The business of architecture
On Friday evening ArchiTeam held its annual debate at No Vacancy, the gallery also exhibiting the 2017 ArchiTeam awards. The debate topic was, "Architecture... The smaller the better? Is the future of architecture small? Small living, small buildings, small practice... Debate!" Zoë Geyer of ZGA Studio, who facilitated the debate, journeyed across the world into... Continue Reading →
The Australian Institute of Architects' annual national conference, Praxis, was held last month in Sydney. Breaking with the twelve year old tradition of appointing creative directors via open competition, it was curated by AIA National President Ken Maher and UNSW Built Environment Dean Helen Lochhead. The conference sought to "explore processes of thought, engagement and action,"... Continue Reading →
Day 1 It’s a Sunday lunchtime in late August when we leave Melbourne, giving us plenty of time for a leisurely drive through the Yarra Valley and out to Murrindindi. We’re following in the footsteps of the great architect Richard Leplastrier, who camps out on a site to feel the land and place as he... Continue Reading →
The relationship we enjoy with our clients is a unique one. We work very closely together with them, often over a number of years. A good client can make even the most difficult project a pleasure, while a bad client can make the easiest a misery. Whether a client will be the former or the latter can... Continue Reading →
In the early 1960s, during construction of the Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon and his office designed and documented his own house in Bayview, 30km north of Sydney (1965, unbuilt). Utzon agonised over the extent of windows facing a particularly beautiful view. Should the wall be fully glazed or only partially? After many weeks of... Continue Reading →
Safari Roof House What was it? A national lecture tour held last week for the Australian Institute of Architects by Malaysian architect, Kevin Low, and hosted in Melbourne by the ever-entertaining Stuart Harrison. Small Projects is also the name of Low's studio, which has an almost exclusive focus on buildings of residential scale or smaller.... Continue Reading →
The process of writing How to steal like an architect last year, a series of 10 articles based on Austin Kleon's How to steal like an artist, made me consider other lessons learned over the years. What further lessons would I teach my younger self, given the opportunity? 16. Stick with it until the end A piece of... Continue Reading →
The process of writing How to steal like an architect last year, a series of 10 articles based on Austin Kleon's How to steal like an artist, made me consider other lessons learned over the years. What further lessons would I teach my younger self, given the opportunity? 12. Tomorrow is defined by what you do today 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 →