Architect, educator, activist and ambassador Julie Stout has been named Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects 2021 Gold Medallist - the highest individual honour for architecture in Aotearoa.
Stout is the first woman to receive the Gold Medal, which, since 1999, has honoured architects who consistently achieve the highest standards for - and with - their clients, and who make an outstanding contribution to the advancement of architecture in Aotearoa.
This award recognises Stout’s unique and high-quality body of built work, her generous contribution to the future of the profession through teaching, and her tireless advocacy for a better urban environment in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Stout says she is humbled to receive the 2021 Gold Medal.
“I am deeply honoured that the profession, which has given me so much, has recognised my mahi and my career in this way. Architecture has influenced my life, my loves, my work and my hopes for future generations in so many ways.
“I am sure that in the very near future, we will look back and say, ‘Why did that take so long?’ and that being a woman architect winning the Gold Medal is not unusual.”
Te Kāhui Whaihanga President Judi Keith-Brown says Stout is a “unique and worthy” Gold Medal recipient.
“Not only does she have a tremendous body of built work, but she has been a generous teacher and an inspiring role model throughout her impressive career.
“As a practitioner, she has always been true to herself, while being willing to share her time and knowledge with others. Her brave and relentless advocacy for a better urban environment is a generous gift to the people of Tāmaki Makaurau.
“The Gold Medal honours the breadth of Julie’s work and recognises that her practice, education and advocacy has played a critical role in uplifting the profession of architecture in Aotearoa.”
With a professional career spanning close to 40 years, Stout has achieved an exceptional body of built work - much of it in collaboration with her partner in life and practice, 2005 Gold Medal recipient David Mitchell. This includes Auckland’s NEW Gallery (1995), Tauranga Art Gallery (2008) and Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery (2014,) as well as school buildings, urban design projects and private residences in Northland, Auckland and the King Country. Stout was also a member of the creative team behind New Zealand’s 2014 exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Since the early 2000s, she has been a staunch and highly successful advocate for improving Auckland’s urban environment and helped instigate the Mayoral Task Force on Urban Design in 2005. As a key driver of a public campaign to halt the expansion of Auckland’s port in the Waitematā Harbour, Stout went on to front – and win – a 2015 legal challenge that stopped the port company’s plans for this precious part of Tāmaki Makaurau.
The 2021 Gold Medal also recognises Stout’s generous contribution to the future of the profession through her work in education. A tremendous role model and mentor to many, she has served as a Professional Teaching Fellow at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning, and as Adjunct Professor at Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka Unitec School of Architecture.