Last July, a national body of architecture students was rekindled after lying dormant since the thriving student days of the AASA (Australasian Architecture Student Association) during the 1960s and 70s. This organisation is now a national committee of the RAIA and is to be called RAIA/SONA Australia.
SONA (Student Organization Network for Architecture) aims to advance architecture, its education and culture through the development, promotion and appreciation of student endeavours and communication. It seems that students are again eager to tackle the issues and contemplate the future of Australian architecture. What will be our role as architects of the future? What sort of profession are we going to inherit? And, most importantly, is our education preparing us adequately? It is vital that students begin to discuss and think through these issues. The impetus to create SONA grew during 1996 and 1997 under the leadership of Robert Colosimo, student member of the RAIA’s National Education Committee. The SONA vision rapidly generated excitement on campuses across the country. Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide all played host to SONA forums and meetings. These formed a foundation for the group’s operating structure, mission statement and current schedule of activities. In 1998, its first full year of operation, SONA will reach some 5000 students.
In the pipeline are grand plans to advance in three directions: representation, activities and publications.
First, student representation in the profession has been conspicuously weak. Until last year, the only national student representation was on the RAIA’s National Education Committee. Now we have secured representation across all the RAIA committees and councils, including the National Council. We see this as a step forward for the RAIA. will have inroads into the profession’s decision-making processes, and the profession will finally be able to hear the opinions of some of the younger generation.
As a key event in a dynamic program of activities, SONA’s national student competition ‘Millennium: A Student Agenda for the Architectural Future’ will investigate the future of Australian architecture locally and globally, and establish a tradition for SONA in its commitment to student discourse. To begin the competition, Australia’s 16 schools of architecture will hold a four-day charette early in the first semester, with student votes to determine the best entries at each university. National winners will be selected by a panel of international and invited professionals at the Cairns National Convention in October.
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International exhibition of the results is planned. We also hope that the competition can be extended to include students in the UIA’s Region IV countries, with the final judging and exhibition to be held at its World Congress in Beijing, in June/July 1999.
SONA also hopes to revive the days of high quality, debate-generating student publications such as the Victorian Architecture Students Society magazine Smudges, edited by Robin Boyd. We propose two journals: Beep, a quarterly publication, and TERRA, an annual event. Beepwill be distributed to all architecture students as a conglomeration of news, views, events, special interviews, technical hints and funny bits. TERRAwill be SONA’s compilation of student schemes in architecture, design, fine arts and cultural studies. This will help to counter the current lack of a publication of high quality student work and will showcase the best examples of student design and theory. It will also serve as a vehicle for SONA’s role in national student representation, help promote student work in a public context, and help create a ‘ground’ (earth) for the interaction of spatial arts and philosophies. Edited by a team of students with input from selected academics, it will undoubtedly be a breeding ground for new talent.
Forging links, networking and creating an esprit-de-corps are all meaningful (and often the most enjoyable) aspects of student life. SONA has an impressive list of social events organized. Orientation camps will be held around the country in conjunction with student clubs. These state camps, trialled last year, are intended to unite students from different architecture schools for a long weekend, introducing them to the big wide world of architecture (and sleepless nights). This year we are organising the second annual National Architecture Ball, a mid-year trip and a convention in Queensland.
Also on the calendar is a trial program we have codenamed ‘Rendez Vous Europe’. Students across the country will be issued with a list of meeting places and dates for each major European city, making it possible to meet fellow architecture students whilst travelling. The list will also be circulated to EASA (European Assembly of Architecture Students) and AIAS (American Institute of Architecture Students) to trigger international connections.
Looking further into the future, SONA is committed to enhancing its role as the communication network for architecture students. The possibilities for an effective student body are enormous, and we are optimistic that our future will be successful. Shannon Bufton is a Melbourne University student working his year-out with Six Degrees Architects. SONA can be contacted at http://www.raia.com.au/sona/ |
