words@bld.50

Words@building50 will be back in March 2012

2011-12-02T08:42:00.001+11:00

thomas kilpper

learning from the maghreb.

museo marino marini

florence. 2011

The Words@building50 team would like to thank our speakers in 2011 who volunteered their time:
Michael Howard
Kim Dovey
Che Biggs
City of Greater Dandenong and
RMIT Art in Public Space

A special thank to our sponsors and supporters in 2011:
Architeam
Visionary Design Development
RMIT University Design Research Institute
RMIT Art in Public Space

Speakers for the first quarter of 2012 will include:
Diego Ramirez speaking on housing,
Soumitri Varadarajan on participatory design and
Beatriz Maturana on architectural education.

Thank you for your participation in 2011 and we look forward to your attendance in 2012.

Resilience in Infrastructure & Urban Form | Thurs. 10 Nov. 7pm | by Che Biggs

2011-10-23T19:15:00.000+11:00

Thursday 10 November
7.00pm
Building 50
Orr Street Carlton

Che’s talk will focus on system design principles for transformation and resilience in infrastructure and urban form. It will argue that much of our built environment and critical infrastructure has been (and still is) designed, built and managed under outdated assumptions of environmental and resource stability. This dominant ‘centralised’ model is not only unsustainable, it exacerbates society’s vulnerability to climate change, peak oil and resource scarcity. With these global scale contextual disruptions ‘in the pipeline’, we urgently need new design models for the built environment that are adapted to greater contextual uncertainty, volatility and disruption – models that are more resilient.

The talk will explore results from on-going research at the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab that has identified the ‘distributed systems’ model as having considerable promise. Che will draw on examples from the natural and built environment to explore what this model looks like and how a distributed approach can benefit society in four critical areas, by:

Reducing society’s base load environmental footprint
Increasing the resilience of critical infrastructure to shocks and disturbances
Supporting and fostering behavior change, community capacity and adaptive governance
Undermining the viability of existing production and consumption systems

The talk will end with an open discussion about the types of opportunities and challenges that people within Architects for Peace may face in enabling distributed systems.

Bio:
Che Biggs is Distributed Systems Research Fellow at the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL). His work focuses on the development of strategies and tools to build society’s resilience to long-term sustainability challenges. A key component of this work addresses the need for new provision systems (for food, energy and water) that strengthen community capacity to adapt to resource scarcity and climate change while enhancing natural capital. Che has a particular interest working with communities to draw out place-based knowledge, envisage common aims and ensure local ownership of development strategies - particularly those increasing people’s relationship to place and nature. Che has a background in environmental science, management and policy and has worked internationally in the environmental sector since 2001 as a consultant, facilitator and researcher.

http://www.architectsforpeace.org/

Landscape Food Paradigm | Thursday 13 October 2011 at 7pm | Public talk by Michael Howard

2011-10-04T20:21:00.004+11:00

Words@Bldg50 October Edition:

Landscape food paradigms, with Michael Howard

Much of the current conversation around new food paradigms has a focus on domestic urban production . A boutique model that will come and go and have little affect on our broader food world . How can we shift these paradigms of production across a range of scales without loosing the the energy currently generated by the community groups? What are the considerations and how can we engage with them through design. The role of design is often ignored in this area of agriculture and considered only through pragmatics. What else can working landscapes offer and how do we infiltrate what we understand as closed industrial sites?

Will be joining us is Michael Howard. Michael is a founding member of FOODLAB: Food and landscape architecture bureau and lectures in landscape architecture at RMIT University, Australia. His research interests include food systems, productive landscapes and designing for future food urbanism. His design teaching focuses specifically on the spatiality of food systems in urban, regional and remote Australian Landscapes. His recent projects have investigated ideas around efficiency, redundancy and cross programming of peri urban food production zones in Melbourne Australia.

Join us for an evening of talk and conversation, followed by light refreshments. Entry by gold coin donation.

Same place - RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton.

See you there!

Nocturnal nightwalks in Dandenong

2011-06-06T23:03:00.002+10:00

Thursday 9 June, 6pm
Dandenong Town Hall,
Drum Theatre
Lonsdale Street
Dandenong

A one night only event in Dandenong - Start at the Drum Theatre, walk through lanes and multilevel carparks and around the VicUrban site guided by artworks, installations, projections and whole lot of people mad enough to be out on a winter night in Central Dandenong. End up at the Walker Street Gallery with two video/social media works - free but must book via email: .jpembe at cgd.vic.gov.au

Join the arch-peace team for wine and pizza at the end at Walker Street Gallery, Dandenong!!!

On Politics and Public Space | Thursday 7 April 2011 at 7pm | Public talk by Kim Dovey

2011-03-20T16:20:00.013+11:00

(Update! The talk is now available online to view in bite size instalments - see below!)

We're back! Our talk series kicks off for 2011 with a timely discussion of politics and public space.

What is the role of public space in the struggle for democracy?

Dovey will share his insights on this theme, and reflect on recent events in the Middle East - where the role of the public square as a place of dissent has been brought into sharp focus.

While practices of public debate are largely confined to the institutions of governance and the mass media, significant struggles for democratic change have long been identified with the spectacle of protest and violence in key squares and streets. These include Tiananmen in Beijing, Ratchadamnoen and Ratchaprasong in Bangkok, Tahrir Square in Cairo and Pearl Square, Bahrain. This lecture will explore the appropriation of such places in terms of naming, history, surrounding institutions, urban design, spatial structure, access, traffic, communications and global media. Such appropriations are multiplicitous, rhizomic, dynamic and complex. They affirm Lefebre’s principle of the citizen’s ‘right to the city’ and the much older Socratic principle that urban space only becomes genuinely public through the contestation of different views.

Kim Dovey is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Melbourne. He has published widely on social issues in architecture, urban design and planning. Books include 'Framing Places' (Routledge, 2008), 'Fluid City' (UNSW Press 2005) and ‘Becoming Places’ (Routledge 2010). He currently leads a series of research projects on place identity, urban intensification, informal settlements and creative cities.

Same place - RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton.

The talk will be followed by light refreshments. Hope you can join us!

Update! The talk is now available online to view in bite size instalments - see below!

Design for the Public Good | Thursday, 11 November 2010

2010-11-02T00:06:00.006+11:00

Panel Discussion

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton

Thursday 11 November 2010, 7 PM

Entry by gold coin donation, all donations will go to Indonesian Red Cross to assist in recovery of the recent Indonesian earthquake and tsunami

Refreshments provided

Designers might see themselves as instrumental in creating functional and beautiful spaces in our built environment. Yet design services, and particularly architectural design, continue to be broadly perceived as an expensive luxury serving only a small, affluent proportion of society.

Seeing a need to address inequitable access to design, and recognising the widespread interest in the profession, Architects for Peace set up a pro bono service in 2006 to make connections between designers wanting to make a difference and under-resourced community groups in need of a design solution. Other non-profit organisations have long been established as providers of design assistance in disadvantaged communities, both locally and overseas, and more initiatives are emerging in a concerted push towards design activism.

But just how does it happen?

Join us in an open discussion forum exploring the field of humanitarian and volunteer work on local and international design projects, looking at the drive behind the work, the challenges and mistakes, the ethics of intervening in foreign communities, and the conditions that make design for the public good not only possible, but effective too.

We'll be joined by guests who will share their first hand experiences:

- Esther Charlesworth (Architects Without Frontiers, Director)

- Nick Bamford (Pro bono architect for the Fitzroy Learning Network, through Architects for Peace)

- Rob Watson (Food Water Shelter, Vice president & infrastructure manager, Architect)

Have you been involved in a pro bono design project? Tell us about it! Or curious and would like to be involved? Come along to learn more!

This is our last talk for the year, so we'll have some extra special refreshments! Entry by gold donation on the door (please give generously - all donations will go to Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia) to assist in the recovery of the Indonesian earthquake).

Brought to you by your friends at Architects for Peace.

Public forum: Melbourne 's Urban Growth... Boundary? Thursday 9 September 2010

2010-08-29T12:30:00.005+10:00

Panel Discussion

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton

Thursday 9 September 2010, 7 PM

Entry by gold coin donation

Refreshments provided

The Victorian State government recently announced that Melbourne's urban growth boundary will be expanded, an increase roughly equivalent to four times the size of Philip Island, that is expected to accommodate 134,000 new houses (that's about 3.1 dwellings per hectare, pretty low density considering 10 dwellings per hectare is about the average for the equivalent land area South-East of the CBD).

The decision has been supported by the Coalition and applauded by housing and property Industry groups, with the claim being that expansion of the UGB will make housing more affordable. But it has sparked dismay and disbelief elsewhere in the built environment profession, among planning groups and the community at large. It looks like Melbourne's steady outward sprawl, long criticised for pushing people further and further from jobs and services, forcing car dependence and taking over much-needed agricultural land, is here to stay.

Is this really the answer to housing affordability?

How does this measure impact on social and ecological sustainability?

What does this mean for Melbourne?

Join us as we explore this topic with a number of leading experts:

- Paul Mees, lecturer at RMIT Global Studies, Science & Social Planning focusing on transportation.

- Stuart Worn, executive officer of Planning Institute of Australia

- Ian Woods, president of Save our Suburbs

- Tony De Domenico, executive director of Urban Development Institute of Australia

- Carolyn Whitzman, associate professor in Urban Planning, University of Melbourne

- Kate Shaw, ARC research fellow, University of Melbourne

- Maree McPherson, CEO of Victorian Local Governance Association

- Dianne Moy, Project Coordinator, VEIL (Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab)

The discussion will be chaired by Ian Woodcock, research fellow-Urban Design, University of Melbourne.

image by theage.com.au

Words takes a break in August - back in September!

2010-08-05T15:17:00.002+10:00

We won't see you this month at bldg 50 - after July's marathon effort, supporting Counter Culture in the State of Design, we're lying low for a bit.

Far from taking it easy though, we have plans underway for a forum in response to the recent government decision to expand Melbourne's growth boundary. Date and venue TBC - watch this space! Please send an email to words@architectsforpeace.org if you would like to be involved.

Footage, photos and review of the Counter Culture series also coming soon!

... the words team

The Department of Counter Culture hosts ‘Here-Say’: July 15-22

2010-06-25T09:55:00.011+10:00

The Department of Counter Culture, partnered with Architects for Peace, present ‘Here-Say’ at Counter Point: a speaker program and conversation forum in which mainstream consumption practices and values are challenged and alternatives considered and discussed.

Date: Thursday 15 July – Thursday 22 July, 2010 at 7pm
Location: Level 2 Myer Bridge - Above Lonsdale Street, Enter from Melbourne Central, Cnr. Latrobe Street and Swanston Street, Melbourne.

Words @ bldg 50 is making a temporary shift from its usual venue and timeslot this month, to join the Department of Counter Culture in an extended program of discussions and installations as part of July's State of Design festival. We're also very excited to be launching our publication Intentcity: the political city, which has been some time in the making and features contributors including Dr Darko Radovic, Beatriz Maturana, Dr Kit Lazaroo, Liz Coleman, Marc Purcell, Geoff Hogg, Su Mellersh-Lucas and Mick Pearce.

Thursday 15th July - Opening night

Keynote presentation by Professor Kim Humphrey author of : “Excess: Anti- consumerism in the west", followed by a Q & A forum with the practitioners of Future Alternatives.
Future Alternatives is a panel of speakers representing practitioners who aim to re-make and provoke existing production and consumption practices. This panel includes Grace McQuilten from Social Studio, Craft Cartel, Kate Luckins from Clothing Exchange and Kat Ashworth from Citizens of Elysium.

About Anti Consumerism in the West...

“This timely and original new book provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of what has come to be called the 'new politics of consumption'; a politics embodied in movements such as culture jamming, simple living, slow food and fair trade.”

Other event dates...

Monday 19th July
Anthony McInneny, Coordinator of Graduate Certificate in Public Art RMIT University presents City Suburbia: a travelogue of our city that shaped and is shaped by the suburbs.

Tuesday 20th July
Shanaka Fernando, founder of the Lentil as Anything restaurants, discusses his unique business model in conversation with Rebecca Scott.

Wednesday 21st July
Architects for Peace launches its long-anticipated publication Intentcity, a collection of writings about the political city. Find out more here.

Thursday 22nd July
Soumitri Varadarajan, Associate Professor in Industrial Design Program at RMIT University, discusses participatory design and the social discourse surrounding objects and systems.

Bios

Kim Humphrey
Associate Professor of History and Social Theory. Associate Dean, Research & Innovation; Design & Social Context Portfolio. Deputy Head, Research & Innovation School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning RMIT University.

Grace McQuilten The Social Studio
Grace McQuilten is the founder of The Social Studio, a social enterprise that transforms excess manufacturing materials from the fashion industry into original new design through the talents of young people from refugee communities in Melbourne.
http://www.socialstudio.org/

Kate Luckins The Clothing Exchange
Kate Luckins is the founder of The Clothing Exchange and also holds a Masters of Fashion from RMIT University (on sustainable fashion consumption). Currently finishing her PhD research into the sustainable lifestyles of young people, Kate is a sustainable consumption researcher.
http://www.clothingexchange.com.au/

Rayna Fahey and Casey Jenkins Radical Cross Stitch
Rayna Fahey is the Co-founder of Melbourne Craft Cartel and the Melbourne Revolutionary Craft Circle. Casey Jenkins is a writer and organises events such as Art Jam and Melbourne Craft Cartel. She also works with the Capital Ideas Community Activist Group
http://craftcartel.com/

Kat Ashworth Citizens of Elysium
A globally recognized designer, Kat created the revered Citizens of Elysium label which has developed a cult following within creative networks around the world.
http://citizensofelysium.com/coe.htm

Shanaka Fernando Lentil as Anything
In 2000, Shanaka Fernando opened an experimental vegetarian restaurant in St Kilda called 'Lentil as Anything' that observes an innovative policy of 'no set prices'; customers pay only what they can afford or what they think the meal was worth. Shanaka subsequently relinquished his capital in the restaurant and turned it into a not-for-profit cooperative and youth training enterprise. The concept has expanded to several restaurants around Melbourne, demonstrating that a commercial enterprise can operate in a socially responsible and altruistic way.

Rebecca Scott STREAT
With a background in science and visual arts, Rebecca has undertaken international development or arts projects in places including Vanuatu and Vietnam. In 2005 she was awarded a Vincent Fairfax Fellowship for ethical leadership. It was working in Vietnam that Rebecca discovered KOTO, a street youth café in Hanoi, and the world of social enterprise, which led her to found STREAT: a scalable social enterprise model that could be based anywhere on the planet.

Anthony McInneny
Anthony is the co-founding member of Architects for Peace and one of three artists/designers who formed the Department of Counter Culture. Anthony is Coordinator of the RMIT University Graduate Certificate in Public Art and a practicing artist who works across the field of art in public space and has been commissioned for several temporary and permanent works in public space, most recently the 2010 City of Melbourne Laneway Commissions.

Architects for Peace
Architects for Peace is a forum for architects, urban designers, engineers, planners, landscape architects, artists and environmentalists seeking urban development based on social justice, solidarity, respect and peace. IntentCity was an inaugural forum establishing many of the principles of the organisation. This publication launch will feature contributors to IntentCity and a discussion about social responsibility and the right to the city.

Soumitri Varadarajan
Soumitri Varadarajan has a keen interest in marginal and neglected discourses. This has led him to construct projects dealing with marginalised communities. His approach amplifies the social discourse surrounding objects and systems, and provides a location where the faint voices can be heard. His theoretical writing, rather than taking issue with the dominant discourse of material constructions, talks about his projects and demonstrates a practice of collective action. Soumitri is Associate Professor in Industrial Design Program at RMIT University, Adjunct Professor at Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, PRC) and Research Fellow at the National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad, India).

Bookings:Please refer to Counter Culture website for full program and details
Phone: +61 (0) 407 357 211
Email: anthony.mcinneny@rmit.edu.au
Website: counterculture.net.au
Cost: Free. Gold coin donation appreciated.

MORE DETAILS on THE STATE OF DESIGN FESTIVAL

Thursday 3 June 2010, 7PM: Panel talk - Art + Social Space!

2010-05-17T22:35:00.006+10:00

Panel Discussion

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton

Thursday 3 June 2010, 7 PM

Entry by gold coin donation

Refreshments provided

How can art respond to social values and promote critical dialogue in a public context?

How can it push the boundaries of its physical and social surrounds?

Is there a social responsibility involved in the practice of public art?

To remove art from the privileged domain of the gallery and make it available for general consumption can be a powerful act, and its capacity to generate controversy is clearly alive and well in Melbourne - as evidenced by the passionate and mixed response to the work 'Red Fragments' by Carl Michael von Hausswolff, displayed temporarily in Melbourne's City Square.

Public art has the capacity to QUESTION, CHALLENGE, STIMULATE DISCUSSION, PROVOKE... also to INSPIRE, REFLECT COMMUNITY VALUES and raise AWARENESS. It can attempt to capture collective memory and identity, invite interaction - appear fleetingly, or bear witness to the passing of years. Works of public art can be simply vehicles of individual expression, or represent the agenda of a commissioning authority. However, often such interventions can also work to bridge cultural interests, interpret and frame community values or critique social structures.

Four practitioners will explore their experiences of creating art in public spaces, drawing on examples of their own work, and reflecting on the possibilities, challenges, freedom and limitations they have encountered.

Dr. Maggie McCormick is a coordinator, Major Research Project, Master of Arts, School of Art at RMIT University. Her researches focus on the impact of transient urbanisation on changing perceptions of cultural space.

Visual artist Dr Elisabeth Weissensteiner was nominated for Best contribution to Urban Art - Design Development Awards in 2010 by the City of Port Phillip.She views the role of art in public space as that of a catalyst within a complex system determined by social and topographical parameters.

Researcher, architect and teacher Ammon Beyerle is actively involved in the growth of Urban Village Melbourne, a multidisciplinary social enterprise interested in arts, design community development and sustainability in public space.

Karen Casey is an interdisciplinary artist, who started out as a painter and printmaker and now is among a vanguard group of urban Aboriginal artists exhibiting widely in Australia and overseas from the late 1980's.

Chaired by Alex Selenitsch, a poet, an architect and a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne. He was a founding member of the Public Art Committee at the City of Melbourne.

photo by yourdevelopment.org

Impromptu-2: Sabbagh Architects | Recent Projects | 13.05.10

2010-05-07T10:42:00.023+10:00

Chilean Pavilion in Shanghai

Architects for Peace and The University of Melbourne, School of Design present:

SABBAGH ARCHITECTS
(Recent Projects 2001-2010)

By Juan Pedro Sabbagh
Sabbagh Architects, Santiago, Chile

Thursday 13 May at 6.30pm
Prince Philip Theatre
Ground Floor, Architecture Building
The University of Melbourne
(Note that this presentation is not taking place at our usual location)

Juan Pedro Sabbagh became partner of Sabbagh Architects in 2001. Opened in 1984, Sabbagh Architects is today one of the most influential architectural practices in Chile. The typology of their architectural work covers industrial, commercial, housing, educational and heritage projects.

Sabbagh's architectural projects have enriched the Chilean architectural panorama and have endowed the firm with several awards, including: first place in office Category in the World Architecture Festival de Barcelona with the Antonio Varas Building. One of their recent and iconic projects is the design of the Chilean Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010 named "Sprout of a New City".

In his presentation, Sabbagh will discuss the firm's most recent works which testify to the diversity of their technical skills and design processes. These qualities have given Sabbagh Architects a leading role locally and among American countries.

More information: www.sabbagharquitectos.com

« download poster here

Thursday 6 May 2010, 7 PM: On Openness | Public Talk by Shanaka Fernando

2010-04-28T21:32:00.003+10:00

PUBLIC TALK by Shanaka Fernando

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton

Thursday 6 May 2010, 7 PM

Entry by gold coin donation

Refreshments provided

As Lentil As Anything's Abbotsford premise faces closure, and in the wake of the recent documentary The Naked Lentil looking at the restaurant, there has been a strong interest taken by the public in the operations of this social enterprise. Ten years since its conception, founder Shanaka Fernando has witnessed changes and turbulence, all the while maintaining his unique approach to doing business - where the notions of justice and inclusion take shape, unhindered by money.

How does this vision work in practice? In Shanaka's words:

“When money loses its value, goodwill and the kindness we extend to each other will emerge as the ultimate and most sustainable currency of exchange.”

Shanaka Fernando is a Sri Lankan born Melbournian who has shown a successful example with Lentil As Anything of how a commercial enterprise can be operated on a socially responsible, idealistic and altruistic basis and still be financially successful and popular with the public. Starting out as a social experiment, Lentil as Anything has become a space that celebrates the idea of social inclusion, artistic expression, and challenges the concept of “money’s worth”. Shanaka was voted as Australian Local Hero in 2007.

photo credit: lentilasanything.com

Thursday 8 April 2010, 7 PM:. The Character of Melbourne's Intensification | Public Talk by Ian Woodcock

2010-03-24T22:28:00.003+11:00

PUBLIC TALK by Ian Woodcock

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton

Thursday 8 April 2010, 7 PM

Entry by gold coin donation

Refreshments provided

After almost a decade, Melbourne has little to show for Melbourne 2030, the much-lauded aspirational policy that sought to make the metropolis more sustainable by intensification of land-use in activity centres and transit corridors, linked by improved public transport. While there are many aspects to the lack of implementation of what is basically a sound policy, two key issues will be foregrounded in this presentation.

Firstly, the role of the planning system in development politics needs to be better understood. Is the system merely a neutral framework regulating the market, or does it produce some of the very phenomena that seem to be the cause of its difficulties? Following on from this is a second key issue: How to effectively engage stakeholders in informed decisions about what possible and desirable outcomes of intensification policy might look and feel like as places to live, work and play.

Most planning policy lacks essential visual imagery that could be used to inform much-needed debates about possible and desirable urban intensification scenarios. Nor has strategic policy been driven by an assessment of the latent intensification capacity of the existing urbanised area. While many other policy issues bear on the sustainability of Melbourne’s future, the link between these two key components related to future built-form needs to be better understood and managed.

We will join Ian Woodcock, Melbourne School of Design Research Fellow, as he shares his insight in addressing those issues. Ian is an architect, urban designer, researcher and teacher. He originally trained and practiced in the UK before migrating to Australia, with much of his work in practice has included collaborations with multidisciplinary design teams on community cultural development projects. He is currently leading the ARC Linkage Project "The character of urban intensification: protecting and creating place identity in activity centres" with chief investigator-Kim Dovey.

Impromptu: In Conversation with Mathias Klotz

2010-03-19T09:30:00.007+11:00

Friday, 19 March 2010-6:30pm

Mathias Klotz Germain was born on April 1965 in Viña del Mar (Chile). In 1991 he graduated as an architect from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He has been awarded numerous awards and has major projects in Chile, Mexico, Italy, Lebanon, China, Uruguay, Argentina, Spain...

"I am interested in belonging to a place… That is what my work is about…
I have no idea if I have found a place, but I think there are some projects that do have one.
The Reutter House has one by climbing up the trees. The Las Niñas Winery has one by illuminating the industrial space with natural light. The Mulchnick House has one by constructing an inhabitable terrace. The Ponce House has one on the River Plate." (From Mathias Klotz website)

This is an informal presentation/talk by Mathias Klotz. This is gonna be a chilled out, after work/study conversation about architecture and Mathias's work. A great way to welcome the weekend!

Venue: RMIT Building 50, Orr St, Carlton (the usual place we have Words series)
Time: 6:30 PM
Date: Friday, 19 March 2010
RSVP: words@bld50

Snacks, drinks, and friendly atmosphere will be provided!

*image from dezeen.com

Thursday 4 March 2010, 7 PM:. Consult | Design| Build | Public Talk by Dr David O'Brien

2010-02-16T09:57:00.010+11:00

PUBLIC TALK by David O'Brien

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton

Thursday 4 March 2010, 7 PM

Entry by gold coin donation

Refreshments provided

The federal government’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP) and well-publicised ‘intervention’ program have brought indigenous housing to the attention of mainstream Australia. Whereas the agencies once responsible for indigenous housing in the Northern Territory were criticised for too little consultation, the media's claim today is that there is too much consultation – and vast seemingly sums allocated by the federal government – with too little housing being built. Paradoxically, there are reports from the communities themselves that the consultation process is inadequate.

How much consultation with indigenous communities is the ‘right’ amount? How should this consultation process be managed and with what outcomes in mind?

Groups of students from the Melbourne School of Design faced these questions when they began working with two indigenous communities in Darwin’s ‘town camps’. After consultation, the students were invited to recycle one of the derelict houses in the Gudorrka Community. With limited funding, the sixteen students and two staff members, helped by local men and children,‘blitzed’ the house over a ten day period and recycled it into a respectable home.

Dr David O'Brien practiced as an architect before joining Melbourne University’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning in 1996. He has since worked in community development projects in rural Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia’s Northern Territory. He has advised in the construction and evaluation of prototype houses alongside builders, engineers, sociologists, government agencies and aid workers. David's primary research interest lies in the relationships between architectural technology and indigenous housing needs, with a focus on environmental and cultural sustainability.

Find photos of the event here

The Victorian Bushfires: Recovery + Reconstruction

2009-10-19T15:36:00.009+11:00

PANEL TALK

EXHIBITION

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St, Carlton (off Victoria St, between Lygon and Cardigan)

Thursday, 5 November 2009

Exhibition opens from 6:30 PM

Talk starts at 7:00 PM

This is our last words event for 2009 and it's going to be a big one! Another bushfire season has recently commenced and we've secured four speakers to address the recovery process since Black Saturday and the challenges that lie ahead, each from a unique professional perspective. It's also an opportunity to exhibit the work of those architects who rose to the challenge responding to the aftermath through design, many in a pro bono capacity, and 17 projects will be exhibited on the night.

The wake of the devastating Victorian bushfires of 2009 was met with a massive public outpouring of emotion and support and an equally powerful wave of criticism of existing defence mechanisms and political rhetoric that produced the 'we will rebuild' mantra. Nine months on, we will reflect on the progress and lessons learnt thus far and the ongoing longterm recovery process. What are the prospects for the longterm recovery and rebuilding of devastated communities? Are vulnerable communities any better prepared for this summer? How might built environment professionals respond to the challenge of planning and designing for areas at risk? These are just some of the questions that we will discuss in our November edition of Words@bldg50.

The panel consists of:

DR SUSIE BURKE BA(Hons), PHD, MAPS. A psychologist working at the Australian Psychological Society. A significant focus of her work in the Public Interest Team at the APS is looking at the role that psychology can play in helping us understand the causes, impacts and solutions to climate change and other environmental threats, including natural disasters.

GREG BOX Manager of Arts, Culture & Heritage, Shire of Yarra Ranges. Greg oversees six cultural facilities, a cultural development program, an indigenous collection, public art and festivals and events. He was in control of the Healesville Relief Centre on Sunday, 8 February.

BEATRIZ MATURANA Architect, MA in Urban Design. President of Architects for Peace. Beatriz has worked in community development in countries including Nicaragua and East Timor, and is a passionate advocate for social justice. Her paper 'Victoria's Bushfires: isn't it time to reflect on new urban strategies?' was written in response to the 2009 Victorian bushfires.

Chair ANTHONY MCINNENY Practicing urban artist, studio leader in the RMIT Art in Public Space program and Coordinator, Cultural Planning and Development at the City of Knox. Anothny has worked in the developing world in the area of cultural restoration after human-made and natural disaster.

An exhibition of 17 design projects for areas affected by the bushfires this year will be presented on the night. These projects showcase different responses and solutions to the reconstruction process.

The exhibitors are:

Zen Architects
Irons McDuff Architecture
Tom Morgan/Sharkmouse
Hayball Pty Ltd
Splinter Society
Architects Eat
Edwards Moore
Julie Firkin Architect
John Wardle Architects
Clare Cousins Architecture + Interior Design
Monash University Architecture students
Umberto Emoli
John Henry
Emergency Architects Australia (with Antarctica/BVN/ARG/Architectus)
Clinton Murray (with S2F)
John King Architects
pH Architects

Entry by gold coin donation, refreshments provided. We hope you can join us for the last time in 2009!

Thursday 1 October, 7.00 pm :. Public talk by Dr Kate Shaw: Artists + Gentrification

2009-09-07T07:22:00.008+10:00

Hapless victims, knowing participants, or a source of creative resistance?

At RMIT Bldg 50, Orr St, Carlton

Dr Kate Shaw is an ARC Research Fellow in Architecture, Building + Planning at the University of Melbourne, with a PhD in urban planning and a master’s degree in urban policy. She recently co-ordinated the ARC Linkage Project, Transnational and Temporary: students, community + place-making in central Melbourne (2005-2008).

Kate is currently working on a Discovery Project titled Planning the ‘creative city’: reconciling global strategies with local subcultures (2009-12). She has a background in alternative cultures and activism. Her research interests include social equity, cultural diversity, housing markets, gentrification, and urban policy and planning. She has received several awards for her publications in these areas and is a regular media commentator and policy advisor to various Melbourne councils and local campaigns.

Download the flyer for this event here

Entry by gold coin donation, refreshments provided.

(Images by Rodger Cummins)

Presentation @ Kinglake :. 27.09.09 :. Community centre design | Prof. Silvia Acosta

2009-09-06T22:15:00.001+10:00

We’re breaking out of our usual monthly talk cycle to bring you a special extra September edition of words @ bldg 50, and an insight into the rebuilding process on the ground at Kinglake, a Victorian community seriously affected by the bushfires earlier this year.

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Prof. Silvia Acosta, from the Rhode Island School of Design (who joined us at words in August), her colleague Adrienne Benz, and their second-year students from Monash University are currently working on building a community centre at Kinglake, VIC, as part of the University's first design/build project with faculty from abroad. The open-air community centre will feature indoor/outdoor seating areas where the community can interact, barbeque and is equipped with cooking facilities, and a fire pit area that ensures the space can be used both day and night. The structure, composed of donated and salvaged materials, has been designed by the Monash team in creative and unconventional ways. Currently, the project is still in its construction phase.

On 27 September 2009 (this Sunday), Architects for Peace along with Prof.Silvia Acosta's team will hold a talk near the construction site as the project draws to a close. However, more volunteers may be needed to complete the project, and so expressions of interest are welcome. Please contact Eleanor (eleanor at architectsforpeace dot org) for more information.

We hope to see you there!

Venue: Communal Dining Hall @ Kinglake Temporary Housing Village (please park at shops nearby to allow resident use of village car park)

Time: 12:00 noon

How to get there:

By car is the best way. We will be meeting at our usual Words venue (RMIT building 50, Orr St, Carlton) at 10.30am on the day to car-pool if you’d like a lift. Otherwise please park at shops nearby to allow resident use of village car park.

The project

(plan by Emergency Architects Australia)

GOOGLE MAP LOCATION

Kinglake Some Background..

Kinglake was one of the worst affected towns by the Victorian bushfires earlier this year in February. Hundreds of homes were destroyed. The town has a history of bushfires when extreme weather conditions occur. A temporary village is currently under construction in the area and due to open on 3 October 2009, thanks to the pro bono efforts of Emergency Architects Australia, AR Group Architects, and Antarctica Group, under the direction of the Victorian Bushfire Recovery and Reconstruction Authority. The village will house up to 55 temporary housing units, communal buildings and recreational facilities and be in place for two years. It is anticipated that the lightweight communal shelter currently being built by Silvia and students will be dismantled after this time and relocated to the permanent centre of Kinglake.

Thursday 3 September 2009, 7.00 pm :. Film screening: 'The Day After Peace'

2009-08-17T22:58:00.008+10:00

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton

Join us in September for a screening of 'The Day After Peace', in support of Peace One Day, and to tie in with Peace Day (which actually falls on 21 September, but we're getting in early!)

"The Day After Peace charts the remarkable 10-year journey of award-winning filmmaker Jeremy Gilley to establish an annual Peace Day on 21 September. The camera follows Jeremy as he galvanises the countries of the world to recognise an official day of ceasefire and non-violence.

But even after the member states of the UN unanimously adopt Peace Day, the struggle isn’t over. As the years pass, there’s not a single ceasefire. The voices of the cynics are growing louder – and now Gilley’s non-profit organisation, Peace One Day, is in dire financial straits. But he can’t let it fail.

The film’s breathtaking conclusion finds Gilley joined by Jude Law in Afghanistan attempting to spearhead a massive vaccination against polio on Peace Day. Will peace prevail? Will lives be saved? Or were the cynics right?

The Day After Peace is a moving testament to the power of the individual and the perseverance of the human spirit."

(Text sourced from http://www.peaceoneday.org/)

This event is presented by Architects for Peace in support of Peace One Day. Gold coin donations on the night will go towards the Peace One Day cause.

Thursday 6 August 2009, 7.00pm :. The art of architecture in making community, presented by Silvia Acosta

2009-07-12T19:05:00.008+10:00

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St (off Victoria St), Carlton
Silvia Acosta, architect and professor at the Rhode Island School of Design in the USA, is a visiting academic at Monash University's Department of Art + Design in August. She finds opportunities for student engagement in practice-based projects, and values a “hands-on” approach as a way of doing. Investigation topics are often developed in relation to issues of community and the public realm. Silvia has undertaken community-based design-build projects in Mexico, Costa Rica, Japan and the USA.

Silvia says:

"Collaborative efforts often outweigh work conceived from a singular or individual point of view; working jointly on a project is one way of forming “community.” In making community, everyone involved leaves marks without being concerned about whose handprints are in the work. Collective decisions are made through different points of view, yet these diverse outlooks share a common ambition to make something contributing to the greater good.

Architectural practice is often collaborative—involving many minds and hands, an ongoing exchange of ideas and crafts. While a kind of art form, architecture is not an isolated art; it is bound to a multitude of intersecting circumstances. Part of one large human art, it tries to understand the physical world, shape it and make room for living in it.

Our quest as artists and architects is to discover and articulate what we value. We seek out situations where a contribution might be made in an attempt to improve the lives of individuals, or the qualities of a place in some way. The work we make as architects comes from us, mirrors our reflections and longings, and yet, it is never ours; when finished, it is given away to others. So, how can we propose guidelines for a work of architecture that induces active exchange among its makers—a sense of community among the people it serves?"

Entry by gold coin donation, refreshments provided.

(Images from Silvia's community-based work in Mexico, Japan and the USA)

Thursday 2 July 2009, 7.00pm :. Urban renewal + revitalisation: A tale of two cities

2009-06-13T23:43:00.010+10:00

At RMIT bldg 50, Orr St, Carlton
(off Victoria St, between Lygon and Cardigan)

Renewal and revitalisation are buzzwords around town. Drawing on preliminary findings from current research in Dandenong and Footscray, both presently subject to R & R processes, Maree Pardy considers a range of questions related to the promises of and visions for the renewal of these suburbs. Qualitative research in both suburbs has so far involved interviews, observations and conversations with policy and planning personnel, visitors, local residents and retailers. Both suburbs share rich yet diverse histories of class, socio-economics and immigrant and refugee settlement. Both also share a distinctive element of cultural diversity, which has been central to much discussion about their branding and futures. Yet, while cultural diversity is discussed, multiculturalism seems to have disappeared from many agendas.

Focusing on the difference between cultural diversity and multiculturalism, Maree will present some of the differing relations to ‘place’ among urban designers, social and urban planners and the many and diverse individuals and groups who inhabit these suburban spaces. The difference between cultural diversity and multiculturalism is outlined and deployed to suggest the possibility of an interesting discursive split arising here, as these suburbs are differentially imagined as spaces of display and/or spaces of dwelling. Maree will explore some prospects and risks that emerge from and within this split.

Dr Maree Pardy is an anthropologist who researches in the areas of multiculturalism, gender, and immigrant communities in urban Melbourne. She teaches in the Gender Studies program in the School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry at the University of Melbourne. Maree has presented a number of papers dealing with areas including identity, nationalism, multiculturalism and globalisation and authored the article "Kant comes to Footscray Mall—thinking about local cosmopolitanism" in the 2005 publication Sub Urban Fantasies. Her current research project ‘Urban revitalisation, public space and intercultural encounters’ is being undertaken with Professor Ruth Fincher, Professor Ghassan Hage and Ms Cathy Henenberg.

Download the PDF flyer for this event here

Entry by gold coin donation...refreshments provided

Public Lecture :. Thursday 4 June 2009 :. Learning from Ampilatwatja

2009-05-20T20:25:00.005+10:00

Thursday 4 June 2009 - 7.00pm RMIT Building 50, Orr St, Carlton Entry by gold coin donation.. refreshments provided.
Brendan Jones (Antarctica and RMIT), Ian Watts (Antarctica) and students from the 2008 Home away from home design studio.

Brendan and Ian will present three challenging design studios run at RMIT since 2007 that tackle the idea of engaging the professional practice of architecture, the academic insititution and the community, and reflect, with the help of students, upon the lessons learned.

Antarctica began its work in the area of general practice and primary care in 2007 with the RMIT studio and subsequent architectural workbook, Rebirth of a clinic. This work was run in conjunction with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), and this association led to a call for expressions of interest from Aboriginal Health Centres around Australia for the 2008 studio Home away from home - Architecture for healthy Aboriginal communities. The studio's broad ambition was to help “close the gap” in the health status of Aboriginal people, compared with other social demographics. It required 10 students to work collaboratively, well beyond standard academic requirements, and produce a design for the Ampilatwatja Medical Centre located in a remote area of the Northern Territory. The group was projected into a seemingly infinite landscape and then placed in an intense and fragile community. They responded with a respectful, believable, working piece of architecture.

Seeking Asylum is the current studio being run at RMIT and explores the architectural issues of responding to the social, housing and health needs of people with severe mental health problems.

Download the flyer for this event here

Public lecture :. Thursday 14 May 2009 :. Reforestation : Urban agriculture movement presented by Future Canvas

2009-04-25T20:30:00.010+10:00

Thursday 14 May 2009 - 7.00pm

RMIT Building 50, Orr St, Carlton

Entry by gold coin donation..
refreshments provided.

Members of fledgling social enterprise Future Canvas will discuss their efforts to introduce agriculture and permaculture to the urban landscape. The Future Canvas Reforestation project is a global collaborative project that seeks to achieve the following vision in Melbourne:

“A metropolis alive with music and festivities radiating from a nucleus in the city centre community garden. Reforestation Day will enliven and inspire the city; people will get involved in sustainable urban agriculture in Melbourne’s centre, as well as their local neighborhoods, schools and universities. Groups of people interested in Reforestation will become productive communities through initiatives such as sharing their knowledge on urban agriculture through a central website and permaculture workshops. People will green the institutions that make up their everyday. The joy of this experience will echo around the world as Re-foresters share their experiences through various media including the internet, television and print”

Come along to hear about what Future Canvas has already been up to and what's happening right now.

Download the flyer for this event here

More info on Future Canvas at http://www.futurecanvas.org

Public lecture :. Thursday 2 April 2009 :. National identity and traditional building

2009-03-08T21:50:00.010+11:00

Presented by Professor Miles Lewis

7.00pm, Thursday 2 April 2009
RMIT Building 50, Orr St.

Entry by gold coin donation, refreshments provided. Download the flyer for this event here

In an age of globalisation it is paradoxical that national identities are more of an issue than ever before. Traditional building technology is often as important an indication of identity as is language, and a more persistent one. This lecture will demonstrate how fundamental it is – from Mayan arch forms surviving in Spanish colonial Guatemala to the mud brick shapes used by today's Kurds in eastern Turkey.

Miles Lewis AM is an architectural historian and commentator, professor of architecture at the University of Melbourne, editor of the new international text, Architectura, and author of books including Victorian Primitive, Don John of Balaclava, Two Hundred Years of Concrete in Australia and Suburban Backlash.

Images: 1. Extracting the tile blank, El Tajar tile yard, Guatemala, 2. Detail of gable end, Sitt-er-Rum Church , Northern Syria

Public lecture:. 5 March 2009:. The use of the grid system and diagonal lines in the composition of Chinese architectural murals in the 14th century

2009-02-20T13:01:00.010+11:00

Presented by Hui Chuan Wang, landscape architect and artist

7pm, Thursday 5 March 2009
RMIT bldg 50, Orr St

Refreshments provided. Entry by gold coin donation (all donations will go to bushfire relief efforts)

Yongle gong is a Daoist chief-ancestor temple built in the Yuan dynasty (14th century) in Shanxi province (山西), China. The temple is decorated by both figural and architectural mural paintings. The figural paintings are regarded as some of the highest quality examples in China. Conversely, the architectural mural paintings have scarcely attracted scholarly attention so far.

Hui says:

"When I first started to work on Yongle gong’s architectural mural paintings for my PhD, my aim was to understand the depiction methods used in these paintings. In other words I wanted to analyse the processes used from the artist’s point of view. This meant that the painting principles from ancient Chinese texts had to be studied first. A nucleus of two painting principles provided the framework for a series of empirical graphic studies tracing the methodology of planning and executing architectural mural paintings. In the course of this investigation the original meaning of those painting principles was re-assessed.

My study of Yongle gong's architectural paintings showed that the grid system was used for the graphic composition of traditional Chinese architectural murals, and both converging and parallel lines were employed to depict architecture in three-dimensions. I tested these methods on two other architectural murals roughly approximating Yongle Gong in date and location: Prince Yide's tomb (懿德太子墓) and Yan shan si temple (严山寺). They confirmed that the grid system, Jing ying wei zhi, parallel lines, Yi xie bai sui, and converging lines, Yi qu bai xie were fundamental methods used to generate visually and symbolically cohesive architectural mural compositions."

Prior to commencing this PhD study, Hui Chuan Wang was involved professionally in the field of housing in Taiwan for more than ten years, and completed a Master of landscape architecture at the University of Melbourne. Hui also practices as an artist and involves in charities. Her paintings have received several awards and been exhibited both in Taiwan and Australia.

Download the flyer for this event here

words @ bldg 50 - Back in 2009...Watch this space!

2008-11-29T12:45:00.006+11:00

Our words @ bldg50 monthly talks have wound up for the year but will be back in 2009.

Many thanks to all our 2008 speakers who generously volunteered their time and shared insights into some fantastic projects. It's been inspiring to see how much great work there is going on out there. Thanks also to everyone who ventured out on a Thursday night (especially those chilly winter ones!) to make these events worthwhile.

In the meantime, we are working on uploading some of the content from past talks, including videos, for the benefit of those who couldn't make it along. So watch this space!

We are also currently compiling the 2009 lecture program, and the call for submissions is open. If you have been involved in an art/multimedia/architecture/landscape/urban design project -whether research-based or hands-on in the field, broadly related to design and social justice ...whether complete or ongoing...here or overseas...and would like to present your experience or research at one of our lecture nights next year, please contact Eleanor at eleanor@architectsforpeace.org by 31 January 2009.

TRESPASS:. public forum:. 6 November 2008

2008-10-20T13:34:00.008+11:00

When: Thursday 6 November 2008, 7pm
Where: RMIT building 50, Orr St, Carlton

TRESPASS is the subject of our next lecture night. This idea has emerged from our probono committee's recent involvement with the Student Housing Action Collective (SHAC), a group currently occupying a vacant Melbourne University property in protest against the cost of student housing.

We'll be joined by members of two very different groups that have both grabbed media attention recently for their unconventional mis-use of urban space: Cara Wiseman, a participant in last September’s PARKing day in Melbourne and two residents from SHAC.

Note: We will be requesting a small donation of a needed item for the SHAC residents rather than the usual gold coin donation. Some needed items are listed below:

soy - milk - rice - beans/pulses - canned tomatoes/tomato paste - onions - honey - peanut butter - muesli - tempeh - walnuts/nuts - coffee - vacuum cleaner - can opener (!) seedlings - esp. shade friendly plants - seed raising mix (!) bread knife (!) knife sharpener (!) master plunger (!) towels - bath mat - face towels - tea towels - lamps - YOU - computer - coffee perculator large - fairylights

Click here to download the flyer.

Learn more about the international PARKing movement or read up on SHAC in the news.

Public lecture:. 2 October 2008:. The SIEV X Memorial

2008-09-17T14:28:00.013+10:00

When: Thursday 2 October 2008, 7pm
Where: RMIT building 50, Orr St (off Victoria St) Carlton

The SIEV X Memorial Project remembers those who drowned in the 2001 sinking of a ‘Suspect Illegal Entry Vessel’ when 353 refugees lost their lives. It seeks to raise awareness of the urgent ongoing humanitarian crisis of refugee rights around the world, as well as the personal tragedy of those involved in this single instance. The project was initiated in 2002 by Steve Biddulph, a psychologist and parenting author, Rob Horsfeld, a uniting Church Minister, and Beth Gibbings, an artist and project manager. In late 2002 they asked Dr. Sue Anne Ware to join them as their landscape architect.

The memorial project involved a range of people and age groups from communities throughout Australia. For Sue Anne, it meant operating outside of the typical range of skills and assistance for which landscape architects are recognised, as well as reinforcing the direct relevance of such assistance to the successful physical construction of environments. The resulting sculptural memorial in the public realm can be seen as a physical catalyst for social change.

Sue Anne is an associate professor and co-ordinates postgraduate studies in landscape architecture at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Her research and design work explores how contemporary memorial design can reflect ephemeral conditions of site and memory while maintaining their importance in the public landscape, both locally and overseas. She has published widely with regard to concepts engaging in anti-memorials and received various awards in recognition of her design work from the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.

Entry by gold coin donation. Refreshments provided.

Download a PDF flyer for the event here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/6229755/081002SIEV-X

Public lecture Thursday 4 September 2008: Grocon’s proposed urban homeless shelter

2008-08-21T09:45:00.020+10:00

WHEN: Thursday 4 September 2008, 7.00pm
WHERE: RMIT Building 50, Orr St (off Victoria St) Carlton
WHO: David Waldren, Victorian Design Manager, Grocon

Construction giant Grocon has entered a partnership with the Victorian Government, Yarra Community Housing and non-profit organisation Homeground Services to build a supportive housing facility for the homeless at 660 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. It will be based on a New York model known as Common Ground, which incorporates the services the homeless may require in one facility.

The partnership was announced publicly by the Victorian Premier, John Brumby, on April 24, 2008. Grocon is building the facility at cost and many consultants with whom Grocon works have already agreed to work on an at-cost or pro bono basis. Works are expected to commence late in 2008 and be complete by around August 2010.

A national body known as Common Ground Australia has been formed, with Therese Rein as its national patron. This will be the first such facility in Victoria , although one has already been built in South Australia . Similar facilities for the homeless are planned right around the country.

David Waldren, Design Manager of Grocon’s Victorian arm, has managed several multi-million dollar projects in the past including a joint venture between the National Museum of Australia and the Australian Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. David is an architect and fellow of the Williamson Community Leadership program.

We invite you to learn more about the objectives behind this project and how they will be delivered.

Entry by gold coin donation, refreshments provided.

Help us to promote the event: view and download poster - here

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Watch the video of the presentation...

Common Ground Supportive Housing Project from Architects for Peace on Vimeo.

Presented by David Waldren (Grocon) in conjunction with Architects for Peace Melbourne.

September 4, 2008

Free public lecture .: August 7 .: Bird hide at Westgate Park .: pro-bono design in action

2008-07-21T14:02:00.010+10:00

When: Thursday 7 August, 7pm

Where: RMIT building 50, Orr St (off Victoria St) Carlton

Melissa Bright & Tarryn Boden from MAKE architecture studio will present the Bird Hide Project at Westgate Park, Melbourne.

Westgate Park is an inner metropolitan park in the heart of industrial Melbourne. It was a former rubbish tip that has been transformed into a flourishing ecological and recreational wetland environment. The bird life in the park is considerable and the park has become popular with bird observers. A bird hide is proposed on the fresh water lake to address the lack of purpose built bird watching facilities.

MAKE architecture studio was connected to non-profit group, Friends of Westgate Park, through the Architects for Peace Pro Bono service and is now providing design services to the group.

A design studio was first run with RMIT architecture students to produce ideas and a strong research base for the project. Students researched the site and existing bird hides, before developing individual design solutions.

Following the completion of the design studio and an exhibition at RMIT, MAKE has developed the schematic design of the bird hide. The design has been developed with consultation with the Friends of Westgate Park, ERM and Parks Victoria.

MAKE will discuss the process used to be able to provide a Pro Bono service and will then present the current design solution.

about MAKE architecture studio...

MAKE is one of the new small Melbourne design studios set up in recent years. Directors Shelley Freeman and Melissa Bright, bring together their combined local & international experience to create a young and innovative approach to architecture.

MAKE strives to create individually crafted buildings with a sustainable ethos and site responsive design process. Both directors are actively involved in academic and community work.

Entry by gold coin donation, refreshments and plenty of food for thought provided.

Marcia Sant'Anna - public lecture - 3 July 2008 [CANCELLED]

2008-06-13T18:38:00.010+10:00

Marcia Sant'Anna
Brazilian architect + urbanist

Public lecture on Thursday 3 July 2008

Marcia Sant'Anna will be in Melbourne briefly next month representing IPHAN (Brazil's National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage) She has been developing programs in Brazil to protect intangible cultural heritage and indigenous rights.

http://portal.iphan.gov.br

ATTENTION: Unfortunately Ms Sant'Anna has had to cancel her visit to Melbourne at short notice, so words @bldg50 will take a break in July.

But please stay tuned for...

Thursday 7 August 2008 - Melissa Bright and Tarryn Boden from Melbourne-based MAKE Architecture will speak on their experiences designing a birdhide in the parkland below Westgate bridge on a pro-bono basis. Make was matched with the project through the arch-peace probono service.

More details coming soon!

Shelley Penn, Assoc. Government Architect: June 5, 2008

2008-05-18T13:37:00.007+10:00

SHELLEY PENN, FRAIA
ARCHITECT
ASSOCIATE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT ARCHITECT

Shelley Penn is a Melbourne based architect whose work has been published, exhibited and awarded nationally and internationally. She has continually contributed to the advancement of architecture and the built environment through her practice, and through writing, teaching and lecturing about architecture and design. Shelley is particularly concerned with the social and public benefits of good design, and the poetic capacity of architecture to enrich the human condition. Her work with government includes a term as Design Director in the Office of the NSW Government Architect, membership of the Victorian Design Advisory Council, and her on-going role as Urban Design Consultant to government for the EastLink project. She is a member of the Architects Registration Board of Victoria, and in December 2005 she was appointment to the role of Associate Victorian Government Architect.

what i will talk about...
- role of the OVGA
- value of good design as a fundamental ingredient in making places and spaces which are socially, culturally, environmentally and economically sustainable.

Thursday June 5, 7PM. RMIT Building 50 (Orr Street off Victoria Street).

Gold coin donation.

Click here to download poster

Urban Spaces and Cultures of Tokyo: May 1, 2008

2008-04-21T21:03:00.008+10:00

7pm Thursday 1st May
RMIT BUILDING 50
(Orr Street, off Victoria Street)
Gold coin donation

Presentation by Darko Radovic

This talk will give an visual overview of some of the well-known parts of Tokyo, and spaces and activities which make those precincts vibrant and distinctive. A particular focus will be at Nezu and Yanaka, two largely residential parts of the Japanese capital city which were lucky enough to survive both the catastrophic post-earthquake conflagration in 1923 and fires which followed American bombing in 1945. As such, Nezu and Yanaka - provide the most valuable ‘vertical’ connection with the past, places with patina which pre-dates the drama of the Japanese encounter with the West. In terms of urban design and architecture, they exemplify a number of spatial qualities which can be seen as peculiar, or even unique to the Japanese city.

The starting position of the research behind this talk (which was conducted at the University of Tokyo 2006-2008) is that environmental sustainability and cultural sustainability can never be separated, that built spaces which truly respond to the environmental condition always belong to culture of the place in and for which they were created. That position will frame the conclusion- that Nezu and Yanaka in Tokyo, and similar living historic environments worldwide, contain messages of critical importance for sustainable urban development.

Darko Radovic is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne. He received his doctorate in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and taught, researched and practised architecture and urbanism in Europe, Australia and Asia. Most recently (2006-2008), he was a Professor of Architecture and Urban Design for the Centre for Sustainable Urban Regeneration at the University of Tokyo.

Darko’s investigation of the concepts of urbanity and sustainable development focuses at culturally and environmentally diverse contexts, which exemplify and expose difference and offer encounter with the other. He is the co-author of Green City: Sustainable Homes, Sustainable Suburbs (UNSW Press/Routledge 2005), Cross-Cultural Urban Design: Global or Local Practice? (Routledge 2007), and the author of Urbophilia (the University of Belgrade, 2007) and Another Tokyo (University of Tokyo, 2008).

Download poster: here

Going Underground in Santiago: March 6, 2008

2008-02-20T09:48:00.022+11:00

Going Underground in Santiago
Presented by Beatriz C. Maturana (B.Arch M.Urb.Des. PhD candidate University of Melbourne)

The city of Santiago has undergone incessant transformation in the last twenty years. However, perhaps the most noticeable and unexpected change has been its surrounding geography. The magnificent mountains, the Andes that until only fifteen years ago were perpetually covered in snow and ice cap glaciers, lay bare in today’s summers as a reminder of our recklessness.

While many of the urban transformations follow on a relatively stable trajectory of modernisation and improvement of the social conditions, this course was interrupted during the period of the Pinochet’s dictatorship. The dictatorship’s rejection of urban planning, in favour of the ideology of the ‘free market’ and left a damaging legacy of urban sprawl and inequity. This has presented a challenge to the governments of the last twenty years. In redressing the urban ills, these governments claim that they have placed society, culture and sustainable ‘quality of life’ above all other concerns.
This presentation will show some projects that illustrate how Santiago deals with the issue of densification and pedestrianisation of the city. The three projects are the extension of the Metro lines, the new library in the Faculty of Architecture (PUC), and the Centro Cultural Palacio de La Moneda. The presentation is based on a series of observations collected over three weeks of 'walking the city'.

About Beatriz C. Maturana (B.Arch M.Urb.Des.)
Architects for Peace president and founder
Beatriz was born in Santiago, Chile and she left for Australia in the mid eighties. She completed her architectural degree at RMIT, Australia in 1992 and a Masters of Urban Design at the University of Melbourne where she is currently a PhD candidate focusing on architectural education. She runs her own practice and teaches at RMIT and the University of Melbourne. Beatriz founded Architects for Peace in 2003 in response to the silence around the unjustifiable war on Iraq.

(Click on image to download the poster)

see powerpoint:

| View | Upload your own

Thursday March 6, 7pm, RMIT bldg 50 (entry: gold coin donation)

Challenges of Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction in Asian Communities

2008-01-29T09:30:00.000+11:00

Challenges of Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction in Asian Communities

Presented by K. Iftekhar Ahmed, PhD

February 7, 2008. 7pm, RMIT bld 50 (Orr Street, off Victoria Street) Gold coin donation

Asia is the most disaster affected continent and low-income communities there are often the most vulnerable to hazards. In this context, post-disaster housing reconstruction projects are implemented by various agencies with the aim of alleviating the sufferings of disaster victims. This presentation will focus on post-disaster housing reconstruction projects in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Indonesia that I have been involved in.

In Vietnam, the project was implemented by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and the Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) in response to Typhoon Xangsane in 2006. The project in Bangladesh was concerned with large-scale housing reconstruction as part of a recovery programme by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) after the large floods of 2004. Currently I am working with a research team at the University of Melbourne on assessing the sustainability of houses built in Indonesia after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and the preliminary findings of this study are now evident.

Tremendous challenges remain in matching these projects to the needs and aspirations of communities. These case studies point to potential for good practice, but also highlight the variety of challenges that can arise, indicating ways how agencies might possibly address them.

(Click on image to downl;oad or print a poster)

About K. IFTEKHAR AHMED, PhD

Visiting AcademicFaculty of Architecture, Building & Planning

University of Melbourne

Iftekhar had been teaching at the Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) during 1992-2004. Additionally, he has worked extensively as consultant for various building and disaster related projects, including for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangladesh on family shelter reconstruction as part of a large post-flood recovery program during 2004-05. He also designed the curriculum and worked as coordinator of the Postgraduate Programs in Disaster Management at BRAC University, Bangladesh, which began in 2005. Iftekhar joined the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in 2006 and was responsible for managing the PROMISE (Program for Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Mitigation in Secondary Cities in Asia) country projects in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. He also assisted in ADPC’s regional and national training courses, particularly the Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) course.
Iftekhar has worked in several other countries including Germany, India, UK and USA. Presently he is working as a Visiting Academic at the University of Melbourne, Australia on developing safer housing options for low-income Asian communities. Iftekhar completed his doctorate from Oxford Brookes University, UK and Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He graduated in architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), India. He is a member of the Institute of Architects, Bangladesh and has several publications and books to his credit.

Words from Tanzania: January 17, 2008

2007-12-20T16:03:00.000+11:00

words from...
TANZANIA
Fiona Oates - Architect

I have been working in Tanzania for the past three and half years with the Anglican church in building and development. Tanzania is the third poorest country in the world. Many building materials are just not available and what is, is out of the reach of most people who live subsistence lifestyles. I am involved at the grass roots level in the use of appropriate materials and technology where skills are low. As well as working with buildings such as schools, training centres and churches we are working with small solar and water harvesting projects.”

7 pm Thursday 17 January 2008 RMIT BUILDING 50 (Orr Street, off Victoria Street) Gold coin donation

click here to upload poster :

Special: Paul Pholeros - Nov. 30th, 2007

2007-11-22T12:58:00.001+11:00

Paul Pholeros
Architect and Director of Healthabitat
Its hard to imagine how any individual can be at peace when their health is poor, their children are regularly sick and their general living environment miserable.
To make any positive change in this cycle is difficult but essential.

The presentation and discussion will include:
- Indigenous Australians - linking housing and health 1985-2007
- the current status of the living environment
- making immediate change
- details of the work from around Australia
- a change of pace in China
- current work in Nepal

For a background to the work …..go to www.healthabitat.com

6pm Friday, November 30
RMIT BUILDING 50
(Orr Street, off Victoria Street)
Gold coin donation
http://www.architectsforpeace.org/

click on image to download poster >>

The Kampung: December 6

2007-11-18T02:15:00.001+11:00

Celebratory words...

THE KAMPUNG
a century of crisis in Indonesia from Thomas Karsten's Mlaten to "Domes for the World"

click on image for poster

Presenter: Hugh O'Neil

Settlements, some isolated and long established in remote parts of the Indonesian archipelago, others crowded within ever expanding cities, are essential to an understanding of the region. Their destruction and regeneration within such a dynamic social and natural order astonishes outsiders.

Hugh worked for two years as a designing architect and lecturer with the Indonesian Ministry for Public Works and Power in Jakarta and Bandung during the 1950s and was a board member of Australian Volunteers International for three decades from the early 1970s. Ongoing research is focused on the life and work of the socialist architect-planner Herman Thomas Karsten who worked on sixteen cities in Indonesia from 1914 until the late 1930s.

Hugh has also written about aspects of Indonesian culture including Islamic architecture, with the support of The University of Melbourne and The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In September, while in Java, he visited the district of Sidoarjo which continues to be inundated with mud pouring from an international joint venture gas exploration site near Surabaya. Such is globalisation for tens of thousands of Indonesians.

Thursday, December 6th, 7pm
RMIT BUILDING 50
(Orr Street, off Victoria Street)
Gold coin donation
http://www.architectsforpeace.org/

Indigenous Community Volunteers

2007-10-06T13:30:00.001+10:00

1st November 2007
7pm. RMIT Building 50, Orr St. Carlton, off Victoria St

Indigenous Community Volunteers
Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV) is an award-winning NGO that specialises in linking skilled volunteers with Indigenous communities and organisations in Australia. ICV’s skills-transfer projects operate across the country, from Melbourne to Monkey Mia, and always at the invitation of communities.

Join ICV Volunteers Daniel Khong, Alison Lee and Ray Davies and hear about their stories and their challenges, achievements and experiences around designing and building in Aboriginal communities in WA and NT. You can also gather information about the opportunities available to you to share your skills.

About the presenters:

Daniel Khong is a registered architect employed as Senior Urban Designer at VicUrban. He is currently managing the design process for the new master planned communities at Aurora and Officer.

Alison Lee is a town planner employed as transport planner with the City of Melbourne. She is currently involved in sustainable transport policy including projects encouraging commuter walking and cycling and limiting private car use.

Ray Davies is bricklayer and carpenter and an experienced trainer and manager who has a range of volunteer experience. Ray recently completed a volunteer placement in the Tiwi Island transfering skills in building and property maintenance.

I had to take my skills and think from the ground upwards. I had to drop all my assumptions and learn about the culture before I could begin. I would never have to do that when working in Melbourne. It was a great professional refresher. Daniel Khong, Architect & ICV Volunteer

To find out more about Indigenous Community Volunteers call 1800 819 542 or go to www.icv.com.au

Council House 2 - Walking tour

2007-08-20T18:12:00.001+10:00

"We need a new framework for architecture, in line with current scientific thinking . . . in which the phrase sustainable development becomes sustainable retreat"
Michael Pearce, Design Inc

Date: Thursday 6 September 2007
Time: 6pm SHARP
Place: CH2 building, 200 Lt Collins St, Melbourne

TRANSPORTED is the theme at architects for peace this September, and words @bldg50 is on the move! A year after the opening of Council House 2, and the subsequent launch of the arch-peace pro-bono service, we’ll be revisiting the building to see how it’s performing.

Michael Pearce, lead design architect on the project, will take a walking tour through CH2 and position it within the framework of “sustainable retreat”, that he argues needs to replace the sustainable development catchcry.

Michael has worked in the UK, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Australia and has extensive experience in implementing sustainable technologies in both first and third world environments.

This is a FREE event, but attendance is by RSVP only, and numbers strictly limited, so get in quick! Register your details with eleanor@architectsforpeace.org by August 31 to reserve a place.

Reclaiming poisoned land: Reconstruction and renewal in post-war Lebanon - 2 August 2007

2007-07-19T19:22:00.001+10:00

Public lecture
Thursday 2 August, 7.00 pm
RMIT Building 50, Orr St, off Victoria St

Speakers:

Dr Hadia Haikal Mukhtar, Medical Association for the Prevention of War + Mounir Kiwan, Australian Lebanese Youth Association

Following the war in July 2006, Lebanon faced a humanitarian crisis, with more than 1000 people killed, more than 4000 injured and around 1 million internally displaced. This was compounded by an environmental disaster caused by an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea, the destruction of infrastructure and dwellings and the littering of South Lebanon with cluster bombs.

Estimated at over a million in total, these bombs represent a serious and largely invisible threat to the lives and livelihoods of civilians struggling to rebuild. The use of such weapons ensures that conflict leaves a long term stain on regions devastated by war, well after cease-fires have been called.

Dr. Hadia Mukhtar, a member of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, visited the country in December last year as part of a humanitarian delegation organised by Australians for Lebanon. Dr Mukhtar will be joined by Mounir Kiwan, president of the Australian Lebanese Youth Association, to discuss their first-hand insights into the work of NGO’s aiding the relief effort, and the ongoing campaign to outlaw the manufacture and use of cluster bombs.

Lecture to be followed by discussion and refreshments. Entry by gold coin donation.

Andrea Nield from Emergency Architects Australia - July 5th, 2007

2007-06-26T13:01:00.001+10:00

Free public lecture
Thursday 5th July, 7pm onwards
at RMIT building 50, Orr St, Carlton.

"The fundamental question we asked...was if architects are able to become organized in exceptional circumstances during major crises,as other professionals have done before"

Since forming in April 2001 in France after the floods of the Somme and the Oise, Emergency has been endeavouring to answer this question.

In the process, members have worked to mobilise built environment professionals in order to provide immediate assistance in the event of natural and human-made disasters. Most recently, it has been involved in assessing the earthquake damage suffered in the Solomon Islands. Andrea Nield, director of the Sydney-based arm of Emergency Architects, will share her hands-on experience in post-disaster recovery and re-building.

Hear about the principles and goals driving Emergency Architects, and the projects where these objectives have been put to the test.

To find out more about Emergency Architects see http://www.emergencyarchitects.org.au/.
For more details on the presentation contact eleanor@architectsforpeace.org

Neighbourhood house project in Timor Leste - 7th June, 2007

2007-05-16T23:05:00.001+10:00

Public lecture on the past and future of a neighbourhood house project in Timor Leste.

Thursday 7th June, 7pm onwards
at RMIT building 50, Orr St, Carlton.

The cities of Yarra and Darebin in Victoria developed a Friendship Agreement with the province and township of Baucau following Timor Leste's independence. At next month’s words night, members of Friends of Baucau and Yarra and Darebin councils will speak about a recent building project in Timor Leste. With the help of agencies including Australian Volunteers International and the Rotary Clubs’ Roofing Project, a building damaged during the independence violence was restored and established as a neighbourhood house.

Friends of Baucau are planning to restore a building adjacent to the Buka Hatane neighbourhood house and on the night will be presenting details of the new project and happy to speak to anyone interested in getting involved.

Speakers will include Clare Murrell, Project Officer at Friends of Baucau and Roderick McIvor, Manager of Social Policy at Darebin City Council. More details coming soon! In the meantime, please contact Eleanor for further information at eleanor@architectsforpeace.org

Refreshments and discussion will follow. This is a free public event, made possible by the time and effort contributed by speakers and members of Architects for Peace. A gold coin donation on the night helps to cover our overheads so that we can continue to provide an alternative forum for issues concerning the built environment and social justice.

Making the City an 'Off Lead' Area for Kids - April 5, 2007

2007-03-18T00:44:00.000+11:00

This presentation shows how planning can help to increase children's independent mobility by including their views and experiences into planning processes.

Cultural values of freedom, the market and democracy are operationationalised by competitive self-interest and symbolized by privatized lives. This focus on individualism also underpins institutional, community and family risk management activities aimed to protect children. Combined with the conceptualisation of children as ‘incompetent’ or as dangerous, they are removed from public space for their own safety or for the safety of others. As a result, children's independent mobility has decreased significantly in the western world.

About the presenter: Julie Rudner is a PhD Candidate at the University of Melbourne and tutor in Social Planning for Health, Research Methods

More information coming soon...

Thursday April 5th, 7pm at 50 Orr Street, South Carlton

Public Space Private Space Other Space

2006-10-25T21:44:00.000+10:00

This year the senate passed wide-ranging changes to Whitlam’s NT land
rights laws, with one day for discussion. Hear what happened, what it could
mean, and what built environment professionals can do about it.

[Aboriginal land] is communal property. There are communal
spaces such as the townships and roads and government-funded
bodies, which are more like public space, and there are houses
and other landholdings, which are more like private space.
Private space deserves the protection of trespass laws - public
space does not.

Mal Brough, Minister for Indigineous Affairs, in The Australian, October 5th 2006,

A4 Flyer / Poster:
http://butterpaper.com/assets/files/words_nov2_5.pdf

background reading:
http://www.butterpaper.com/talk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1546

A moderated discussion. WORDS@Bldg50 Thursday
November 2nd, 7pm at 11 Orr Street, South Carlton
www.architectsforpeace.org

Favela Bairro Project PDF

2006-10-07T15:41:00.001+10:00

Click the title to view the whole PDF of Meaghan's presentation on Wednesday night. Thanks again to Meaghan for explaining the methodology of her research in addition to the details of the Rio projects.

Beware the download is large - about 6.6MB.

The Favela Bairro Project

2006-09-18T17:37:00.000+10:00

CONSTRUCTING AN URBAN DESIGN CASE
The Favela Bairro Project: Mending the City Fabric
Wednesday October 4th, at 7pm. RMIT Bldg 50 in Orr Street
Speaker : Meaghan Dwyer, architect
A project with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

‘In every city there are qualities that are worth to be lived. These are the qualities that urban design must not steal.’ Wim Wenders

How is the city made and what are current urban design practices? Where do the opportunities for urban design lie, and how are they realised? This presentation outlines the development of a theoretical framework for the presentation of a detailed urban design case, and attempts to elaborate a particular case: The Favela-Bairro Project.

The population of Rio today is estimated to be over 11 million. It is thought that up to 20% of the cities inhabitants live in favelas, or spontaneous informal settlements. The Favela-Bairro Project is conceived as a tool to promote the urban and social integration of the favelas in an effort to reverse the process of urban decline that generally follows the growth of spontaneous low-income settlements in metropolitan areas of the developing countries. With carefully planned and reparative interventions, the favelas are inverted and returned to the city. Unlike past urban planning initiatives in Rio de Janeiro, the Favela-Bairro Project represents a modest practice of mending the city fabric.

This research was undertaken whilst a visiting Scholar at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, as part of the Master of Social Science - International Urban and Environmental Management, at RMIT University, Australia.

(Please not that this month's WORDS is to be held on Wednesday, not the usual Thursday)

Grave sites: a study of the ground for reconstruction

2006-09-04T22:59:00.000+10:00

7pm Thursday September 7th, at RMIT Building 50, Orr Street Carlton

Dr. Mirjana Lozanovska, School of Architecture and Building, Deakin University

Gravesites: a study of the ground for reconstruction

In a seminal essay of 1910, Adolf Loos proposed a definition of architecture,

“If we find a mound in the forest, six foot long and three foot wide, formed into a pyramid shape by a shovel, we become serious and something within us says, ‘Someone lies buried here.’ This is architecture.”

Loos’s mound of earth suggests that death and burial are central to the conception of architecture. Ceremonial burial revealed even in excavations of thousand year old sites, through traces of flowers and offerings, exemplifies that the symbolism of death is profoundly integral to humanity. In striking contrast , mass graves found after the war in former Yugoslavia, Bosnia (1992-1995) and Kosovo (1999), were represented as the opposite to these positive dimensions of humanity and specifically as the horror and cruelty of a particular race and culture of people. The gravesite during and after war becomes a contested territory of emotion and representation. It does not yet attain the symbolic place of the monument and tomb. These two sides of human civilization, the former perceived as the epitome of civilization as it ties death with ritual and memory, and the latter as evidence of the cruelty of humans, are tied through death. The latter integrally ties death with war, and its excesses of destruction and violence.

This presentation will focus on Kosovo and the former Yugoslavia, and will firstly present a history of the war and destruction, and the resulting gravesites, as a context for the discussions to follow. Reports on mass graves in Kosovo will form the basis for an analysis of the media, especially about places the readers tend to know little about. The presentation moves towards a more reflective discussion about the land and country after war as an extended gravesite. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, an examination of the gravesite yet uncertain about its potential as symbolic of death rather than as evidence of hatred and destruction, will be elaborated. Underlying the thesis of the presentation is the question of post-war reconstruction, and how to address the gravesite as ground for architecture.

Measuring Integration of Universal Design Principles in the Built Environment

2006-07-11T09:50:00.000+10:00

August 3rd, 2006 7pm

Designers working in the built environment need to be familiar with the Building Code of Australia regulations for access and egress to both commercial and residential buildings as well as the provisions of the disability Discrimination Act. Yet access for persons of differing physical abilities requires far greater considerations encompassing ranging from transport infrastructure to human rights agreements.

Can access be quantitatively measured and if so how? What could such a measure reveal comparatively about precincts, councils states and between nations? Could longitudinal studies guide progress? Can such a measure guide designers in prioritising the needs of the young, elderly injured and handicapped as well as improving the built environment for everyone including the able bodied?

Post-Graduate Social Science Research Student Ralph Green of Visionary Design Development presents an introduction to the theoretical and methodological concepts for a Universal Mobility Index to measure access to the built environment in developed and developing countries.

Come along to gain an insight into changing models of disability and the built environment.

7pm, August 3rd, RMIT Building 50 in Orr Street South Carlton
$2 suggested donation

Urbanism of Barcelona and its relevance to Melbourne - July 6th

2006-06-29T14:14:00.000+10:00

On urbanism of Barcelona, and why I think it is relevant for Melbourne
July 6th, 7pm RMIT, Bldg.50

Darko Radovic will present a slide-show of recent and current urban and architectural interventions in Barcelona and open discussion about possible relevance of those experiences for Melbourne.

Dr. Darko Radovic
DEngArch MSci (UrbArch) PhD (Belgrade)
Head of Urban Design University of Melbourne, Associate Professor in Architecture

RMIT Building 50, Orr St South Carlton (near Victoria Street) 7pm, gold coin

Sustainable Architecture in India - June 8th

2006-05-30T15:51:00.000+10:00

RMIT Building 50, Orr St South Carlton (near Victoria Street) 7pm, gold coin

Dr. Vasudha Ashutosh Gokhale

Professor, Dr. B.N. College of Architecture, University of Pune India

India

is about extremes, vastness, intensity, and paradox - all are qualities that describe this ancient culture. There is a tremendous diversity amongst the people, as there is bound to be in a nation of more than 1 billion people. With 28 states, 18 official languages, hundreds of dialects,

India

is an enormous melting pot of lifestyles and social and cultural customs.

An extremely high population density with a large percentage involved in agriculture makes land a scarce resource. Buildings in India typically have much lower energy consumption and with more varied comfort conditions. The relatively higher costs of energy in India make building materials more expensive. Indian buildings that use natural and mixed mode ventilation are reported to be comfortable. However, as multinational companies build new buildings in India and as others emulate those building standards and comfort levels, energy use will go up substantially.

The Indian economy is presently on an upswing with consistent growth. An annual growth of 10% in the building industry outpaces the economy by far. With so much demand in this sector, it is easy to lose sight of sustainable practices, which invariably reflect the society’s accumulated wisdom and collective images and are imbued with cosmological and religious values, social and political structure, sensibility and attitude towards time and space.

It is the matter of serious concern which needs an astute scrutiny of climate, culture, economy and prevalent construction practices to develop a system appropriate for the Indian context. It calls for public participation which is not a difficult task to achieve in India, where collective self-expression is supposed to be the common spirit that unites the whole nation, bridges linguistic and cultural divides and geographical boundaries, and lends a unique identity to the very heart and soul of the country.

------------------

on the night:

Soumitri Varadarajan - May 4th

2006-04-19T19:59:00.000+10:00

Soumitri Varadarajan, the Programme Director at RMIT Industrial Design, will present on May 4th, 7pm.

Soumitri will be discussing the entrance of modernism to indian architecture, focussing in particular on the IIT Delhi, a brutalist building by an indian architect trained at the Tennessee Valley Dam. The talk will also look at Le Corbusier's role in Nehru's vision for a modern India

Soumitri's website

Words@Bldg50 Open Discussion

2006-03-31T20:34:00.000+11:00

Open discussion - a change of format for this Words only - this time we will be discussing the ways and means and possibilities of Architects for Peace itself. April 6th, RMIT Bldg 50, 7.30pm.

Lingua 5

2006-02-08T10:23:00.000+11:00

The first of the series @bld50 this year: Wednesday February 15, 8:30pm
a conversation will follow to introduce our new website item "urban world, arch-peace in the many languages"

Lingua 5 is the name of an experimental public art project.This project started with 5 artists leaded by Dale Nason, artist and lecturer at RMIT. We construct a colaborative project based on our different languages. The project is about sharing our languages and cultures through experimental artforms “language exchange actions”

Aslam from Afganistan speaks Dari
Kevin from Hong Kong speaks Cantonese
Karla from Mexico speaks Spanish
Pei from Taiwan speaks Mandarin
Hani from Israel speak Hebrew

Based on the idea of 5 people from 5 countries teaching and learning 5 languages and sharing their cultures, we each chose 5 words we wanted to learn

Aslam's words are: Water, Air, Sun, Earth, Stars

Kevin's words are: Do you understand? Where is the toilet? party, alcohol, milk

Karlas' words are: Hello, I love you, What is your name? Thank you, Please

Pei's words are: Don't cry, This is mine, Secret, Please tell me, Home

Hani words are: Peace, Eyes, Heart, Children, Sorry

Public Intervention

On Thursday the 18th of August the Lingua 5 group had its first public art outing. We: Aslam, Karla and Hani with the help of Joy, Dale and Cery walked down Swanston St acquitted with a paper roll, sticky tape and colourful textures to the posters pole on the corner of Burke St and Swanston St,Melbourne. The pole was quickly covered with white paper from top to bottom and messages of harmony and sharing were written by the group members in their language of origin. Soon we were joined by passers by who also wanted to send a message in their on language (posted by Hani at “lingua 5 blog” on Sunday, August 21, 2005)

Cost: a gold coin donation, thanks

Impressions of Turkey: urban cultural wealth and spontaneity

2006-01-13T10:49:00.000+11:00

Impressions of Turkey:
by Beatriz C. Maturana

Visiting Turkey has been one of the most inspiring travel experiences, not only because of the cultural wealth of the country, but because this cultural wealth is permanently manifested by the Turkish people - from the most modest market seller, to their professionals. There, I sensed a kind of optimism, trust and openness, could it be called urban optimism?

An important aspect for me is the relationship between architecture and nature. Respect for animals is not only expressed in heritage buildings, which provided shelter for humans, other mammals and birds. Water, which is freely offered in the many fountains, provides the public with a free collective service while embellishing the cities. Cities embody life and spontaneity that cannot be contained, vibrancy that does not need to be artificially created to exist.

In Istanbul, the quality and magnitude of the city’s centre public space - where living, working, visiting, modernity and history intermingle, give the impression of a genuinely vital urban centre, not characteristic in market driven cities or of over regulated societies.

Beyond the tangible architectural styles and aesthetical features, the idea of collective responsibility and pride - expressed in the friendliness of the people, the cleanliness of streets, care for animals, particularly cats, care and provision of an abundant number of public toilets and drinking fountains, are both subtle and resilient elements that make Turkish cities unique.

For anyone interested in this topic, I found a book by Cengiz Bektaş called Kuş Evleri or Bird Houses. I have collected some photographs and I hope that they convey, at least in part, the wealth and multiplicity of the public space.

To see my collection go to: ArchNet

Public Space - Art and Urban Planning

2006-01-01T16:05:00.000+11:00

Public Space - Art and Urban Planning
ARC Biennial
Art, Design and Craft Biennial, October 20 – 30 2005
Brisbane City Hall, Queensland, Australia
Anthony McInneny

This is an edited version of a paper presented by Anthony McInneny on behalf of Architects for Peace as one of a panel of three speakers that included Timothy Hill (architect and partner of Donovan Hill) and Jay Younger (associate professor at Queensland College of Art). The panel was to respond to the following question:

“If public art is an essential feature of a well-designed city, why are so many projects deemed failures? Panelist discuss the future of public art, and the responsibilities of planners and decision-makers to the public (and vice versa)”

I was invited to speak on this panel in response to an overview I wrote of a conference entitled IntentCity conducted by Architects for Peace. The conference was ambitious; free to the public, outdoor in a public space and funded by individual members, not a government department. One of the central ideas of the conference was to discuss the political city in a new space claimed for public debate rather than passive recreation.

When I think of Public Art, my mind immediately imagines objects in public spaces. The evolution of public art practice has been successful in extending the notion beyond sculpture in public spaces and has skilled up, as it were, visual and performing artists to work in the public realm and collaborate (or to chose not to collaborate) with other practices, agents and professions of the built environment. As Jay Younger pointed out, public art programs have provided a lot of employment for artists and is similar in many ways to a public works program for artists.

Creative processes of administration and commissioning (if that is not a contradiction in terms) have tended to shut down in the face of controversy. This is particularly the case in Melbourne spanning the Vault in the 1970’s to the recent fiasco with painted trees near the sacred MCG in 2004. Unfortunately, independent benefactors in Australia have not been keen to fund a public art program similar to the New York Public Art Fund or Artangel.

The assumption in the question for today’s panel is that we live and work within well-designed cities and that in some way public art has failed the city.
Artworks crystallize the times in which they are made and within which we live. Perhaps we not only get the politicians we deserve but also the public artworks.

“In other countries it has been well recognized that often artists are the spearhead for subsequent gentrification of areas where space is cheap”. In an argument for a national percentage for arts capital works program[1], the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) proffers that “In other countries it has been well recognized that often artists are the spearhead for subsequent gentrification of areas where space is cheap”. This is probably true but I don’t remember the speculative property market as being part of the artist’s intent. Speculative property markets and speculative financial markets in general have dominated our economy, psychology, culture and public spaces. Gentrified cities and public spaces reflect a certain social agenda, one of exclusion through income and in the absence of meaningful social housing policy. How can public art in this setting reflect anything more that urban tourist attractions for the commuters or an expression of status or lost heritage for the residents?

The suburban sprawl of most of Australia’ capital cities could hardly be described as well designed. Car dependent, low density, dormitory suburbs with houses larger than can be lived in, heated or cooled and furnished with every form of entertainment as a consolation for a lack of social and built infrastructure. Without increased density in our suburbs, public transport and social infrastructure are not viable. We are trapped in an individual, car centric world that demonstrates the failures of urban planning and public policy. The city centre becomes an island and the outer suburbs, where the majority of people live, becomes less sustainable and separated from social and political life.

The image of the bus stop/ad shell is included for a number of reasons.

It reminds me of the visual pollution created throughout our cities as we abdicate our right to not be subjected to propaganda in our most public of public spaces. It would appear that this form of rented public space is the only way this country can afford a second rate commuter transport system.

I have a sense of nostalgia for the idea that I once caught a piece of public artwork. The W class trams of Melbourne, painted by established and aspiring artists, were a quaint notion of public art in the late 70’ and 80’s. We now stand at billboards and consent to catching and becoming part of advertising campaigns.

A recent artwork I developed was not able to be located on the preferred site because, in part, it obscured the view of such an advertisement.

Lastly, it is not unusual for advertising and art to appropriate one another but this reproduction of Holbein’s Ambassadors has a peculiar twist. The anamorphic skull representing mortality has been removed for no apparent reason.

While the streets of CBD Melbourne are full of public artworks, very few actually deal with the notion of public space in any more successful or meaningful way than the monuments of conquest and war that dominated Australian cities for over half the 20 Century. Perhaps the comparison with these monuments is not too far off the mark. What types of memorials will be made for the War on Iraq and the never ending War on Terror? Perhaps we are making them in our cities and as artists in a state of amnesia or denial.

In another step into this twilight zone, historic monuments for “just wars”, WWI and WWII, are being stripped of their relevance, their site specificity as it were, by being relocated from public places of daily life to memorial precincts or closer to the club for the diggers. The example illustrated is the First World War bugler to be relocated from the major intersection of Station Street and Whitehorse Road in Box Hill at the request of the local RSL.

In a similar fashion, art precincts are the resting place for tired or problematic public artworks. Most notably, the Vault has found its final resting place in the public space surrounding its architectural equivalent, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, ACCA. A recent exhibition at ACCA during the Melbourne Festival was an empty room with the light switched off by the exhibiting artist who works in the public domain, Martin Creed. This is epic stuff according to the experts. An easily dismissed one-line joke becomes disturbingly serious when art teachers, with VCE students in tow, explain how they become part of an artwork by entering a dark room.

The most recently created public space in Melbourne, Federation Square, is a cluster of commendable cultural and institutional buildings that surrounds an open air, undulating public artwork by Paul Carter. This work forms the surface of the square that dissuades sitting, standing or any other activity for that matter except for consumption on the perimeters in cafes. Like a 1950’s house on a quarter acre block that ignores the backyard, Federation Square turns its back on the Yarra River and, to complete the suburban metaphor places a large screen television as the dominant feature in the corner of this public living room. When guests arrive, and I would argue that we are all guests in Federation Square, you have to turn the telly down or off if you want to talk but please, don’t sit on the new furniture because there is nowhere to sit.

The most symbolic of our public institutions, the new Parliament House in Canberra was designed with a gesture to the public. Able to walk over Parliament House, we demonstrate participatory democracy. While down the hill, the Aboriginal embassy struggles to maintain it’s heritage status in front of the Old Parliament House turned into yet another museum of democracy, a fitting end to the idea that parliament actually represents people was a community/public art project commemorating the Centenary of Federation. 1000 cardboard cutouts of significant members of our communities, nominated and decorated by citizens were the last people to walk on the grass roof of parliament house. This was 2001 just before the barricades went up.

“In line with a review of security and access, the commissioning body is pursuing opportunities to incorporate landscape and artwork as elements which not only increase the amenity of the reserve, but will limit car access to sensitive government buildings[1]”
“In line with a review of security and access, the commissioning body is pursuing opportunities to incorporate landscape and artwork as elements which not only increase the amenity of the reserve, but will limit car access to sensitive government buildings[2]”

This is an excerpt of an “Artist’s Brief” I recently received and, perhaps foolishly, submitted my resume as an expression of interest. The only other surprise was the fact that the turn around time on this project from concept to installation was less than four months. This is a project for a major site in Melbourne CBD. This is not an isolated case in the flurry of developments and events for the Commonwealth Games in March 2006. All briefs have an agenda, even straight commissions but I have never seen one that explicitly states that art should be a security barrier.

The trouble with commissioning bodies that are public institutions or instrumentalities is not that they have a constituency to which they answer but that very few of the people who represent or have power within these bodies actually value art for what it is, not what it does. There is an almost total disregard for the artistic process to develop a response to a site over a period of time. Art is not simply a design process.

One would be naïve to think that a government or private developer would actually fund works of dissent. What is less apparent is that the room for dissent to actually exist is being squeezed out of public space.

I am a great supporter of the City of Melbourne. I believe that many of its programs are artist focused. I am a member of the Public Art Advisory Committee. The work illustrated is the work of Aslan McClennan. This is part of a body of work that was deemed unacceptable for the City Lights gallery. What was also unacceptable and banned from the 24/7 Gallery that is partly sponsored by the City of Melbourne was a body of works on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The first in this series was an Israeli flag covered with statistics about the number of Palestinians killed and significant political and historical dates and events. The second proposed work of a Palestinian Flag with similar information on Israeli casualties never got to see the light of day. The first work was ordered to be removed.

I found a subtle indication of our inability to objectively look at history in an exhibition of migrant gardens in Brisbane in City Hall today. Historical background is provided referring in one instance to the invasion of Afghanistan and in another to the Vietnam Civil War. The fact that we were directly involved in the later and not the former is not mentioned.

Moving to private public space, the Docklands in Melbourne in an attempt to incorporate artworks in public spaces has done two things badly. Individually the artworks are significant pieces. What the Docklands authority has done is to return to the notion of “plop art” and in doing so have either created an outdoor gallery for works that bare no relationship to the site or co-opted works into private spaces, the foyers and facades of buildings. This gallery and the waterfront become a forecourt for the apartments and, like Federation Square, unless you are consuming or attending an “event” there is little reason to visit. That the Docklands is actually public space in anything other than land title may change with the collapse of the investment property market.

I will close my discussion with the image of one of a series of six “successful” works for freeways in Melbourne. This public art project was developed by a group of Western suburb Councils in Melbourne who are trying to convey that the traditionally working class, industrial suburbs are undergoing a transition – effectively one could argue it is part of a marketing exercise. I have chosen the work of landscape architects Sinatra Murphy who have created a full scale rendering of a McMansion in two-point perspective that floats above the clover leaf of a freeway intersection. I see this work as a public art version of the popular television series Kath and Kim. Popular because it demonstrates a reciprocal snobbery of suburban and urban living that does little to question the unsustainable nature of urban sprawl or consumption.

Figure 1: Bus shelter in Mitcham, Melbourne
Figure 2: Bugler, First World War monument Box Hill, Melbourne
Figure 3: Aslan McClennan. You Need Me. Stencil artwork for City Lights Gallery. Image courtesy of the Artist Figure 4: House in the Sky. Sinatra Murphy Landscape Architects. Western Ring Road, Melbourne.

[1] NAVA Quarterly, September 2005 No. PP242800/00004 ISBN 1032 9617
[2] Expression of Interest document from the department of Treasury and Finance

The Baghdad Museum is empty

2005-08-14T01:32:00.000+10:00

THE BAGHAD MUSEUM IS EMPTY

The Baghdad Museum is empty yet
We are told, in this war
The Angel of Death deals
A delicate hand:
In the guns’ sights,
Fifty faces stamped on a stack
Of poker cards
Fifty kilo smart bombs
Invisible, silent, first punched
On the lap-tops …in the war room of Quatar
Beamed from Pine Gap to outer space
Ground invisible B52’s deadly cargo rains over
Specified ten meters square,
Curtesy, Baghdad’s street directory
To kill the Evil One (who is it today?) reported
Dining in a fashionable restaurant

A smart war, a skilled hand, a sharp knife,
for Iraq, surgery,
Removal of malignant tissue, whilst…
The patient lives.

On the streets of Baghdad,
A message from beyond the clouds,
First harbingers of peace -
White bed sheets of Baghdad’s City hospital
Drying in the sun
Turn chocolate black caked in dry blood.

Hapless faces of the mauled stare through the CBN lens
Into my living room, for
In this war, the Angel of Death comes with finesse

Only collateral damage and friendly fire harm the innocent
And THAT is reasonable

We can rest content, in oblivion
in the darkness,
Sleep peacefully on our beds.

S Ivanovich, May 2003

AFP seminar: OM Solar System

2005-08-13T12:24:00.000+10:00

Melbourne - AFP Seminar: OM Solar System

On Monday, August 1st , Hitoshi Takeyama (managing director of OM institution) presented a seminar on the OM solar system. The OM Solar Association and OM Institute was established in 1998 and by mid-2003, more than 25,000 OM Solar homes have been built in Japan.

The presentation involved some examples of different projects built in Japan, where this systems has been tried.

The work produced during the 8 days workshop by UNSW architecture students was also displayed. The system consists of the OM design and the monitoring program.

find more about OM: here

Photos:

Top: Hitoshi Takeyama's presentation

Middle: OM works produced by UNSW'

students during the 8-day workshop

Bottom: Beatriz C. Maturana, Mr Hitoshi Takeyama and Su Mellersh-Lucas