Q&A Sandra Srun
Australian Design Graduate of the Year | Madeline Lester Excellence Award 2023
• Sandra Srun
DIA’s Australian Design Graduate of the Year | Madeline Lester Excellence Award 2023
DIA: Tell us what you are currently working on?
SS: I have just started my second semester of my Masters of Architecture degree running around finishing sketches, photoshopping and model making while on my other days I work part-time as an Architectural Assistant. Balancing work and rest days for me means going for hikes in the Blue Mountains, learning to skate, finding the best coffees in Sydney and road tripping down any long stretch of road.
DIA: How has the DIA Graduate of The Year Award helped support your motivations for nurturing and ‘evolving your future career?
SS: At the time I received the Graduate of the Year Award, I was uncertain about my design career path and personal aspirations. This award not only guided me but also assured me that I have the support of the design community to always fall back on when in need. Receiving the award among such amazing creators and designers was incredibly inspiring. Their influence will continue to nurture my creative aspirations and pave the way for the next generation of designers. This recognition gave me the confidence to take risks and make sacrifices, allowing me to decide to start my Master’s degree.
• The Graduation studio project is an amalgamation between an aquarium, an exhibition space and a marine lab, where virtual displays of fishes meet growing coral farms in the heritage listed White Bay Power Station. Breaking away from traditional aquariums and the formality of lab spaces, the Virtuquarium is developed from the lack of inviting and available spaces and aims to connect the community closer to nature and Country.
• The Masters studio project is focused on relationships and learning from Country in a holistic manner, set within the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub in La Perouse and as the project's non-human client. The image snapshots the intersection and mutualism between human and non-human clients where the architecture is able to cater for both.