Development WA has approved Edith Cowan University’s Perth CBD campus, designed by Lyons, Silver Thomas Hanley, and Haworth Tompkins. The university will now move to finalize the schematic designs and secure a main contractor for the project. ECU vice chancellor Steve Chapman said, “ECU City will definitively reshape the Perth CBD. It will be unlike […] More
Fender Katsalidis has designed a 24-storey tower for the north-east fringe of Brisbane’s Golden Triangle precinct, which will incorporate the structure of the 1970s office building that currently occupies the site. The 444 Queen Street development will include a new podium, built to the Queen Street boundary to “create a continuous reading that aligns with […] More
The Australian Urban Design Research Centre has launched an ideas competition looking for a future Australian city “that embodies a new Australian Dream for the 21st century.” The Business as (Un)usual competition is open to students and recent graduates. There is a prize pool of $10,000 on offer. “The COVID-19 pandemic … has dramatically reshaped […] More
The federal government has announced it will build a $316.5 million Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural precinct on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra.
The precinct, to be named “Ngurra,” will be located at Commonwealth Place in the Parliamentary Triangle, designed in 2002 by Durbach Block (now Durbach Block Jaggers) and Sue Barnsley Design.
The government will hold an architectural design competition for the precinct and the structures within it “to develop an iconic design fitting for the location and that reflects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ aspirations, achievements and deep connection to Country.”
An independent jury will judge entries and make recommendations to the government. Further details will be announced in the future.
“Ngurra is the realization of a long-held desire to have a home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories at the heart of our nation,” said the Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“It will be a national landmark of the highest order, standing proudly for us all to celebrate, educate, reflect and commemorate.
“This new world-class facility will contribute to our continuing journey of reconciliation, where Indigenous Australians can tell their stories, in the way they want, for all visitors to have a greater understanding of our shared history.”
The precinct will be made up of two parts. First, a learning and knowledge centre with education, exhibition, and gallery spaces that will tell the stories of 65,000 years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. And second, the new home of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The precinct will also accommodate a national resting place to house and care for the repatriated ancestral remains of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
The word Ngurra is used in a number of Aboriginal languages to mean home, camp, a place of belonging and a place of inclusion.
“Ngurra will provide a new perspective on our shared history, as a significant moment for truth-telling, and a new place where the diversity of Indigenous Australia and one of the world’s oldest living cultures will be celebrated,” said minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt.
“At its heart will be a national resting place where the remains of Indigenous Australians taken from their country will be cared for until they are able to be returned to their communities.”
“And in instances where provenance has been forgotten or erased, they will be cared for in perpetuity with dignity and respect.”
Ngurra will complement existing institutions within the Parliamentary Triangle, including the Tent Embassy, National Library of Australia, Questacon, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery of Australia, and the High Court of Australia. More
Geometric rock carvings that are believed to be at least 3,000 years old were scratched with names and dates at Big Bend National Park in Texas.Abstract geometric designs at Big Bend National Park in Texas that had survived for thousands of years were “irreparably damaged” by vandals who scratched names and dates into the prehistoric designs, the National Park Service said.The Park Service said on its website that the ancient rock art was damaged on Dec. 26 in the Indian Head area of the park, which encompasses more than 800,000 acres in southwest Texas and stretches along 118 miles of the United States border with Mexico.Since 2015, archaeologists at the park have documented more than 50 instances of vandalism, the Park Service said.Damaging park resources is against federal law and defacing rock art and ancient cultural sites violates the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, which aims to protect archaeological resources and sites on federal and Native American lands.Tom Alex, an archaeologist who retired from the park in 2014 after working there for 32 years, said that the damaged abstract designs were known as petroglyphs and that they had been pecked into the rock panel.“There’s wavy lines, curvilinear lines, geometric patterns, squiggles and things that just kind of meander across the rock surface,” Mr. Alex said on Saturday.Mr. Alex said it was difficult to determine precisely how old the art was, but, based on the weathering, the petroglyphs were most likely made somewhere between 3,000 and 8,000 years ago. He said these types of designs represented some of the oldest rock art in North America. In the more recent time period, rock art included more representations of people and animals.The abstract pecked art is common across the southwestern United States. It is not yet possible to determine what group of native people were responsible for the designs at Big Bend, Mr. Alex said.It was also not known who damaged the rock art, though the person, or people, responsible left some clues. Four names were scrawled on the art: Adrian, Ariel, Isaac and Norma, according to photos shared by the Park Service. The year 2021 and the date “12-26-21” were also scratched on the rock.Tom VandenBerg, the chief of interpretation and visitor services at Big Bend, told Texas Monthly that the park had received “pretty strong potential leads” about who was responsible for the vandalism. Mr. VandenBerg added that the park avoided providing maps and directions to the carvings to prevent damage to the ancient site.Bob Krumenaker, the superintendent of Big Bend, condemned the vandalism in a post on the park’s website. “Damaging natural features and rock art destroys the very beauty and history that the American people want to protect in our parks,” he said.Park staff members tried to repair the damage, but much of it was permanent, the post said.Mr. Alex said some of the scratches on the panel were superficial and possible to clean up so they would be less obvious, but others had penetrated the prehistoric designs. “Those scratches are going to be there forever,” he said.Stewards of public lands have complained about an increase in vandalism and graffiti in recent years.In December 2020, Zion National Park in Utah said that nearly every day, staff members there found “words and shapes carved, drawn, painted (with mud, dirt, pigment, paint) or scratched on rocks.”In January 2019, several of the signature spiky-leafed Joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California were damaged during a government shutdown. More
Brickworks’ new range of GB Vertico Split Face masonry by GB Masonry offers a linear appearance and natural texture with a tactile quality. A contemporary reimagining of the traditional split face finish, the GB Vertico Split Face block has a distinctive style that fits seamlessly across a vast array of architectural styles, from mid-century projects […] More
The Herman Miller Aeron has set the benchmark for ergonomic seating since 1994, when it was designed by Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick. The classic Aeron has been remastered to incorporate the most up-to-date and advanced ergonomic knowledge and materials. Its latest update offers not only a better chair for the user but also the environment, introducing the use of ocean-bound plastic to the body of the chair.
Living Edge will be the first Australian dealer of the Aeron task chair. The design aligns with its sustainable initiative, Living On. Since the inception of Living On in 2008, Living Edge has become a leader in sustainability within Australia’s high-end furniture market, and continues to reduce its environmental footprint through partnering with like-minded businesses such as Herman Miller.
With an estimated eight million tons of plastic entering the ocean each year, plastic waste in oceans is a growing cause for concern. Herman Miller partnered with Next Wave to play an active role in the ocean plastic issue by transforming this waste into a recyclable material used within the Aeron chair.
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The Aeron chair has been re-engineered to contain ocean-bound plastic, which is categorised as abandoned, mismanaged waste found 50 km off a coastline. By redirecting and reforming this material, Herman Miller is estimated to save 150 tonnes of plastic from entering and contaminating oceans each year.
Sourced from India and Indonesia, ocean-bound plastic is collected, ground, washed and pelletized before being sold to manufacturers who then incorporate this new material into product designs.
As a result, this sustainability initiative creates a supply-chain for ocean-bound plastic within these local communities, ultimately encouraging the collection of waste and creating employment opportunities.
The new updates to the Aeron task chair are part of Herman Miller’s Next Wave plastics membership, its ongoing commitment to sustainability, and long-term goal to increase recycled content to at least 50% by 2030.
“The unwavering alliance between Living Edge and Herman Miller highlights our unanimous commitment to protecting the environment through conscious and sustainable design,” says Living Edge CEO Aidan Mawhinney.
“From becoming the first Herman Miller dealer in the world to offset transportation emissions in 2009, to now being the first stockist nation-wide to feature the next generation of ocean-bound plastic Aeron chairs, Living Edge is incredibly proud of the relationship we have cultivated with Herman Miller through our shared values and passion for authentic, original and sustainable design.”
The Aeron chair comes in four distinct tonal colourways inspired by elements of the Earth. Onyx is an ultra-black shade, offering a modern edge to the classic shape. Graphite is a quintessential darker grey with a textured finish, while Carbon is a neutral stone colour that adapts to both warm and cool environments. The last and lightest shade is Mineral, which highlights Aeron’s finer details.
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Mode and HSPC Health Architects have prepared designs for a eight-storey private hospital at Mundoo Boulevard, Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, with plans submitted to the Queensland government. The $100 million development will include surgical facilities as well as allied medical and teaching facilities. Developer Barwon Investment Partners said that the University of the Sunshine […] More
