The AASA is delighted to announce that Patrick Macasaet is the winner of the AASA Education Prize for Early Career Academics 2022! This year the prize focused on excellence in digital and online learning pedagogy. The decision to focus the prize in this area reflects the significant shifts in architectural education that occurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the outstanding contribution made to the sector by early career academics during this period.
The AASA's objective seeks to celebrate, reward, and disseminate innovative learning and teaching practices that speak to the specific and exceptional culture of architectural education in our region.
The presentation was held at the Collaboration Hub at the School of Architecture, Curtin University, on 18 October 2022, with more than 80 guests attending the event. Each finalist was given 10 minutes to present their project in front of heads of schools from Australia and New Zealand. Our finalists were:
Dr Anthony Brand (University of Auckland). Project: Flipped and Blended: Making the Most of Digital and Physical Teaching and Learning Opportunities
Dr Jose Nunez Callado (Victoria University of Wellington). Project: Sustainable and Regenerative Design Manifesto
Mr Patrick Macasaet (RMIT University). Project: Venturous Virtual Cultures: Gaming Intelligence and Didactic Worlds in Design Studio Pedagogy
Dr Rahmatollah Amirjani (University of Canberra). Project: Digital Pedagogy and Learning Visibility in Architectural Education
The jury:
Mr Steven Feast, Curtin University
Professor Paul Loh, Bond University
Professor Deborah Ascher Barnstone, University of Technology Sydney
Dr Sandra Manninger, New York Institute of Technology and Co-founder AR²IL
Jury’s comments on all finalists and the winner:
Patrick Macasaet
“A high-quality submission which demonstrates an innovative use of immersive gaming technologies to allow new forms of spatial experience and realisation in architectural education."
Dr Anthony Brand
“[this submission] employed (due to the necessity of it) new tools, in this case, digital tools, to create new content, in this case, 3d information from 2d data.”
“In this sense, it was very explorative and brave of the instructor to use those unfamiliar settings creatively.”
Dr Rahmatollah Amirjani
“This submission brings a wide range of digital platforms together to create a highly engaging online learning environment for students, with relevant, meaningful, and authentic outputs. The technologies appear to have mostly been used 'off the shelf rather than in innovative and creative ways.”
Dr Jose Nunez Callado
“[the submission] addresses the highly relevant theme of regenerative futures which integrate indigenous knowledge, this studio leveraged the dual mode of delivery to encourage hybrid forms of collaboration including international experts”
An exhibition of the finalists' work was displayed at the Collaboration Hub from 18 – 25 October 2022, and their submissions will be archived and published on AASA's website in due course.
Finally, a thank you to our jury and the host: Curtin University, for their generous support of the AASA Education Prize for Early Career Academics 2022 presentation and exhibition.