A tapestry design that depicts the geologically “youngest part of Australia” has won the $10,000 international Tapestry Design Prize for Architects.
The prize, an initiative of the Australian Tapestry Workshop, invited individuals and teams from around the world to design a hypothetical tapestry for one of three sites within Phoenix Central Park, the arts venue designed by Durbach Block Jaggers and John Wardle Architects.
Time Shouts by Australian design group Ground Under Repair is a provocative two-part wall and floor tapesty that maps an area of eastern Australia known to geologists as the Tasmanides. The area was shaped by the collision of several micro continents.
Time Shouts by Ground Under Repair (Australia, Contributors: Emma Jackson, Eilidh Ross, Riley Pelham-Thorman and Abigail Li Shin Liew)
The tapestry design is also overlaid geographically with Indigenous language groups, intended to be woven in metallic thread. “The results evidence a culture that fundamentally understands the ground and its behaviour over time,” the designers say. “Time Shouts presents over 60,000 years of respectful custodianship in a clear unarguable form.”
“Colour plays a decisive role in the development of the tapestry design. A provocative shift to change the way we think about ground and water. The oceans and rivers are pink. Blue, the colour usually attributed to water, is the colour of the youngest sedimentary ground. The younger the ground, the darker the blue.”
“The hi-vis yellow lines highlight faults and illustrate the structural behaviour of the ground over time.”
The tapestry design is created by Ground Under Repair founder Emma Jackson, program manager of Bachelor of Architecture Design at RMIT University, RMIT masters students Riley Pelham-Thorman and Abigail Li Shin Liew, and graduate Eilidh Ross.
“Time Shouts seeks to shift perceptions and values and is a beautiful and provocative entry that exemplifies and expands the agenda of the Tapestry Design Prize for Architects,” said jury chair Cameron Bruhn, dean and head of the architecture school at the University of Queensland.
This Place by Australian graduate of architecture Madeleine Gallagher, landscape architects Julie Lee, Georgina de Beaujeu and textile artist Lis de Vries received one of three high commendations in the competition. The other two commendations were presented to A paradigm shift by the India-based team of Abhinay H Satam and Shristi D Rawat (India); and Apocalypse by University of Newcastle architecture professor Michael Chapman.
The competition was judged by Cameron Bruhn (jury chair); Diane Jones (executive director of PTW Architects); Valerie Kirk (artist and tapestry weaver); Dimmity Walker (director of Spaceagency Architects); John Wardle (founder of John Wardle Architects); and Brook Andrew (interdisciplinary artist).
The 2021 prize received 141 submission from 23 countries and 15 submissions were shortlisted by the jury.
An exhibition of the finalists’ design will be held at Australian Tapestry Workshop until 12 November. Voting for the $1,000 People’s Choice prize is also open until 12 November.
