The business of architecture
Three years ago, I reviewed an exhibition of John Wardle Architects and NADAAA's new Melbourne School of Design. Even at that early stage in its development, I was captivated by their proposal. It felt like it would respond well to Melbourne University's urban campus, would engage meaningfully in its architects' aspirations for a built pedagogy, and was sure to be finished with all of JWA's usual... Continue Reading →
Blue House by Neeson Murcutt What is it? The third of four annual open days run by the Robin Boyd Foundation. The 2012 winter event took place last Sunday on the Mornington Peninsula, with houses by Neeson Murcutt (Zac's House, 2011, and Blue House, 2012), Denton Corker Marshall (Emery House, 1999), Paul Morgan (Cape Schanck House, 2007), McBride Charles... Continue Reading →
Emery House from the west What is it? A holiday house for graphic designer, Gary Emery, by established Melbourne architecture practice, Denton Corker Marshall. Located in Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula, the house was completed almost fifteen years ago yet boasts a timelessness that has preserved its elegance across a decade and a half... Continue Reading →
Interior looking through kitchen with cosy nook to right What is it? A house by Neeson Murcutt Architects for clients Jo Nolan and Luke Hastings, and the subject of the Our Houses architectural talk on Wednesday night. The series is unique in inviting both architects and their clients to discuss their projects, attracting not only... Continue Reading →
Farfor House (original design), 1968 What is it? An event run by the Robin Boyd Foundation last Sunday that permitted public entry into four of Boyd's residential projects from the 1960s. All four of the houses are located on the Mornington Peninsula: Farfor House (Portsea, 1968), Shelmerdine House (Cape Schanck, 1966), McClune House (Frankston South,... Continue Reading →
What is it? The bell tower of the small Italian city, Pisa. The footings for the tower were originally only 3m deep and the soil upon which they were founded was very weak, dropping under one side of the tower and causing its globally famous lean. Construction of the tower took place across 177 years and... Continue Reading →
What are they? Thermal baths located in the remote Swiss alpine village of Vals, designed by Swiss architect and Pritzker Prize winner, Peter Zumthor. The building programme is organised via an interconnected series of open baths wrapping around large "stones" containing smaller, more intimate bathing rooms. The walls of the baths are built from precisely cut... Continue Reading →
What is it? An experimental green building completed late last year by builder-developer Grocon, architecture studio Studio 505 and sustainability consultancy Umow Lai on the Carlton United Brewery site in Carlton. It is being used as the site office for a major development on the site as well as acting as a showcase and testing ground for new... Continue Reading →
What is it? The MAXXI National Museum of Art from the 21st Century is a recently completed and much lauded project by Zaha Hadid in Rome. So far, it has won the 2010 RIBA Stirling Prize and, just last month, the 2010 World Architecture Festival World Building of the Year award, both prestigious and well-contested accolades.... Continue Reading →
What is it? A house in Playa Avellanas, Costa Rica, by architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe for his mother. It was presented last week at the World Architecture Festival, deservedly winning its category. What do we think? The plan and section are both straightforward and easy to understand, the former shaped by use - living, sleeping... Continue Reading →