It is with sadness that we mark the passing of Professor John Webster FRAIA, who died suddenly last Wednesday.

John had a distinguished career as an architect, planner and academic and made a sustained contribution to the education of architects and planners in Tasmania over several decades, as well as being a well-known fellow of the Institute.

After qualifying as an architect and town planner, John worked in local government and private practice in Britain. In 1975 he was invited to establish a permanent office in Canberra, on behalf of Holford Associates, initially working in private practice before moving to the academic sphere in Canberra and Tasmania. In 1981 he became the head of the School of Architecture and Planning in its various forms in Launceston during the 80s and 90s, and was made a fellow of the AIA in 1983. He then became involved in campus planning for the University of Tasmania before retiring from that role and turning his attention to the planning system.

He was an emeritus professor of the University of Tasmania as well as being an occasional delegate of the Tasmanian Planning Commission and a member of the Resource Management and Planning Appeals Tribunal, being awarded a fellowship by the Planning Institute Australia in 2013.

John’s family have invited members of the Institute to help celebrate John’s life by attending his wake on Thursday, January 25^th, between 2 and 4pm at the Design Centre Tasmania, cnr of Brisbane & Tamar Streets, Launceston.

From John’s son, Ralph:
All are welcome to the wake and in true Dad style, the more the merrier. We would be honoured to have any of his colleagues and friends from the AIA attend to join my family to celebrate Dad’s life. For those unable to attend but who would still like to mark Dad’s passing, we’d love stories or messages to be sent, so that they can be included in the remembrance book – please no flowers though (send to: Wendy Webster, 1 Richards Ave, Newstead, Tas, 7250). Or if they would rather make a donation on John’s behalf, then a contribution to Beyond Blue would be most welcome.

The Institute sends its condolences to John’s family and friends.

Mon 25 Jul, 2016

Architects Designhaus are seeking an Architect or an experienced graduate of at least five years’ experience to join a small team delivering a range of small to large and complex projects across multiple sectors.

The successful applicant will able to produce clear and accurate construction documentation using a 3D BIM application and will have a good grasp of technical detailing and construction systems. Experience with Autodesk Revit is very important for this role although applicants with equivalent BIM experience will be considered.

The applicant must be enthusiastic and driven to learn new skills. Contract Administration and experience with professional image applications such as Photoshop and Indesign are also desirable.

Please send applications to andrewmc@architectsdesignhaus.com.

What do politics have to do with architecture? Well at this point in time, quite a bit. The Tasmanian construction industry has been going through hard times. The industry has been slow to recover and the past few years have tested many. There is the potential for action amidst the post-election confidence, but this now needs to come to fruition.

The cutting of red and green tape and the letting of Government tenders are two election items which have the potential to positively influence the construction industry in Tasmania, although, I personally don’t see our work situation increasing immediately.

The new Liberal Government’s ‘one stop shop’, including the Office of the Coordinator-General, aims to group together departments that deal with development. This provides the potential to streamline processes and create efficiencies, but the end result will depend on the calibre of the people involved. Hopefully what we will see, at least in the short-term, is someone who understands the difference between architecture and planning and who has the resources and support to ensure design quality becomes part of any assessment process. In the long term the Tasmanian Chapter will continue to lobby for a State Architect.

Andrew Williamson
Chapter President

The 15 March state election delivered a decisive victory for the Liberal Party. We are keen to work as closely as possible with the incoming government to maximise the opportunities for local practitioners and level the playing field for all.

In the lead-up to the 15 March Tasmanian election, both major parties outlined plans for a stronger, more robust economy. The Liberal Party’s decisive win hands them the not insignificant challenge of turning around the state’s ailing fortunes.  In the months prior to the election, the Institute made a concerted effort to meet with both major political parties and seized every opportunity to get our message across. Just weeks before the poll, the now Premier acknowledged in a letter to the Institute that ‘architecture is vital to creating investment and development opportunities in Tasmania, to grow the economy and create jobs’. As a profession, it is this sort of acknowledgement that we have been fighting for and it is my hope that we can build on this and give our profession real hope for a brighter, more prosperous future. But, the challenge for us is to work to ensure that this acknowledgment translates into action from our new government. As we all know, in recent years, the benefits of good architecture have been increasingly overlooked in favour of short-term savings and other considerations. Among the Liberals’ pre-election promises was the plan to establish a high-powered Office of the Coordinator-General to act as a single point of contact for businesses interested in investing in Tasmania and to help facilitate major projects. In other moves aimed at stimulating the local industry and economy, they’ve also promised to introduce a Local Benefits Test and plan to disaggregate government contracts. These initiatives could help to address some of our concerns in relation to procurement and providing a level playing field for local practitioners, but there is still much work to be done. Even as the election drew closer, there were few policy initiatives aimed at supporting and promoting the creative arts, despite this important sector contributing more than $600 million a year to the state’s economy. As the dust settles on the election result and the new government gets down to serious business, we must redouble our efforts to consolidate the relationships we’ve started to build, and maintain and advance the message we need to get across. There is great potential ahead but the hard work is far from over.

Andrew Williamson
Tasmanian Chapter President

3 February

We begin the new year with the Tasmanian election only weeks away. Regardless of the outcome, we hope to seize on the opportunity to change some perceptions about our industry and reaffirm the value of architecture to the community.

The upcoming state election has obvious implications for all businesses in Tasmania. Whatever the outcome, the Institute’s Tasmanian Chapter hopes to capitalise on the different parties’ plans for a stronger, more robust economy and, in turn, improve the prospects for local practitioners.

As many members would be aware, our industry has faced a number of challenges in recent years, not least of them the public perceptions about our profession. These perceptions are not helped by grandstanding contributions to The Sunday Tasmanian newspaper, like the ill-informed spread from Tony Hagar late last year. The article was a tirade against the UTAS student hub in Hobart, singling out Terroir as the recipients of Mr Hagar’s subjective wrath and despair about his perceived imbalance between development and “controversial new architecture”.  It’s unfortunate that contributors with seemingly questionable qualifications* to make comment in this field, are given carte blanche to take aim at an entire profession and its effect on an entire city. Questioning the development’s place in the context of its surroundings, Mr Hagar goes on to say that “architects and their clients have a desire (indeed, an overwhelming desire) to leave their imprint”. Never mind the fact that this is a gross generalisation, it also shows a distinct lack of understanding about the process practitioners are bound by. For example, the article completely ignores the fact that architects are responding to a different brief with every project. In this case, Terroir was faced with a complex brief and, no doubt, considered many of the issues raised by Mr Hagar. But it would appear the architects were communicating at levels not fully understood by him. The student housing development was never going to be a contextual fit with the two-storey buildings that surround it. But when guest newspaper columnists are given the opportunity to say it should have been, missing the mark completely, with nothing more than their own idiosyncratic views to base this on, it’s time for us to speak up and defend our profession and make sure their inaccurate and damaging views don’t go unchallenged. I urge all members to let the Chapter staff know if you stumble across any such articles so they can respond accordingly. We want to be taken seriously by whoever wins government; our cause can only be helped by challenging misconceptions about our industry as soon as they arise.

Andrew Williamson FRAIA
President, Tasmanian Chapter
Australian Institute of Architects

*The article stated that Mr Hagar had completed a law degree and a Master of Business Administration, and had studied at the Parsons School of Design and the Art Students League in New York.

After many meetings with industry bodies, department heads and ministers I am starting to get a feel for the bigger picture and the issues we need to address.

The Holy Grail for us as a profession at present is recognition, and an appreciation of quality. Recognition of the skills that we possess and the positive impact that we can have, will result in a better standing within the industry. This should reduce unrealistic expectations, such as the misconception that we are able to design and document for open tender, a million dollar project in three weeks.

Recognition is needed from premiers, through to ministers, departments, private sector investors and the public. We need to dispel the myth that we are an expensive luxury, with more trouble than worth.

Damaging articles like Leo Schofield’s, which used the term ‘architectural vandalism’, can paint us as villains. Of course we find this hard to understand, as there are several hundred architects in Tasmania working on a daily basis, making a positive contribution to a huge range of projects. However, apparently none of these make juicy article fodder.

I have been working to gain architects recognition in the building industry. Congratulations and thanks to Merlin Constructions, who in their own funded advertisement in the HIA Awards supplement, thanked both the client and architect along with the building team, for their Custom Built Home of the Year Award. It is this industry recognition that should not be the exception, but the norm.

The second item, appreciation of quality, is something that we need to address to assist in gaining recognition. It is quality of outcome that has the potential to define us. You won’t always get quality unless you ask for it and are prepared to pay for it. If a tender package doesn’t talk about quality and have a mechanism to value it, then the tender will be assessed on cost and quality won’t be valued.  The lowest common denominator will prevail.

So there you have it. We as a profession have our work cut out for us, but our future does depend on it.

Andrew Williamson
Tasmanian Chapter President

The Tasmanian Chapter has been busy organising a variety of events for Hobart Architecture Week.

On Sunday the 17th of November we held the Children’s Design and Build Play date in Collins Court, Hobart. We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day and a great deal of fun was had by all.

Tonight the State Cinema is showing Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman, we do hope you are able to join us. Tickets will be available to purchase from the State Cinema today.

Hannah Tribe from Tribe Studio will be joining us at lunchtime on Wednesday from 12:30-2:00pm. We look forward to her presentation, The Art of Making Homes.

Thursday will be the opening of Architectural Snapshot ‘A window into contemporary Tasmanian Architecture’ this exhibition will be held at Penny Contemporary, from 21 to 23 November.

Saturday 23 November will be the launch of Open House Hobart 2013. Open House Hobart is a not-for-profit event providing the public a free and rare opportunity to discover a hidden wealth of architectural, engineering and historic buildings nestled around their city. We will be opening several buildings and inviting visitors into often inaccessible spaces in our city centre, to participate all you need to do is turn up at one of the open buildings during the opening hours, these are advertised on our Facebook page, (you do not need to be on Facebook to see this page).

Even locals can be a tourist in their own city for a day.

Jennifer Nichols

Tasmanian Chapter Manager