Foreword by Nicholas Thuys

This past semester, similar to the first semester this year, was like no other. Simultaneously, it was my last semester at university and the first semester after emerging from lockdown. Returning to on-campus university after a few months of confinement, the ALVA campus felt rejuvenated, alive, social – yet it still retained an air of angst, perhaps a hangover from the anxious and uncertain times had under the coronavirus threat during first semester.

Mixed up in the intensity of social contact on campus, I realised how much I had missed socialising with friends and peers. Contrary to what I believed about myself previously, this dichotomy made it apparent I was drawn to on-campus attendance for the social aspect of learning. For some students like myself the semester became more social than ever with extended periods of time spent in the HUB both working and relaxing. However, the unexpected efficiency and partial ease with which the cohort transitioned to online learning made it clear that perhaps attendance wasn’t as necessary as once thought. As experienced this semester, the hybrid mode of delivery of face-to-face and online learning – even for the highly collaborative, social and hands-on degrees like ours – rendered new opportunities and experiences that highlighted our resilience and adaptability as designers.

During the chaos of the semester, my final dash to the finish became bittersweet. Realising that such a large part of my life and daily routine for the past five years was soon to drop away was a daunting reality. Each moment on campus with friends, tutors and peers was experienced with more intent and seriousness. The impending finale of my university education also meant an increasing desire and imposed necessity to find a full-time job. A stressful feeling that I am sure most students feel towards the end of their education, which was only heightened by the potential devastation caused by coronavirus on the domestic job market. In time, I managed to secure a job through connections gained at university, and slowly find myself surrounded by old tutors, past peers, and close friends within the local design community. The previously dreaded isolation of professional work never came to fruition and was instead replaced with a new kind of social context.

As we conclude 2020, I would like to congratulate the School of Design cohort for the exemplary work displayed in this catalogue and commend all Design students for their work this year. Over the course of my degree I have witnessed a tremendous increase in the quality of work being delivered, with some first-years’ work being well beyond the scratchy sketches I produced in my second year... The work of students is also a reflection of the outstanding teaching staff, who must be acknowledged not only for the extra time and effort they put into providing education, but also for their contribution into the local design context as a whole.

As I write this, we are almost into 2021, a year which I hope is free from COVID-19 and proceeding back to business as usual. I wish all the current students the best of luck in completing their education, and look forward to seeing the future graduates in the workplace. Nicholas Thuys, Master of Architecture 2020