COX Designer Mary Anne Yosef Nominated for Young Woman Award
COX graduate designer Mary Anne Yosef has been nominated for a Young Woman Award by Western Sydney University, recognising her contribution to architecture and design during her Master of Architecture.
Nominated by the Chair of her program, the recognition highlights an initiative Mary Anne helped establish to strengthen connections between Western Sydney students and the profession.
“We could see the architectural cultural community is in the CBD,” she says. “We attended industry events in 2022 and noticed a lot of people didn’t know the suburbs where we lived.”
Rather than accept that divide, Mary Anne and her peers created their own platform. With the support of a professor, they formed a Club Society to foster studio-inspired culture, introduced a ‘Beyond the Studio’ careers night to connect students with practitioners, and developed an exhibition platform to bring student work into public view.
COX Graduate Designer, Mary Anne Yosef
We noticed architectural discourse was more concentrated in Sydney’s CBD, and many weren’t familiar with the Western Sydney suburbs we called home. To close this gap, we created our own community, inspired by architecture studio culture.
“We wanted to close the gap between students in the west and the profession – there was a big gap in communication, discourse and jobs,” she says. “It’s really been about helping each other and collaborating.”
The initiative has continued to grow beyond graduation, building confidence and connection within the Western Sydney cohort.
Alongside this work, Mary Anne contributed to HOME at the Australian Pavilion for the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023. Her installation, focused on nurture, used endemic materials sourced from Parramatta Park. Drawing on her interest in Impressionism, she carved personal stories into reclaimed bark, exploring strength and delicacy through material.
At COX, we believe the profession is shaped not only by buildings, but by the generosity, initiative and care practitioners bring to it. It’s encouraging to see these qualities emerging strongly in our younger designers. Mary Anne’s nomination recognises that spirit.