Statement by the Creative Directors of The Pool

Alejandro Aravena, the overall creative director of the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale has called on the creative directors of each of the national pavilions to share stories of architecture ‘improving the places where life occurs’. His theme Reporting from the Front focuses on the social impacts of architectural endeavour. He has set up an agenda of the national exhibitions as places of exchange where we will report, acknowledge and communicate.

Recognisably Australian, The Pool is joyful, celebratory and accessible. It is also a setting for the sharing of stories, tales of personal and collective struggle, of community building and transformation and refusal of the status quo. Creating a pool as the focal point in the space, the exhibition will at first seduce the senses, but it will also capture the imagination and intellect of those who choose to dive deeper, as we have throughout our research and development process.

Through the device of the pool we have uncovered many stories and from these curated eight narratives, each about an aspect of Australian cultural identity and each shedding light on the sustainability of our social infrastructures. To tell these stories we have selected eight prominent cultural leaders from a variety of fields including literature, science, the arts, sport and music. These include Tim Flannery, Ian Thorpe, Romance was Born, Christos Tsiolkas, Anna Funder, Hetti Perkins, Shane Gould and Paul Kelly.

Their narratives move from the scale of the body to the scale of the continent and together they reveal the many powers of the pool; as a means to enable survival in an unforgiving landscape, to tame our environment, to provide spaces that facilitate a direct contact with nature, to create democratic social spaces, but also spaces for healing racial and cultural division. All are examples of the myriad meanings and impacts of the pool on Australian society.

Many of the stories reference places and projects of direct significance to Reporting from the Front. Others do so more obliquely, through a description of events, experiences, histories or memories. These collectively describe a powerful relationship between place and society, a relationship intrinsic to next year’s Biennale theme.

As the creative directors of the Australian exhibition we are proposing to step outside of architect-to-architect discourse to show how a familiar, common object, the pool, is in fact pregnant with cultural significance, it is both artifact and catalyst of change. Our vision portrays the architect as a synthesiser of different voices and perspectives, a facilitator and leveler that creates a platform for conversation between leaders and civil society.

The Pool is a prism that uncovers a vast commentary about Australia and its architecture, reaching out to those beyond the profession through a multitude of narratives that inform and define our cultural identity.

– Aileen Sage with Michelle Tabet

The Australian Institute of Architects welcomes Prime Minister Turnbull’s appointment of Jamie Briggs as Minister for Cities and the Built Environment.

Announcing Minister Briggs appointment as part of the cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, Mr Turnbull said:

‘Historically the federal government has had a limited engagement with cities, and yet that is where most Australians live, it is where the bulk of our economic growth can be found. We often overlook the fact that liveable cities, efficient productive cities, the environment of cities, are economic assets.’

Australia is a highly urbanised nation and as our towns and cities develop, we face a number of key challenges. From climate change, population growth and an ageing demographic, to an increasing demand for infrastructure, housing affordability pressures and traffic congestion, our cities need the right strategies, policies and processes in place to create a built environment that can sustain us into the future.

The Institute has lobbied for the creation of such a role for many years, through its own policy activities as well as through its involvement with bodies such as the Urban Coalition and ASBEC.

Institute CEO, David Parken, said ‘This is very welcome news. A federal champion is crucial in driving reforms that better connect built environment policies and programs across all levels of government. The federal government can now play a key role in ensuring Australia’s built environment will function as well as it can.

‘This role should drive reform and champion quality design. Priorities for the department should include:

• strategic planning for our built environment to promote globally competitive, sustainable and socially inclusive urban centres and towns
• increasing density through design – to capitalise on the role of good design to accommodate urban growth
• championing world-class urban design and architecture to help solve our urban growth challenges and enhance our international design reputation
• the adoption of an urban design policy
• the appointment of a federal government architect to further promote high quality buildings and public spaces, and provide expert, high level strategic advice.’

The Institute will seek a meeting with the Minister to ensure that the profession is represented in policy development.

By Richard Kirk and Catherin Bull

There are big issues at stake for the state’s capital with the proposal for Queens Wharf. In an unprecedented step Queensland’s built environment professional associations have written to government jointly condemning the proposal and the recently released planning scheme for the Government Precinct. What is at stake and why have they done this?

The scale of change afoot for Brisbane’s historic heart is transformative. In just a decade, the Government Precinct as we know it will be a mere memory, overwhelmed not just by the commanding tower underway at No 1 William Street but much more – new bridges, residential, office and hotel towers and a casino across from the government buildings. The historic Treasury building will become a shopping mall. There will be riverside parks, new public spaces and streetscapes, a new lookout and Sky Walk. That part of the city between its vibrant commercial and shopping precincts and the home of Parliament, the City Gardens and QUT at Gardens Point, is to be completely transformed, and fast.

So, what’s not to like?

The issues go less to the idea of change itself and more to location, scale and delivery – esoteric concepts perhaps – but fundamental to building a great city. These professionals know how great cities (and bad ones) are made for their community and they are ringing the alarm bells.

First, why here? This is the state’s historic heart with traditional streetscapes and buildings of national significance. In built form it tells the story of Queensland’s government – its aspirations and its failures as the seat of serious business. Yet now, such business is to be carried out in a ‘casino resort’ with its additional 7000 cars. Is that appropriate? In the cities globally with which as a ‘World City’ Brisbane competes, the idea of the precinct rules. Comprehensible at a human scale, precincts help us make sense of our vast contemporary conurbations. Identifiable government precincts occur in Melbourne and Sydney, both cities with casinos, shopping precincts and hotels, diversity and excitement. There however, it is recognised that there are appropriate locations for each.

The fundamental problem is of juxtaposition. Just how close should government be to gambling or big business? And where in Queens Wharf are the civic places that signal government purpose, the public square or forecourts. There are none. What does that tell the citizens of Queensland and its visitors? That their place at the seat of government matters less than their place at gambling tables or shopping centres? In the business of city-making, locations matter and should make sense.

Second, if casinos and shops are here, why so big? Development of this scale will overwhelm the historic fabric and erase parts of it such as the streets that are fundamental to its story. Again, the cities against which Brisbane benchmarks itself keep their historic districts carefully, developing with rather than over them. Sydney’s The Rocks, Soho in Manhattan, London, Paris, Rome and even Shanghai are cases in point. It isn’t that such cities don’t develop and change, they are just selective about where and what, recognising that size matters and can destroy rather than create ambience and variety. These city makers want to see more care of this precinct and its places.

The government argues that this scale of development enables more public assets to be protected and created – new streets, open spaces and buildings. But other cities redevelop their historic places without this scale of change so what makes Brisbane so different? This question remains unanswered. The impact on the city’s historic places and CBD function during construction leads to the conclusion that if the city wants a new casino precinct, post-industrial sites such as Roma Street or Kurilpa are more suitable. Both need redevelopment but less endowed by such history.

Third, how will the public interest be protected during such rapid development process? Queen’s Wharf is a big project by any standards and very big for the time frames proposed. Through government, Queenslanders own and manage much of it – roads, streets, open spaces, services and buildings. They should know how this change would be a good investment for the state and that their public assets really will be improved. Such a rapid roll-out using an as yet unclear delivery process cannot but help make experienced urban professionals nervous. How will the public interest be protected? Will the streets, open spaces and riverfronts be managed by government as public assets and how is the quality of the outcome guaranteed under a radically new, untested delivery model? What happens if our partner walks away or wants to? It happens. Will there be a specialist delivery authority with a mandate to deliver and report on publicly defined outcomes and if not, why not? A lot may be happening on that front but little is being revealed to give heart. On questions of quality we are simply told that everything will be designed by world-class designers without change to the committed design. But we know that with projects of this scale, variations are inevitable and that it is not the designers that fail to deliver or succeed, it is how the process is managed. Barangaroo in Sydney and Docklands in Melbourne are cases in point.

So the questions around Queen’s Wharf remain. Queensland’s professionals are keen to see positive changes to their cities and towns, especially their historic hearts. They want them to be world quality and know that achieving that requires care and expertise across many fronts. Just whether and how that quality will be delivered at Queen’s Wharf remains their concern.

 

Richard Kirk is the President of the Australian Institute of Architects Queensland Chapter, principal of Richard Kirk Architects (Brisbane and Kuala Lumpur) and Adjunct Professor University of Queensland.

Catherin Bull is Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Melbourne and Adjunct Professor at QUT. She advises governments nationally on urban design and development.

18 Sep 2015

The 2015 jury for the Australian Institute of Architects’ National Architecture Awards has revealed their shortlist for the November awards.

Led by Immediate Past President and Jury Chair, David Karotkin, the jury selected 73 entries (59 projects) to progress to the final stage of the awards program. The shortlist was chosen from 185 entries that were eligible following success at the Regional and Chapter Architecture Awards, held around the country earlier in the year.

‘Reviewing 185 award winning entries was daunting for the jury. We reluctantly narrowed the field to a shortlist of 73, aware of the tension that comes from a process where we have the responsibility of choosing the best from a field of the best.

‘The diversity and quality of this year’s award winning projects from around the country proves yet again what a profound contribution architects are making in our society,’ Mr Karotkin said.

The shortlisted projects span 14 categories. This year, a new category has been introduced, Educational Architecture, to reflect the increasing number of educational facilities entered in the awards program. These have previously been considered in the Public Architecture category.

For its first year, the Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture has a shortlist of nine projects, more than any other category, demonstrating the strength of educational works around the country.

Now in its second year, the Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions) category has a new Named Award, the Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award, with four houses vying for the honour.

The National Architecture Awards has been held annually since 1981 and is one of the largest awards programs of its kind in the world. In 2015, there were 861 entries (753 projects) from around the country and abroad for the 14 national categories.

The winners of the 2015 National Architecture Awards will be announced on Thursday 5 November at a special ceremony at the University of Queensland Advanced Engineering Building in Brisbane by Richard Kirk Architect and HASSELL, 2014 winner of the coveted Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture.

David Karotkin was joined on the jury by Shelley Indyk, Steve Grieve, Peta Heffernan and Philip Goad.

For the second year, members of the public will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite residential project in the People’s Choice Award which will launch in October.

More information on the 2015 National Architecture Awards is available at wp.architecture.com.au/awards-2015/

Shortlisted projects:

COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE (4)

50 Martin Place – JPW (NSW)
Equestrian Centre, Merricks – Seth Stein Architects (London) in association with Watson Architecture + Design (Melbourne) (Vic)
Pumphouse Point – Cumulus Studio (Tas)
The GPT Group’s Wollongong Central – HDR Rice Daubney (NSW)

EDUCATIONAL ARCHITECTURE (9)

Cameraygal (formerly Dunbar building) – NSW Government Architect’s Office (NSW)
Camperdown Childcare – CO-AP (Architects) (NSW)
Jeffrey Smart Building, University of South Australia – John Wardle Architects in association with Phillips/Pilkington Architects (SA)
Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne – John Wardle Architects & NADAAA in collaboration (Vic)
Monash University North West Precinct – Jackson Clements Burrows Architects (Vic)
Penleigh and Essendon Grammar Middle Girls School – McBride Charles Ryan (Vic)
St Sebastian’s Primary School – Elizabeth Watson Brown Architects and Architectus (Qld)
The University of Queensland Global Change Institute – HASSELL (Qld)
UTS Science Faculty, Building 7 – Durbach Block Jaggers Architects & BVN (NSW)

ENDURING ARCHITECTURE (2)

Buhrich House II – Hugh Buhrich (NSW)
Council House – Howlett & Bailey Architects (WA)

HERITAGE (5)

#thebarnTAS – workbylizandalex (Tas)
Coriyule – Bryce Raworth & Trethowan Architecture (Vic)
Irving Street Brewery – Tzannes Associates (NSW)
Shrine of Remembrance – Galleries of Remembrance – ARM Architecture (Vic)
The Abbey, Johnston Street, Annandale – Design 5 – Architects (NSW)

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE (6)

Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (NSW)
Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital – Conrad Gargett Lyons (Qld)
Medibank – HASSELL (Vic)
Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne – John Wardle Architects & NADAAA in collaboration (Vic)
St Barnabas Church – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (NSW)
The University of Queensland Global Change Institute – HASSELL (Qld)

INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE (3)

Aman, Tokyo – Kerry Hill Architects (Japan)
Gloucestershire Garden Room – Robert Grace Architecture (United Kingdom)
Pico Branch Library – Koning Eizenberg Architecture Inc. (United States)

PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE (7)

Adelaide Oval Redevelopment – Cox Architecture, Walter Brooke and Hames Sharley (SA)
Fiona Stanley Hospital – Main Hospital Building – The Fiona Stanley Hospital Design Collaboration (comprising HASSELL, Hames Sharley and Silver Thomas Hanley) (WA)
Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital – Conrad Gargett Lyons (Qld)
Margaret Court Arena – NH Architecture + Populous (Vic)
Shrine of Remembrance – Galleries of Remembrance – ARM Architecture (Vic)
St Barnabas Church – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (NSW)
Westmead Millennium Institute – BVN (NSW)

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE – HOUSES (ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS) (4)

Local House – MAKE Architecture (Vic)
Orama – Smart Design Studio (NSW)
Tower House – Andrew Maynard Architects (Vic)
Walter Street Terrace – David Boyle Architect (NSW)

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE – HOUSES (NEW) (7)

Balmoral House – Clinton Murray + Polly Harbison (NSW)
Bethanga House – tUG workshop (Vic)
Light House – Peter Stutchbury Architecture (NSW)
Planchonella House – Jesse Bennett Architect Builder (Qld)
Sawmill House – Archier (Vic)
The Edge – Charles Wright Architect (Qld)
Villa Marittima, St Andrews Beach – Robin Williams Architect (Vic)

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE – MULTIPLE HOUSING (4)

Domain Road Apartments – Wood Marsh Architecture (Vic)
Silt – bureau^proberts (Qld)
Studios 54 – Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects (NSW)
Upper House – Jackson Clements Burrows Architects (Vic)

SMALL PROJECT ARCHITECTURE (6)

#thebarnTAS – workbylizandalex (Tas)
Copper House – Takt | Studio for Architecture (NSW)
LOVESTORY shop – MORQ (WA)
Moonlight Cabin – Jackson Clements Burrows Architects (Vic)
New Town Road House – Core Collective (Tas)
Roji Salon – Craig Tan Architects (ACT)

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE (6)

Bethanga House – tUG workshop (Vic)
Cameraygal (formerly Dunbar building) – NSW Government Architect’s Office (NSW)
Library at The Dock – Clare Design + Hayball (Architect of Record) (Vic)
NewActon Nishi Commercial – Fender Katsalidis Architects (ACT)
Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) – University of Wollongong – COX Richardson (NSW)
The University of Queensland Global Change Institute – HASSELL (Qld)

URBAN DESIGN (6)

Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital – Conrad Gargett Lyons (Qld)
Monash University North West Precinct – Jackson Clements Burrows Architects in collaboration with MGS Architects (masterplan) (Vic)
NewActon Precinct – Fender Katsalidis Architects (ACT)
RMIT A’Beckett Urban Square – Peter Elliott Architecture + Urban Design (Vic)
The GPT Group’s Wollongong Central – HDR Rice Daubney (NSW)
The Hart’s Mill Projects – Mulloway Studio and Aspect Studios (SA)

COLORBOND® AWARD FOR STEEL ARCHITECTURE (4)

50 Martin Place – JPW (NSW)
Adelaide Oval Redevelopment – Cox Architecture, Walter Brooke and Hames Sharley (SA)
Fitzgibbon Community Centre – Richard Kirk Architect (Qld)
Green Chemical Futures – Lyons (Vic)

See the shortlist in images here.

Check out the Image Gallery for pictures of all the Chapter Award winners from 2015.

 

The Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Chapter welcomes the recently announced Government review of central city planning controls and the associated strengthening of the City of Melbourne’s role in planning decisions.

Peter Malatt, Victorian Chapter President, sees the review as a key component of ensuring certainty and consistency of built form outcomes in the central city and the first step in delivering a Melbourne that is both able to support expected population growth of approximately 100,000 people a year, while maintaining its reputation as the most liveable city in world.

The Institute agrees with the introduction of interim controls as a mechanism to ensure that development outcomes and public realm amenity impacts are effectively managed while the review is underway.

‘The interim controls, while somewhat blunt in their coverage, are in fact quite generous compared to similar controls in other cities’ says Mr Malatt. ‘New York and Hong Kong have plot ratios of 10:1 and Sydney has 11:1. The interim plot ratio for Melbourne of 24:1 provides a midway point between the standard set by other international cities, and average plot ratios of recent years in Melbourne.

‘We welcome the interim amendment’s formalising of a closer working relationship between the State Government and the City of Melbourne. While we understand the reason behind the timing of the release and minimal industry consultation around the introduction of the controls, we are encouraged by the Government’s commitment to engaging more closely with all stakeholders as we develop this further.

‘As a profession we look forward to working alongside the Government, community and industry to ensure that Melbourne’s built form controls are world class and on track to delivering improved public amenity and ensuring growth enhances Melbourne’s long-term liveability,’ Mr Malatt said.

The Melbourne C262 Amendment introduces interim (12 months) built form controls to the Hoddle Grid and part of Southbank. The controls include mandatory building heights, tower setbacks to streets and adjoining sites, and a discretionary site plot ratio. Other matters addressed include shadowing controls, wind impact criteria, and the conferral of recommending referral authority status to the City of Melbourne.

The national winner of SuperStudio, the Australian Institute of Architects’ Student Organised Network for Architects’ (SONA) annual 24 hour design competition has been announced.

The winning team consisted of three masters’ students from the University of South Australia – Cameron Keene, Tony Niutta and Josh Evans – with their project, Over the Gap.

SuperStudio was held in seven locations across the nation on Friday 7 – Saturday 8 August. From the local events, 19 teams entered the national round. The brief, Mind the Gap, created by Mulloway Studio directors Felicity Sando and Anthony Coupe focused on the theme of identity. Students were asked to explore the tension around identity as it relates to Australian culture through specified objects and urban frameworks.

The national jury were very impressed with all 19 submissions;

‘It was clear that the relationship between object, place, and story were being creatively and critically explored and developed. It was interesting also to see the groupings of response similarities, with airports, road trips, political commentary, and colocation of object and context the main frameworks being utilised. It was also good to see designers recognise the necessity or opportunity to move away from traditional forms of outcomes and media.’
– Anthony Coupe, Creative Director and Juror

Of the national winning submission, entitled ‘Over the Gap’ the Creative Directors and national jury members commented:

‘Clearly identified the gap – and explored the space of that gap. Tightly presented with a good level of humour and a clear understanding of the relationship of meanings and nationality.’
– Anthony Coupe, Creative Director and Juror

‘An insightful, considered and humorous design investigation about the possibilities for embedding cultural heritage experience, clearly taking on board the theme of ‘Gap’ with a considered interrogation of the potential for each unique cultural object.

Unique in shifting the perspective to the experience of the viewer rather than the designer. In detailing the experience of only one person, it both gave an insight into personal response as well as raising the possibility of alternative experience from others.

The intent of the presentation was subtly supported on a number of levels, did not state the obvious, engaging and inviting us as yet another viewer to “fill in the gaps”.’
– Felicity Sando, Creative Director and Juror

Thanks to national sponsors, WoodSolutions, Keene, Niutta and Evans will travel to Venice in 2016 to attend the Venice Architecture Biennale as their prize.