Te Oro – a new, leading-edge music and arts facility in Glen Innes, Auckland took out a prestigious Purple Pin, the event’s supreme award, which recognises work that raises the bar of New Zealand design, for Interactive at this year’s national Best Design Awards 2015.
The Auckland Council facility, a creative space dedicated to youth and the local community, was also awarded across four other categories. “It’s fitting that a facility dedicated to changing people and places through creativity should produce such extraordinary results for the whole team”, says Kaye Glamuzina, Council’s Manager, Arts & Culture.
Te Oro’s list of achievements on the night included: Gold Pin for Ngā Aho (Māori Design award) for the Te Oro Tukutuku Panel, Silver Pin for Large Brand Identity, Gold Pin for Small Scale Website, and Bronze Pin for Design Craft for the Te Oro Typeface.
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board chair Simon Randall says winning the Purple Pin is a huge achievement for Te Oro, which is “simply stunning, both inside and out”, and deserves national recognition for its highly innovative, collaborative design.
“Te Oro’s recurring visual element, the Tapa Toru, references Maungarei and anchors Te Oro firmly in its place, surrounding areas, history and stories. It creates a striking identity for the many voices of the community and the creativity which emanate from the centre and is testament to the efforts of Alt Group who worked with local iwi Ngāti Pāoa to develop the visual identity,” says Mr Randall. Te Oro’s website was created by Sons & Co with Alt Group.
Meanwhile, POP – a series of participatory “pop-up” creative projects that ran across the Waitematā Local Board area – was also awarded in the Environmental Graphics category. POP Ping Pong, a set of sound-activated custom-designed ping-pong tables temporarily installed in popular public spaces, picked up a Gold Pin; and POP Plinths, an installation of platforms with prompts that encouraged interactivity, was awarded a Bronze Pin.
Shale Chambers, chair of the Waitematā Local Board which funded and supported POP, says: “POP’s purpose is to bring arts and culture in to the everyday lives of Aucklanders, creating community spaces that encourage participation and that promotes health and a sense of community.”
“It certainly helped increase engagement with the environment in which we live, work, study and play.”
The multi-award winning Alt Group created POP to generate creativity, fun, connections and experiences for Aucklanders.