Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington student wins 2023 Dulux Colour Award
Master of Architecture (Professional) alumna Augustina Binyamin has won the student category in the New Zealand section of the Dulux Colour Awards.
Now in its 37th year, the Awards acknowledge the industry-leading work of architects, design professionals, and students across Australasia, for their creative and innovative use of colour in commercial and residential spaces.
Augustina won the student category for her project, The Canopy Bench—an original design for a bench designed to emulate the forest where trees come together to create a canopy to perch, described by the judges of the Awards as “exquisite.”
Judge and Colour and Communications Manager for DuluxGroup, Andrea Lucena-Orr, says the colour choice used in the design “allows the purity of the bench’s form to speak for itself.”
“It ultimately proves that it doesn’t have to be a bright colour to stand out, and this in itself shows a maturity and conviction that belies the fact that its creator is a student.”
The judges of this year’s awards say that the calibre of this year’s student entries made it one of the strongest categories.
“We were impressed with the originality, maturity, and conviction displayed in the array of design entries.”
To qualify for the Awards, designers are required to have used colours and shades from the Dulux range extensively, in interior and exterior residential, public, and commercial spaces.
The winning palette used in Augustina’s design was ‘Dulux Waiau Bay’, described by the judges as expressing “the linearity and clean curves of the bench without distraction, allowing the form to speak for itself.”
For her winning design, Augustina will receive $500 and entry to AYDA (formerly known as the Asia Young Designer Awards) —including a trip to the 2024 gala event valued at $3,000.
Dulux encourages entries each year from individuals, groups, partnerships, and those working in larger practices, no matter the scale or scope of the project.