The Royal Institute of British Architects has just announced the winners of the 2022 President’s Medals, highlighting the world’s best student architecture projects. In its 186th edition, RIBA’s oldest awards have gathered the highest-ever number of entries, receiving 347 entries nominated by 100 schools of architecture located in 27 countries.
For the 2022 cycle, the RIBA Silver Medal for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 2 or equivalent, was awarded to Annabelle Tan at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, for A Journey through Past, Present, and Post-Tropicality, who was also granted the RIBA Dissertation Medal. The RIBA Bronze Medal (for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 1 or equivalent) went to Mary Holmes at the University of Cambridge for Out of the Closet, Into the Garden.
Read on for the full list of winners and commendations.
RIBA Silver Medal
Annabelle Tan/ The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
A Journey through Past, Present, and Post-Tropicality
Journey through Past, Present, and Post-Tropicality is an investigation into notions of ‘tropicality’ in the context of Singapore. Spanning 4.2 km, Annabelle’s scheme is a socio-ecological continuum linking a threatened forest to a national nature reserve. It includes housing, educational spaces, and areas for civic engagement made from regenerative materials produced along the site.
Commendations in the RIBA Silver Medal category:
- Nadir Qazim Mahmood (Manchester School of Architecture) for Nirvana
- Dario Biscaro (Royal College of Art) for Spolia Tectonic
- Oliver Reynolds (London Metropolitan University) for A Campus for Flour: Between Horizontal and Vertical
RIBA Bronze Medal
Mary Holmes/ the University of Cambridge
Out of the Closet, Into the Garden
Mary proposes the queering and retrofitting of two rows of terraced houses in the heart of a suburb in Harlow. In this context, mutual support and collectivity are centered to create an enduring queer space.
High Commendation to Common Ground | Leith by Inka Eismar (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) and Commendations to:
- Chon Kei Lam (University of Melbourne) for Symbiosis
- Felix Wilson (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for A Scarcity of Attention // Plans for 111-115 Constitution Street
RIBA Dissertation Medal
Annabelle Tan/ The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Past, Present and Post-Tropicality: Viewing Singapore through an ‘Infra(-)structural’ Field.
Commendations in the RIBA Dissertation Medal category:
- Mohsin Ali (Manchester School of Architecture) for Mapping Migrant Trajectories: A Study of South Asians in Diaspora through the Bradford High Street
- Thomas Faulkner (Architectural Association) for The Art of Getting By: From Domestic Abuse to Social Housing
- Kieran Ka Ming Tam (University of Cambridge) for Beyond Humanitarianism: From States of Violence to Futures of Care in Northern France
This year’s RIBA President’s Medals celebrate the talent and work of architecture students from around the world. The record number of entries this year address contemporary topics with immense social and environmental significance. As ever the range, scope, and scale of their inquiry is extremely impressive. -- Simon Allford, RIBA President
Recognizing the importance of climate action in the development of architectural design proposals, the RIBA has been awarded the RIBA Awards for Sustainable Design for the fourth year. At Part 1, the award went to Inka Eismar (Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) for Common Ground | Leith. At Part 2, it went to Annabelle Tan (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) for A Journey through Past, Present, and Post-Tropicality. The Serjeant Awards for Excellence in Drawing have been awarded to Nathan Tipping-Stevenson (Falmouth University) for Leow Keskorra ha Dyski: A Place to Assemble and Learn at Part 1, and Nadir Qazim Mahmood (Manchester School of Architecture) for Nirvana at Part 2.
