Search
Coventry University graduate wins architecture award for project with NO buildings
Sasha Farnsworth
University news
Tuesday 17 December 2024
Press contact
A Coventry University graduate proved that going against the grain can lead to success as she won a national architecture award with her project that didn’t include a single building.
Sasha Farnsworth’s project entitled Womb Temple: Lunar Rebirth – which she says is “a protest to building” and uses raw stone and trees rather than conventional building techniques – captured the attention and imaginations of the judges at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) President’s Medals.
Sahsa's design
She was awarded the RIBA President’s Medal Award for Sustainable Design at Part 1 (undergraduate) and was invited to pick up her prize, alongside her tutors, at an awards ceremony in London.
I received a text from my tutor at about 6am saying ‘congratulations’ with no context and I was like ‘for what?’. Once I realised what it was, it was really exciting and I was telling people about it.
The ceremony was really interesting to hear what the judging panel had to say about my work and to hear people debating as to what architecture actually is on the back of my work. To see it also up on the screen and on the stage - it didn’t feel real but was a genuine highlight of my life.
It (the design) is a protest to building and encapsulates the feeling that a lot of people have about the state of the world and the fact we are building constantly. I chose to take a stance by refusing to build at all.
So my project is at a vacant lot in Manchester and involves using raw stones and live trees to help put a focus on the sky to get people to look up and reconnect with nature.
Sasha Farnsworth
The news comes just weeks after Sasha, who now works for architecture firm BPN in Birmingham, was part of a Coventry University team that took second prize in national student competition Design Concrete – beaten only by another group of Coventry University students who claimed first place.
This is an extremely prestigious award in the architectural community and we are very proud of Sasha as well as the team who have supported and motivated her over the years.
This accomplishment is particularly exceptional this year as RIBA welcomed a record number of entries, making this one of the most outstanding design projects produced by a student at Part 1 (or equivalent) in the last academic year worldwide.
Dr Tulika Gadakari, Professor and Curriculum Lead in Architecture at Coventry University
Find out more about studying Architecture at Coventry University.
