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Benalla Rural City Council has announced it is accepting tenders from experienced architects to design the Benalla Art Gallery Redevelopment. The Benalla Art Gallery is a public gallery located within the Benalla Botanical Gardens in regional Victoria. Established in 1968, the Benalla Art Gallery was originally designed by Philip Sargeant and Colin Munro and is […] More
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.
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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.
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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. More
Angelo Candalepas and Associates, and a team of 20 architecture, design and engineering firms, have won the national design competition for a new landmark contemporary art and design gallery for the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).
The winning design for the building has a colossal 40-metre-high spherical hall at its centre, as well as dramatic arched entry ways facing onto a future public park.
“This dynamic and exciting design for NGV Contemporary creates a unifying civic space that all visitors will remember. With its uplifting and generous architecture, this design provides all Victorians will a timeless building for arts and culture that will be loved for generations,” said NGV director Tony Ellwood.
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The winning design for NGV Contemporary by Angelo Candalepas and Associates et al. Image:
Secchi Smith
Angelo Candalepas said, “Melbourne is the cultural capital of this nation and NGV Contemporary marks its next great offering to the world. Art and design matters to all Australians: it speaks to who we are as a community. This project signals Australia as a great contemporary nation with a significant creative force. This building will be a beacon of the culture of our time.
“I hope NGV Contemporary will personally and emotionally resonate with all members of our rich and diverse community and deepen their understanding of the possibilities of human creativity.”
The design of the large hall is based around the Ancient Greek concept of “omphalos,” which means “centre of the earth.” The hall will be surrounded by a spiralling pathway that will allow the visitors to ascend the various levels of the gallery. It will also be topped with a “lantern in the sky.”
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The winning design for NGV Contemporary by Angelo Candalepas and Associates et al. Image: Darcstudios
The proposed gallery will also have a public rooftop terrace, with views of the CBD, neighbouring parklands and even towards the distant Yarra Ranges. A sculpture garden will be accessible from the rooftop. The building will also have a restaurant and members’ lounge as well as education spaces, studios and laboratories for conservation work within its 30,000 square metre footprint.
Externally, the building’s facades feature large arched entries that will open onto a future public park designed by Hassell and So-il. The eastern facade will also include a multi-level verandah with external pathways between the building’s levels.
The building will have 13,000 square metres of large format, highly flexible spaces, which will allow international blockbuster exhibitions to be display simultaneously with gallery’s expanding permanent collection of contemporary art and design.
“This ambitious project offers an extraordinary opportunity to support our country’s local design and architecture sector,” Ellwood said.
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The winning design for NGV Contemporary by Angelo Candalepas and Associates et al. Image: Darcstudios
The NGV held a national design competition for the project in early 2021. Angelo Candalepas and Associates was one of four shortlisted teams who were invited to submit designs.
The Angelo Candalepas and Associates team includes Aspect Studios, Carr Interiors, Andy Fergus Design Strategy, BoardGrove Architects, Richard Stampton Architects, Steensen Varming, Mott MacDonald, TTW, Affinity Fire Engineering, Freeman Ryan Design, AX Interactive, and Art of Fact.
The competition was judged by an international jury that comprised Dutch architect Francine Houben of Mecanoo, Xu Tiantian from DnA Architecture in Beijing, Australian architect Gerard Reinmuth of Terroir, Indigenous artist Maree Clarke as well as NGV director Tony Ellwood, Victorian government architect Jill Garner and architect and NGV trustee Corbett Lyon.
“Australian architecture and design is of great interest around the world – Angelo Candalepas and Associates’ NGV Contemporary will be an intriguing new landmark showcasing how architecture can respond to and enhance the cultural history and life of our city,” said Jill Garner. “This concept embeds a vision to harness and nurture a spirit of creative communication, collaboration and engagement.” More
With Architecture Studio and OMA have been appointed as lead architects for the redevelopment of the iconic late-20th-century Perth Concert Hall. The $52.4 million project will aim to restore the heritage-listed concert hall’s architectural integrity and enhance its acoustics, already considered among the best in Australia, while the forecourts will be refurbished to suit festivals […] More
Ian Hannaford, the architect behind one of Adelaide’s most recognizable landmarks and a footballer who played in three premierships for the Port Adelaide Magpies, has died aged 82.
Hannaford was the original architect of Rundle Mall, the 1970s project led by premier Don Dunstan which transformed the centre of the city, closing off part of Rundle Street to cars and creating a pedestrianized retail destination. The mall and the artwork The Spheres by Vienna-born artist Bert Flugelman, known to locals as the “Mall’s Balls,” have become synonymous with Adelaide as a city and tourism destination.
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Rundle Mall, Adelaide, looking west from near the Adelaide Arcade by Adam.J.W.C., licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5
Hannaford also designed private residences, including modernist houses inspired by Mies van der Rohe, as well as resorts, apartment buildings and the Victor Richardson gates at Adelaide Oval.
Before he was an architect, he was a goal scorer for Port Adelaide, kicking 108 goals from 123 matches between 1958 and 1964. He won his first premiership with the club at the age of 18 in 1958 and won back-to-back flags in 1962 and 1963. He retired from the game early, at the age of 24, in order to train as an architect. Despite his relatively short football career, he was named by The Advertiser among Port Adelaide’s 150 greatest players in the club’s first 150 years.
Port Adelaide chief executive Matthew Richardson said in a statement, “The Port Adelaide Football Club extends its heartfelt condolences to son Nicholas, daughter Rachel, grandchildren Darcy, Oliver and Jesse, stepchildren Sam, Digby and Fiona and the entire Hannaford family during this time.
“Ian played a pivotal role in the Port Adelaide side through the golden era of the late 1950s and early 1960s that has created such a great legacy for our club today.
“Upon his early retirement, Ian focussed on his career becoming one of the preeminent architects in South Australia designing a number of landmarks around Adelaide, most notably the Victor Richardson gates at Adelaide Oval.
“Despite his success, Ian was humble and understated in his demeanour, articulate and passionate.” More
Grimshaw Architects has been appointed architect for the first phase of the transformation of the Twelve Apostles tourism precinct on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. Working with the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, the firm will design a new vistor centre, amphitheatre at Twelve Apostles and the replacement of the viewing platform, as well a […] More
Wangaratta council in Victoria’s north-east has approved a 44-unit social housing complex designed Jackson Clements Burrows. The development located just outside the town centre will replace 16 dilapidated single storey units that are existing on the site. Uniting Care Vic/Tas will be the owner and operator of the complex. The design for the proposed complex […] More
The fourth edition of Cult’s esteemed Chairity Project invites leading Australian creatives to reinterpret an iconic chair design. The final pieces will be exhibited nationwide and sold at auction, with all proceeds donated to a selection of charities.
After a five-year hiatus, Cult is thrilled to re-introduce the Chairity project, partnering with one of the fastest growing Danish design brands in the world – Hay.
From 2014 to 2016, Cult invited creatives to reinterpret the CH33 by Hans Wegner for Carl Hansen and Son, the Series 7 by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, and the Officina chair by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Magis.
For Chairity Project 2022, Cult has invited 18 creatives from industrial design, architecture, interior, art, scent, ceramics and graphic design backgrounds to reimagine Hay’s iconic Result Chair – a 1950s design by Friso Kramer and Wim Rietveld.
With Melbourne Design Week as the launchpad for Chairity Project 2022, the creative brief has been aligned with Melbourne Design Week’s theme of “Design the world you want,” which prompts the question: “How can we collectively work towards a better, healthier future?”
Cult is pleased to welcome back two creatives who have participated in previous editions of the Chairity Project – industrial designer Adam Goodrum and graphic design duo Design by Toko – along with 16 new contributors – Arnsdorf, Yasmine Ghoniem, Kelvin Ho, Claire Delmar, Craig Andrade, Retallack Thompson, Anna Carin, Tom Fereday, Zachary Hanna, Alexandra Donohoe Church, Pattern Studio, Shelley Simpson, Use Daily, Heather Nette King, Evi-O and William Smart.
The diversity of creatives taking part in the project will result in a wide range of chair reinventions and an enticing auction, which will take place online between 17 March and 3 April.
To mark the online auction opening, the final designs will be exhibited at Cult Design Melbourne during Melbourne Design Week, from 17 to 20 March. The exhibition will then be displayed at the new Hay Sydney store from 28 March to 3 April, with the online auction closing Sunday 3 April at 7 pm AEST.
“After what has been a challenging two years, we can think of no better initiative to re-instate after a five-year hiatus, than one that is centred around collaboration, creativity and a charitable cause,” said Richard Munao, Cult founder and director.
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