The business of architecture
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 Australian Institute of Architects' annual national conference, How Soon Is Now?, was held last month in Adelaide. Creatively directed by Cameron Bruhn, Sam Spurr and Ben Hewett, it explored the "agency of architecture to make real changes in the world."[1] The directors identified the expansive conversation of last year's conference, Risk, as a precursor, and proposed to... Continue Reading →
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 →
Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.[1] Thomas Edison said this in an era when inventions of the mechanical, electrical and medical varieties were constantly rewriting the script of modern life. Anyone can have an idea, he suggested, indeed good ideas are floating around all the time and all over the place. But success, and the... Continue Reading →
Winning proposal by Herzog & de Meuron + HASSELL What is it? After two years, 117 Stage 1 submissions from around the world, 1 unauthorised exhibition, exhaustive work from 6 architectural teams on Stage 2 submissions, jury deliberation, extensive media coverage and two weeks of public voting, the results for the Flinders Street Station design... Continue Reading →
What is it? The long awaited release of the shortlisted entries for the Flinders Street Station Design Competition. Public voting on the entries opened early last week, with our assessment on sixth, fifth and fourth places published yesterday. We have marked each project out of 5 in the four criteria that underpin both the original design brief and... Continue Reading →
What is it? The long awaited release of the shortlisted entries for the Flinders Street Station Design Competition. Public voting on the entries opened early last week, with full documentation now available on each of the six projects. In addition to the project boards, we are able to access drawings, area summaries, project descriptions and... Continue Reading →
What are they? As part of the annual Australian Institute of Architects awards, architects gather in each state and territory for a weekend to present their projects to category juries. Categories include residential new, residential renovation and residential multiple, public, heritage, small project, public new and public renovation, interior, commercial and urban design. Entrants have 7 minutes... Continue Reading →
What are they? As part of the annual Australian Institute of Architects awards, architects gather in each state and territory for a day to present their projects to category juries. Though only 10 minutes are provided for each architect to woo his or her jury, the sheer number of projects means the entire day is... Continue Reading →