More than 90 entries were submitted to the annual competition, which invited entrants to respond to the prompt ‘The building told a story’.

“It is humbling to receive this prize, especially for this particular piece of writing,” said Forde. The prompt, ‘the building told a story’, struck me this year, and I thought a lot about what stories are told and what stories are lost when a building is destroyed.”

Reflecting on the destruction of Palestinian territories in the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, Forde continues: “As architects, we have to think about what it means for our past, future and our discipline when architecture is used as a weapon, and when buildings — and all the culture they hold, the meaning they make, the stories they tell — are victims of violence alongside the people who inhabit them, who make their lives there.”

With her structurally experimental piece, Forde hopes to capture the tangibility of belonging and loss through poetry and architectural language. She will donate the $2000 prize money  to Palestinian aid causes.

Artfully presented in a non-typical written format, the NZIA and Warren Trust have decided to release the intriguing work in a printed book later in the year. However, ArchitectureNow has been given exclusive permission to publish an excerpt below:

“There’s a show on at Shababeek. There are paintings of people on the coastline, their shadows stretch and so does the water, catching the light. In another room colours pool to form scenes of life in Gaza. A boy crouches in the grass below an olive tree, two children make music in the space where two buildings meet. Voices move like water in the fluorescent light of the gallery and you can see friends greet each other, you can feel the togetherness of this space, the opening it makes.”

^{- From ‘Of Belonging and Loss’ by Tessa Forde.}

The Open category received most of the 94 entries, with several strong contenders, resulting in the judges awarding three with Highly Commended – Honour and Control: New Plymouth Barrett Street Nurses’ Home by Elizabeth Cox; Ode to a House by Ross Keane, and Kōrero Kamaka by André Prichard.

Two entries in the Tamariki category were jointly awarded as winners — Rudy Keane for Terminal of Memories and Alara Holland for The Grand Ocean. The judges enjoyed the clarity of creative thinking portrayed in both entries. The writers each receive $500 prize money. There were no winning entries in the Rangatahi section this year.

Go to www.nzia.co.nz to learn more about the Warren Trust Writing Awards, view previous years’ winners and for updates on the publication that will feature the full-length piece of writing ‘Of Belonging and Loss’ by Tessa Forde.

About Tessa Forde:

Forde is an architecture researcher, teacher, practitioner and writer. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau AUT. Find out more at www.tessaforde.com.