FBE wins again

Staff and students from the Faculty of the Built Environment have once again blitzed a series of design and planning awards.

Planning Program Head, Associate Professor Susan Thompson, has won the prestigious Planning Institute of Australia 2007 Award for Excellence for her book Planning Australia: an Overview of Urban and Regional Planning.

The book is the first comprehensive Australian planning text to be written in over 30 years and reflects newer concerns about the environment, culturally diverse communities, and the participatory involvement of government in the processes and outcomes of planning.

"I hope that Planning Australia will inspire the next generation of planners to work to meet the needs of communities in ways that protect their environments for future generations," said Professor Thompson.

Associate Professor Robert Freestone won the Interpretation and Presentation Individual award in the Energy Australia National Trust Heritage Awards 2008. Professor Freestone was recognised for 'Designing Australia's Cities', his study of the ruling ideas, influences, outcomes and enduring legacies of Australian urban design.

Caroline Butler-Bowdon, one of Professor Freestone's PhD students, won the Interpretation and Presentation Corporate/Government award for her book. Homes in the Sky: Apartment Living in Australia, which she wrote with Charles Pickett.

Fourth year industrial design student Min Chung Kong, won second place in the Design Institute of Australia Student Design Awards (Industrial Design category) for her project 'Slow Solution', a proposal for helping residents to save water in the Kensington Colleges. This is the third year in a row that a UNSW student has finished in the top two places.