Judyta Cichocka spent 14 months at Victoria carrying out research between the Faculties of Engineering and Architecture and Design, during which she entered a project in the Art in Structure competition.
Art in Structure, supported by Easysteel, challenges entrants to express their concept of space using metal construction materials in a new way, showcasing the versatility of steel.
Judyta was awarded runner-up in the Emerging Designer category for her design Hiriwa Pavilion.
“My design is an experimental structure which endeavours to reinterpret the function of steel, and uses steel as textile or fabric. The perforated steel plates form a lattice membrane for a small outdoor pavilion,” says Judyta.
“Taking second place in this category is a great distinction for me. The winners were chosen by the public during a pop-up virtual sculpture park in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter earlier this month. Some will be fabricated to a finished product and auctioned to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities.”
Judyta travelled to New Zealand from Poland’s Wroclaw University of Technology in December 2014 as part of the Thelxione: Erasmus Euro-Oceanian Smart City Network exchange programme. She carried out interdisciplinary research around architectural design optimisation with evolutionary algorithms, led several workshops in parametric design, and was a member of Victoria’s Evolutionary Computation Research Group.
“My time at Victoria was priceless. I am mainly grateful for my supervisor Dr Will Browne, who taught me a lot and established this fantastic collaboration between the two Faculties,” says Judyta.
Judyta, who has now returned to Poland, also worked with Master’s student Zach Challies on a 3D printed eyewear design project, which earned them an honourable mention in the Reshape 15 Wearable Technology competition. Judyta and Zach received the award and presented the project in Rome in October 2015.