In collaboration with the Melbourne School of Design, NH Architecture delivers an exhibition that aspires to provoke discussion around the “publicness” of public buildings.
“There is no/only public architecture” questions the definition of public space. It invites the viewer to consider if there is still such thing as public architecture, given its various non-public funding arrangements, or, just as likely, if there is only public architecture.
“Almost all our public architecture gets delivered through private sector funding, through public-private partnerships – that includes our schools, hospitals, our roads, etc,” said NH Architecture director Hamish Lyon. While on the flip side, a commercial retail centre, could in fact be considered a village given the diversity of tenancies it accommodates and its frequent use by the public.
Lyon has explored the notion of permanence and disposability, with legacy projects interspersed with IKEA-style build-it-yourself models of fictional public buildings.
Image:
Peter Bennetts
“Publicness is defined not the architect but by the public. If they start to enjoy and engage with the it, it builds its own collective publicness through the community using it,” he said.
Thus, the question around what is public, and who is ‘the public’, have become more pertinent than ever before. “We are postulating and probing the conversation that buildings are now built for public purpose, and good luck if you’re going to try and predict what they are,” said Lyon.
“Over the last two years Melburnians have witnessed the opening night of the ballet on Margaret Court tennis arena, drive-in movies inside the exhibition hall at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and the world heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton […] become a major medical hub for vaccine and COVID-19 testing,” said Lyon.
The exhibition draws from a portfolio of NH Architecture projects spanning 18 years of practice, from public to commercial buildings and everything else in between.
NH Architects Director Hamish Lyon (left) and Chair of Architectural Design at Melbourne School of Design Donald Bates.
Image:
Peter Bennetts
The buildings exhibited are situated in contexts where the relationship between public and private is particularly porous. Using techniques including photography, model and film, public buildings are dissected into their material and ephemeral parts.
Notions of mass production, occupation and scale are weighed against the intangible qualities of materiality, memory and ownership. Lyon has explored the notion of permanence and disposability, with legacy projects interspersed with IKEA-style build-it-yourself models of fictional public buildings as poignant commentary of the spate of high profile disposal of significant public buildings.
The exhibition is open until Friday 1 April, delivered as part of Melbourne Design Week. Designed for students, practitioners and the general public alike, the exhibition seeks to generate a deeper understanding of the current state of architecture, and to consider what this will mean for the future of architecture.
Lyon will deliver a keynote lecture on 15 March at 7 pm, in the basement theatre at the Melbourne School of Design, and host a public floor talk in the gallery on Saturday 26 March.
For more information on the gallery opening hours, visit the Melbourne School of Design website.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
