Recently, Year 9 Hagley College Synergy Architecture student, Xian Millar, received New Zealand and international acclaim for her design work.

The journey towards this prestigious result began for Xian while being taught to recognise shape and form in conjunction with world renowned architecture. She was also encouraged to design in an unrestricted way to produce unified designs that are cohesive and timeless, which is a huge undertaking for any student.

During such a lesson, Xian and her fellow students were asked to symbolically commemorate the terrible events of March 15 2019 in Christchurch. Their brief was to create a cardboard sculpture that combined all aspects of the events, both facts and emotions, through symbology. The final form would communicate tragedy but should also conversely promote understanding and caring.

Xian chose to inform her sculpture inspired by the designs of famous architect Zaha Hadid. Zaha was a Muslim woman from Iraq whose avant-garde architectural works are held in high esteem around the world today.

Xian’s created sculpture form is dominated by jagged peaks of an unnatural seismic event, inspired by Zaha’s Riverside Museum. This was then placed behind sweeping curves in the shape of a fish, to symbolise Islam (top curve) and the greater community (bottom curve). Water pouring down from the top curve is caught by the bottom curve uniting these elements, and the water symbolises tears which are caught by the caring community.

Her conceptual work was sent overseas and locally for response. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, replied: “Thank you for taking the time to write to us and the wonderful art work you are all working on.” The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern wrote: “You really managed to capture the experience and emotions of New Zealand in a single design.”

It has been a pleasure to work with Xian as her design teacher, and I look forward to witnessing her sculpture engendering consolation in the wider New Zealand community through its timeless beauty and representation of cultural inclusiveness.

"The points/graph show the size of the events that have happened in Christchurch. The top of the curve represents the Muslim community which shows their luck falling out and the bottom curve is catching it and supporting them and lifting them up." Xian Millar, 9CC