![\"Arirang](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6e29f14ca5f66429f6e157efcaf14ab6.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe national and state winners have been revealed for the 2026 Super Studio competition, organised by the Australian Institute of Architects\u2019 Student Organising Network for Architecture (SONA), with a Queensland team taking home the top prize.<\/p>\n
An annual competition open nationally to student members of the Institute, Super Studio challenged this year\u2019s entrants with a brief titled \u201cPause, Gather, Feel\u201d, developed by creative directors Madeline Sewall and Keith Westbrook of design practice Up to Something, alongside SONA vice president of professional development Zoeanna Upadhyay. <\/p>\n
In response to increasing digitisation globally, the 2026 brief tasked participants \u201cto design physical spaces centered around a single artwork, artefact, or narrative – creating environments that encourage observation, presence, and embodied engagement,\u201d the Institute said in a communique.<\/p>\n
The national prize was awarded to \u201cArirang Gogae\u201d \u2013 a memorial pavilion in the form of an architectural music instrument, located in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) \u2013 by Jaehong Kim and Seo Jin Hong.<\/p>\n
The designers commented, \u201cOur project begins with the belief that the shared wounds of war can be remembered, and our shared identity reclaimed, through the one song both Koreas still possess together.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the design, visitors pluck strings integrated into the pavilion to play Arirang \u2013 a Korean folk tune. In playing the strings, the occupants leave behind vibrations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly after passing the centre do they realise that the vibrations they first experienced were created by someone entering from the other side; perhaps the north,\u201d the designers said. \u201cThen another realisation follows: their own melody has also reached someone they will never know. Together, they continue forward.\u201d <\/p>\n
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View gallery<\/p>\n
The jury reflected, \u201cWhat made this project so extraordinary was how music and architecture were fused to address profound political divide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea of \u2026 allowing strangers from opposite sides to feel one another\u2019s presence, was a deeply poetic reflection on memory, touch, and shared identity,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
They added that original, inventive thinking was evident across all the state chapter winners, along with personal, creative touches to the visual storytelling and drawings. <\/p>\n
The winners were:<\/p>\n
Queensland (national winner)<\/p>\n
Arirang Gogae by Jaehong Kim and Seo Jin Hong<\/p>\n
Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory<\/p>\n
Pre-sense by Barton Taylor<\/p>\n
New South Wales<\/p>\n
Edge of Paradise by Ho Yeung Alvin Chan<\/p>\n
Northern Territory<\/p>\n
Delirra Park by Rose Souter, Jorja Handebo and Ashley Bagadiong<\/p>\n
South Australia<\/p>\n
Finding Ourselves by Dylan Fleming and Angus Vojonovic<\/p>\n
Tasmania<\/p>\n
The End of Pursuit by Ee Xuen Lee and Gabriel Yiek<\/p>\n
Victoria<\/p>\n
Refugium by Wendy Wing, Rowan Taylor and Ruth Martin<\/p>\n
Western Australia<\/p>\n
Imprint by Willow McGuigan and Jelaica Nabajo<\/p>\n