The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) has announced the winners of the 2024 Vic State Awards at a gala banquet held at Zinc, Fed Square, in Melbourne. The jury honoured 25 winners from a total of 68 entries across 14 categories.
Jury Chair Flynn Hart says the projects celebrate the huge contribution of landscape architects on shaping resilient, culturally conscious, climate positive and inspiring places.
?This year?s award entries demonstrate the profession?s leading position on major challenges that affect us all, now and into the future,? Flynn says.
?We are leaders in climate-positive design, we connect people to their environment and we seek to engage all stakeholders with optimism and innovation. We are a humble profession with clear values and strong voices for how we manage changing environments and connect the life within them.?  
Landscape architecture brings joy and connection to communities
The Victorian Emergency Services Memorial by Rush Wright Associates won the top Award of Excellence prize for Community Contribution. The project was crafted from the need to integrate the memorialisation of the six Emergency Services organisations into the historically significant grounds of Melbourne?s Treasury Gardens. The memorial commemorates those who have fallen in the line of duty, creates spaces for small-scale services and ceremonies, and provides for daily park use.
The jury says ?This project exemplifies the union of placemaking with a purpos...