awards ceremonies, and interviews with the winners.

Justin Bean's "Dreaming of Electric Sheep" won the The RIBA Bronze Medal

The RIBA Bronze Medal (for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 1 or equivalent) went to Justin Bean (University of Bath) for "Dreaming of Electric Sheep". For his project (tutored by Martin Gledhill and Frank Lyons), Justin has designed a hotel situated within an electrical substation.

Justin’s proposal explores the often uncomfortable relationship between humans and technology and questions whether that relationship should be complimentary instead of antagonistic. In science fiction, humans are often portrayed as being fascinated by machines and their role in future worlds, either relying on the machine to develop enhanced living standards or to threaten their livelihoods. Justin’s project proposes a physical space where the differences between human and artificial are no longer divergent, and the result is a resolved architectural piece that is both sophisticated and beautiful.

Commendations in the Bronze Medal category were given to:

• Alexander Wilford (University of Greenwich) for ‘Smithfield Lorry Depot’
• Camille Bongard (Architectural Association) for ‘A Choreographed Timeline, Rewriting RIBA Building Contract’
• Sam Beattie (University of Nottingham) for ‘A Bridge to Wellness’

The RIBA Dissertation Medal went to Rosemary Milne for "Species of Nooks and Other Niches."

The RIBA Dissertation Medal was awarded to Rosemary Milne from Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture for "Species of Nooks and Other Niches."

Rosie’s project looks at the obscurities and inefficiencies of the nook which has led it to become an endangered species of space, neglected in favour of efficiencies, transparencies and open-plan spaces. The dissertation examines the complex nature of the nook and emphasises its necessity and continued relevance for architectural practice and thought. 

The judges were unanimous in their assessment of the student as an important new talent and that a submission of this quality at undergraduate level is enormously impressive.

Commendations in the Dissertation Medal category were awarded to:

• Ethan Loo (University of Sheffield) for ‘Reading the Past and the Faraway: Simulation, Meaning, and Macau’
• Marie-Henriette Desmourès (London Metropolitan University) for ‘The Whole-body Seer: Blindness as Narrative, Subject and a Way of Seeing’
• Mark Shtanov (University of Cambridge) for ‘Another Hotel in Africa: A New Prototype for a Community-Initiated, Phased West African Hotel Project with Attached Hospitality School, in Lekki, Nigeria’

Camille Dunlop's "Pipeline Hijacking" won the Serjeant Award for Excellence in Drawing

The Serjeant Awards for Excellence in Drawing went to Camille Dunlop (RIBA Part 1, Bartlett School of Architecture) for "Pipeline Hijacking" and Maria Marilia Lezou (RIBA Part 2, University of Greenwich) for "Hotel Mollino: Staging Spaces of the Everyday as Heterotopias of Performance in Scenography and Architecture".

Camille Dunlop's "Pipeline Hijacking" won the Serjeant Award for Excellence in Drawing

Dunlop's project imagines how a community could hijack, grow along, and be informed by, an existing infrastructure of an Icelandic Geothermal Pipeline Network which supplies a constant stream of hot water. The resulting architecture becomes an ecosystem of hot water pipes with a variety of habitable climates, unique spatial experiences and an ethos of sustainable living.

Maria Marilia Lezou's "Hotel Mollino: Staging Spaces of the Everyday as Heterotopias of Performance in Scenography and Architecture" won the Serjeant Award for Excellence in Drawing 

Other awards also followed: The UK office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) awarded the SOM Foundation Fellowships UK to Grey Grierson (RIBA Part 1 at Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for "Negotiation of States: A Crematorium and Columbarium in Hong Kong" and Margaret Ndungu (RIBA Part 2 at De Montfort University) for "Wild City".

The 2018 RIBA President’s Medals exhibition is on view at the RIBA in London from 5 December 2018 to 15 February 2019, before it tours throughout the UK and internationally.

Top image: Sonia Magdziarz's "How to Carve a Giant" won the RIBA Silver Medal.

All images courtesy of RIBA

> via RIBA