Architecture

The Milan Design Film Festival will make its way to a Melbourne silver screen for the first time from 19 until 30 May.
Supported by the Italian Cultural Institute and curated by ACMI, the series will present a handpicked selection of flicks from the 2021 Milano Design Film Festival – the nineth edition in the festival’s history – alongside works from recent editions.
“The Milano Design Film Festival has been an annual fixture on Italy’s design calendar since 2013 and we’re excited to bring a representative selection of films from the most recent – 2021 – and earlier editions of the festival to Melbourne,” said ACMI film curator Roberta Ciabarra.
This film season addresses the subjects of architecture and design, and culture and society more broadly, in the form of documentaries and shorts featuring prominent figureheads, trends and case studies.

View gallery

Olivetti – Perspective (2020). Image: ACMI

Curated by Silvia Robertazzi and Porzia Bergamasco, a selection of 20 films will screen in ACMI’s Federation Square cinema. Some highlights of the festival include The Importance of Being an Architect – a documentary film that considers the social, aesthetic and ecological responsibilities of the profession, following the work of designers Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel.
In Renzo Piano: Architect of Light, Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura traces the development of Renzo Piano’s first Spanish project, Centro Botín. The Dome and The Ship both take architectural case studies to examine how architecture can inspire or, if done poorly, disenfranchise.
Two documentaries, Olivetti – Perspective and Olivetti – Paradigm, explore the cultural and architectural legacy of Italian industrial design innovator Adriano Olivetti.
Director of the Italian Cultural Institute Angelo Gioè said that design in the world “speaks Italian,” and this series explores a universal vision of the sector at large.
“Contemporary architecture, in its cultural and social dimensions, responds to the challenges of our time with a careful approach to the definition of public space,” said Gioè.
“In Italy the theme of the initiative was ‘Reset’, a restart after the COVID-19 pandemic, intended as a reimagining of lifestyles and urban landscapes, with less focus on history and biographies and more attention on urban planning and sustainability.”
He concluded, “I hope this is just the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with ACMI hosting the MDFF on a regular basis to create positive synergies between Italy and Australia in this cultural field.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the ACMI website. More

The Australian Institute of Architects has slammed the Victorian government’s decision to slash funding to the Office of Victorian Goverment Architect (OVGA) by almost half in its 2022-23 budget, announced on 4 May.
The Institute issued a statement expressing its disappointment for what it has called an “unexplained” cut in funding from $1.3 million a year to just $700,000.
Victorian chapter president Bill Krotiris said the reduction will pose many risks to State government projects and will threaten the advisory team’s services as well as the entire Victorian Design Review Panel (VDRP).
In the three years leading to 2021 alone, the OVGA has advised or collaborated on 187 Victorian projects of state significance, worth more than $25 billion. The VDRP has delivered advice on more than 300 projects of state significance and major icons such as the Melbourne and Olympic Parks projects.
The Institute said it was particularly perplexed by the decision, considering an independent economist’s report that has shown the OVGA is working above the government’s performance targets.
“We are aware the OVGA will be left with a skeleton staff,” Krotiris said. “It is incomprehensible with the important capital projects the Victorian budget is delivering in health, social housing, education and the Commonwealth Games that the Department of Premier and Cabinet will cut off its own hand and be stripped of the independent design advice provided by its own Government Architect Office.”
Krotiris voiced his disapproval in the state’s decision to spend $13 million on its Trade Mission Program, which includes the establishment of a new trade and investment office in Paris, while the OVGA is set to be almost “wiped out.”
“Victoria is also a recognized design capital and this move will serve to damage its reputation and the delivery of key outcomes of great design including liveability, health and sustainability,” he said.
The funding cut announcment coincided with the Intitute’s federal election policy proposal to create of an Office of the Australian Government Architect to support planning and design on a national level.
The establishment of a national goverment architect would better inform national policy surrounding public procurements and outcomes, and create a stronger commitment to better design.
“Most of Australia’s states and territories recognize the value of having a government architect to promote high-quality design for our public buildings,” said the Institute’s national president Tony Giannone. Government architects support architectural decision-making in all states except for Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
“It is high time the Australian Government saw the value in this role at a national level,” he said.
The Institute suggested the next government could establish an office with $14 million in funding over the next four years, to advise government and statutory agencies on the best ways to achieve design excellence in government owned or funded buildings.
“This would have meaningful impact, given Australian governments procured about one-third of non-residential buildings across the country in 2021,” the Institute said.
The establishment of a Government Architect is one of six comprehensive proposals identified within the Institute’s Federal Election Policy Statement: A Time For Action.
Other recommendations include greater action on climate change initiatives; a 30-year national housing strategy; a national construction supply chain strategy; an address of gender diversity and inequality in construction; and a call for a national anti-corruption watchdog. More

This project involved a significant planning and finishes upgrade to the existing lobby at Santos Place in central Brisbane, Queensland. The works included new entrances, an entrance canopy, relocation of the concierge desk, creation of breakout spaces and a library, and new digital signage and art. Corian provided the flexibility to create large-scale architectural forms […] More

More than 400 of Australia’s top architecture, design and property development professionals gathered to celebrate the opening of Signorino’s expanded Stone Gallery, now home to the southern hemisphere’s largest selection of natural stone slabs. The 12,000 m² gallery has the singular purpose of storing and displaying more than 12,500 individual slabs of natural stone that […] More

The City of Hobart has approved plans to restore and redevelop the former headquarters of Forestry Tasmania in the central city, transforming it into an learning hub for the University of Tasmamina Woods Bagot were engaged by the university for the project, with a development proposal submitted to council in December 2021.. UTAS vice-chancellor Rufus […] More

This new partnership sees Gubi appoint Cult as the exclusive vendor of the complete Gubi collection of furniture and lighting in three core markets in the Asia-Pacific region. All Gubi commercial trade sales, including business with architects, designers and specifiers, is now exclusively managed by Cult in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Cult has distributed […] More

The Benalla Rural City Council has appointed Williams Boag Architects to lead the Benalla Art Gallery redevelopment. In March 2022, the council announced it was accepting tenders for the redevelopment, which would enhance the functionality and design of the gallery entry, staff and back-of-house spaces, and the onsite cafe. Williams Boag Architects was awarded the […] More

Architect and urban planner HY William Chan has been elected as chair of the City of Sydney’s Local Pedestrian, Cycling and Traffic Committee and deputy chair of the Transport, Heritage, Environment and Planning Committee. Chan was elected to the council in 2021 as a member of lord mayor Clore Moore’s independent team. He is an […] More