Contextual. We all know that good architecture is contextual in some way and in some interpretation.

It may not be convincing when juxtaposed to its immediate adjacencies…

[Ok, sorry, that was just for fun. Who wouldn’t use ‘juxtaposed’ in a column like this just for a giggle at some point?]

But seriously about context, I think we would all agree that response to context is an underpinning pillar of architecture.

In an evolutionary way context leads to the vernacular, and while vernacular may not be capital ‘A’ architecture, it is of place and of people. Perhaps in a contemporary way context, or place, or people and their unique positions and perceptions can lead to the parochial…. but parochial is bad… right?

World’s best practice is the aspiration. Learning from a connected global community and educating our users and society into new and perhaps national or international ways of doing things. Evolving their practices, approaches, customs and beliefs so that they embrace more contemporary and often more digital solutions: World’s best practice with a local context. 

I bet that is some large organisation’s tag line – but it makes you think.

It makes you think about where South Australia sits in our national landscape of architecture.

I don’t think we are at the head of the table. In fact if you were to count articles in national media and presence in national awards you’d wonder if we had found the restaurant at all. So why is that?

Are we too parochial – missing the national best practice?

Are we stuck in a vernacular constrained by budget or aspiration?

Do we respond so well to our own local context that the globe doesn’t get us?

Do we care?

From correspondence and engagement with members I know that we do care. But I also know that we have different views about what we could, should or want to do with our architecture and how that may be recognised.

I know also, to be blunt, that we are not very good at doing much about it.

So I’d like to re-energise the focus which Fran Bonato brought to his presidency and talk a bit about us. What do we think about our architecture, our context, our solutions and where they should fit on the national and global stage?

We are going to start this topic with a survey to gather some information – so please take part  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/promotingsaarchitecture

And please write comments. Easy answer surveys are a great way to validate what you thought you already knew with some statistics…it’s the comments that actually offer insight into the topic.

I look forward to hearing from you about your profession, in your state.

Mario Dreosti
SA Chapter President