SA Chapter Council initiatives
At the Architecture Awards dinner a little over two weeks ago, I spoke about some of the initiatives that your energetic Chapter Council has been focusing on since commencing our term in March this year. All build on the excellent work of my predecessors over the last five years based around the themes of integrated design (Tim Horton/David Holland), design excellence (Nick Tridente) and membership engagement (Steve Grieve).
This council is focused on bringing these themes together in ways that make our profession more relevant to the wider community here in South Australia, and expanding the opportunities that we have for conducting the business of design and architecture. It is something that we believe is crucial to our success as a profession and as individual businesses, and the economic life of our state. These initiatives include:
Planning reform: the state government has invited us to provide input into the development of the new planning legislation that is being prepared following the recommendations of the Expert Panel on Planning Reform led by Brian Hayes QC. Our feedback has been for government to strengthen the role of good design in the planning process through initiatives such as design guidelines, design review and assessment of proposals by professionals with design qualifications.
As Adelaide evolves into a more intensely developed city, the role of architecture, design and the skills that we possess will become increasingly important if we are to maintain our enviable reputation as one of the world’s most liveable cities. This lies at the heart of these proposals.
Education: while we have had a standing committee with a remit on all things educational, the Chapter Council believes that there is a specific role for increasing the level of awareness of good design in our community. Not only does this influence the built environment, of which we are leading practitioners in its delivery, but it is also fundamental to the transformation of our economy to one based on high value intellectual property and advanced manufacturing.
Good design and the processes we use are able to unlock problems that the usual business approaches can no longer resolve – it lies at the heart of our economic transformation. So not only are we developing a program for explaining design in schools in simple terms, but we are also looking to develop a policy aimed at making design much more visible in our school curriculum. It is essential to our economic future, both as a profession and as a state.
Festival of Architecture and Design (FAD): FAD is now going from strength to strength. It is transforming October into ‘design month’, and becoming one of our main avenues for engaging with a wider audience on the potential that architecture and design can bring to our community.
This year promises to be bigger and better than ever, with some exciting associations with allied festivals being discussed – hopefully more on this later…
And finally China: the development of our engagement with Shandong Province and the business opportunities that the relationship presents is moving onwards. A task group is being formed within Council that will require a wider contribution from interested AIA members. Our immediate task is to prepare a program for the return visit from our Chinese counterpart in September, based on the themes of aged and health care.
If you are interested in participating in any of these initiatives, your input is welcome. Please contact our Chapter Manager Nicolette Di Lernia at sa@architecture.com.au if you would like to get involved.
And a big thanks to the Chapter staff who made the Awards such a successful program and event again this year.