IIA Awards for Excellence in Architecture 2018 Announced

The winners of prestigious IIA Awards for Excellence in Architecture for 2018 were announced at the valedictory function held at Kovalam, Trivandrum.

This year saw a record number of 537 entries from across the country, thus becoming the most represented architecture awards in the history of the Indian Institute of Architects, the national professional organization of architects founded in 1917. The two-day event also witnessed 82 of the country's finest projects presented by its Architects and an exhibition of all shortlisted entries. About 1000 delegates and 600 architecture students from across the country participated in the event.

Ar Divya Kush, President, the Indian Institute of Architects presented the awards. The awards were adjudged in categories of Residential, Interior- Non Residential, Socially Responsible, Commercial, Public Institutional, Industrial - Infrastructure, Interior - Residential, Hospitality and Recreation, Conservation, Landscape, Unbuilt and Research.

Ar VerendraWakhloo, Matra Architects and Rurban Planners won the prestigious award in the 'Residential A' category for Kaleka House. Ar Swapnil Valvatkar, Collage Architecture studio was the winner in 'Residential B'category for the project Rohan Aviriti- An Urban Oasis. Ar Narayan Moorthy, Kumar Moorthy and Associates won the award in the Commercial category for the Corporate Office for Creative Travel. Ar Bakir Zafar and Late Ar Noor Aboojiwala, NBZ Architectural Consultants won the 'Public -Institutional' category award for Masjid-e-Haji Abdur Rauf project while Ar Bijoy Ramachandran, Hundredhands Design won Commendation in the same category for Bangalore International Centre. Ar Christopher Charles Benninger, CCBA Designs Pvt Ltd won the award in the 'Industrial Infrastructure' category for Krohne Marshall.

Ar Pinkish Shah, S+PS Architects won the award in the 'Interior-Residential' category for the Pavillion House. Ar Vivek Singh Rathore, Salient Architects and Ar Amit Aurora, Group DCA were declared joint winners in the 'Interior - Non Residential' category for their projects Fanattic Sports Museum and Office for Communique Marketing Solutions respectively. Ar Madhav Joshi, Madhav Joshi and Associates won the award for Backpacker's Hostel in the 'Hospitality and Recreation' category. Ar Sidhartha Talwar (from Studio Lotus) and Ar Anubhav Gupta (from GPL Design Studio) won the award in 'Conservation category' for Imagine Studio at The Trees. Ar Madhushitha C A, Cochin Creative Collective won the award in 'Unbuilt' category for 1868 House.

Ar Sujata C. Hingorani, Oasis Designs Inc won the award in the 'Landscape' category for JM Streetscape, Pune Streets Programme. Ar Mohandas P, Stapati and Vanam was the joint winner in the 'Landscape' category for designing the Malabar Headquarters. In the 'Social Responsible' category Ar Arjun Rajan, A'Factree Architects won the commendation for Transition Homes. Ar Shilpa Sharma, IES College of Architecture won the award in the 'Research' category.

"We are extremely pleased to have hosted the prestigious IIA Awards for Excellence in Architecture for 2018 in Trivandrum. This is the most coveted architecture event where the best in the fraternity converged to deliberate, discuss and internally review the state of architecture. We believe this initiative has significant potential in shaping the way forward. Architects have tremendous impact on lives of people if they are meaningfully engaged by the society. This award holds great significance as it is adjudged and given by fellow architects," said Ar N Mahesh, Chairman - Events, Indian Institute of Architects Trivandrum.

The keynote speakers at the two-day event included Ar Neelkanth Chhaya, Ar MyrtoVitart, Ar Jeremy Smith and Ar Jaimini Mehta. The 13 member grand jury comprised of Ar KT Ravindran, Ar Madura PremaTilleke, Ar MyrtoVitart, Ar Jeremy Smith, Ar Jaimini Mehta, Ar Sameep Padora, Ar Jayakumar Pillai, Ar Kamal Malik, Ar Neelkanth Chhaya, Ar Vinit Mirkar, Ar Habeeb Khan, Ar DurganandBalsavar and Ar S Gopakumar. Ar N Mahesh was the Chairman of the event and Ar Saiju Mohammed Basheer, Chairman of IIA Trivandrum Centre was the General Convener. The core committee comprised of Ar Varghese Panicker, Ar Zeril Jose, Ar Dharma Keerthi, Ar Jayakrishnan K B, Ar Sudhir B, Ar G Viswanathan and Ar Krishnan Potti.

Trivandrum Architecture and Aesthetic Celebration (TAAC) 2019 was an initiative by the Trivandrum Centre of the Indian Institute of Architects, hosted in the capital city of Kerala. It was an explorative channel to connect architecture students and eminent personalities in the field of architecture with the sole purpose to bring out multitudes of design dimensions the realm of architecture carves out in our society. It was a platform for presenting a series of experimental pursuits amalgamated with an exchange of design wisdom, dialogues between architecture and the wider society.

The Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) is the national body of architects, with over 20,000 active members. The Awards are constituted to encourage, acknowledge, appreciate and honour the creative contribution of the IIA members all over India in the field of architecture. The institute creates a perfect platform for the architects to present their creations, which can lead to meaningful debates and dialogues aimed at defining a new direction for architectural practice in the country.

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