The business of architecture
Paradigm Hill, Merricks What is it? An idea as yet largely untested within the architecture profession, but well practiced in other industries. One such industry is winemaking, no better exemplified than by the Mornington Peninsula region in southern Victoria. Comprising a large number of very small wineries run by ex-city professionals who have relocated to the... Continue Reading →
Delta Shelter, Washington Who is he? Principal of Seattle-based architecture studio, Olson Kundig Architects. Kundig recently toured Australia as a guest of the excellent C + A journal, presenting insight into the origins of his unique architectural philosophy and the raw yet intricately detailed projects that result. He discussed his formative inspirations, mostly derived from... Continue Reading →
Peters World Map What are they? During Season 2 of Aaron Sorkin's heroic television show, The West Wing, a nerdy but quietly zealous group called the Organisation of Cartographers for Social Equality introduce the Whitehouse staff to the Peters World Map, an equal-area map where 1 square centimetre of map equals the same number of... Continue Reading →
Hildebrand House by Kevin Borland, 1977 What is it? A project for which we have recently completed sketch design, photos of whose model can be viewed on our website, here. Farmer House is a renovation to Hildebrand House by the late Kevin Borland in 1977. It is located near the top of Oliver's Hill in Frankston South,... Continue Reading →
Walsh Street House by Robin Boyd, 1958 What are they? The antithesis of the contemporary urban environment, whose sturdy handrails, warning decals and fluorescent yellow strips are tenderly coddling us in bubble wrap, anxiously protecting us from every possible bump, scrape and bruise. By dangerous, we do not so much refer to cliff edges nor shark-infested... Continue Reading →
Variations of the Interstitial by Robert Ventresca What is it? Last year, we ran a Design Thesis studio for final year students in the Masters of Architecture degree at the University of Melbourne. The studio was entitled Ubi Consistam and the Venice Biennale. A synopsis of the studio is as follows: Ubi consistam comes from the... Continue Reading →
What is it? A photographic exhibition arising out of a series of expeditions to the usually-dry Lake Eyre at the heart of Australia by Sydney artist, Murray Fredericks. The exhibition documents 16 solo journeys undertaken between 2003 and 2010. "Immersed in pure space, Fredericks camped alone in the centre of the lake photographing a landscape... Continue Reading →
What are they? Sculptures, art installations, kinetic experiments, inorganic life forms. Dutch artist, Theo Jansen, designs the Strandbeesten (or Beach Beasts in English) to mimic the natural biological processes underpinning digestion and mobility, with oscillating sails to feed on wind energy, bladders to digest compressed air, and muscles to operate spidery legs. Built from PVC tubing,... Continue Reading →
The 8th of November, 2011: an historic day for Australia, the day the federal Senate approved a price on pollution, 36 votes to 32. The Labour party's clean-energy package will be rolled out from July next year, with a carbon tax for the country's 500 biggest polluters initially set at the (world's highest) fixed price... Continue Reading →
What is it? An article published in the New York Times a few months ago, viewable here, asked the question: can a playground be too safe? Is it really necessary to prevent potential injuries on and around play equipment with rubber matting, lower monkey bars and slower slides? Or is the importance of learning our... Continue Reading →