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The New South Wales government has unveiled plans to increase the supply of affordable and social housing in the state by offering developers fast-tracked planning assessment and extra developable area. Residential developments of more than $75 million of capital investment value, with a minimum of 15 percent gross floor area allocated to affordable housing, will […] More
Baw Baw Shire Council in Victoria’s West Gippsland region has announced that Croxon Ramsay has completed detailed designs for the proposed Baw Baw Library and Learning Centre. The $30 million project is set to become the heart of the Baw Baw Culture and Connection Precinct. The civic and community building will occupy underutilized areas of […] More
The warring Florentine families of the Renaissance included a curious civic gesture as part of the fortress-palaces they erected along the city’s streets and squares. It became customary to include a stone bench at the base of the heavily rusticated exterior walls – initially, it is said, as a reference to the tiered benches around the Piazza della Signoria that served as the theatre for civic assemblies and political wrangling. These benches became an essential part of the palazzo type, where retainers, tradesmen, hangers-on and beggars would wait below the massive sills of windows deliberately placed too high for an outsider to see in. Centuries after the warring families have faded from view, along with the motivations for their metre-thick walls, their benches let hot tourists sit gratefully in the shade of the cold stone.
At the beginning of a new film by the architectural photographer Jim Stephenson, the camera watches a long bench along a massive wall, punctuated by shallow pilasters, as people – mainly women and children – wait, look at their phones, talk and watch – for a bus, for a child, for a friend; it is for the viewer to guess. The building is a new one, and this is the first generation of people to use this bench; the pilasters are still crisp and the wall has not yet had its first graffiti.
Still from The Architect has Left the Building (2023) by Jim Stephenson, showing Kingston Town House designed by Grafton Architects. Courtesy RIBA Gallery; © Jim Stephenson
Photographing architecture for its own sake – and using architecture as a setting for fashion shoots, music videos or primetime dramas – involves careful staging that asks the viewer to read meaning into brick, concrete, metal and glass. Stephenson’s film – currently showing at the RIBA Gallery – elongates that single moment of a photograph, or the scene-setting second of film footage, into a meditation on time. The bench is the first location in a sequence of frames, shown in pairs across a split screen, where the still camera waits and watches as people move across its field of vision. The stationary point of view merges the identity of the camera with that of the building itself, patiently watching and waiting, accommodating movement and use that will gradually wear away at its fabric over the coming years. This building-as-camera projection is amplified by the sounds layered over the footage: vibrations to the fabric of the building in the form of footsteps, bangs and knocks, rain and wind, captured by sound artist Simon James using contact mics, like sound through a stethoscope. The buildings start to seem alive, just on a life cycle far slower than that of the people that crawl in and around them. Like the mountains that folklore claims to be sleeping giants, the buildings patiently await the transfiguration that comes with time.
Sometimes the view is that of surveillance, the camera perched high above a slender bridge or in the corner of an art gallery. In some frames, a real security camera looks back at the viewer, doubling and redoubling the capture of time and movement like repeating mirrors. One camera adopts the perspective of the security guard, unseen behind a bank of screens, observing the lucky few who enjoy these carefully honed pieces of architecture. How fortunate are the young dancers stretching out their legs on the clean timber steps of a Stirling Prize-winning university building; the neat children whispering in the beautiful miniature theatre at their private school; the residents who won the jackpot in the form of a beautiful community centre or swimming pool, somehow escaping the banality of cost-cutting project managers. More pointedly, a gardener in stained shorts and headphones pushes a lawnmower back and forth below a perfectly formed college library, inside which students enjoy the luxury of contemplation.
Still from The Architect has Left the Building (2023) by Jim Stephenson, showing Kingston Town House designed by Grafton Architects. Courtesy RIBA Gallery; © Jim Stephenson
The buildings in Stephenson’s film – all well-designed, acclaimed pieces of architecture – are made of solid, substantial material put together with care. They are captured at the beginning of their lives – as part of a ritual of promotion and press tours – when they are at their most perfect and unsullied. The rain of the Lake District has not yet worn down the timber cladding of a new museum; footsteps have not worn a shine into the centre of a footbridge; only occasionally are the mundane interventions that cause architects to curse – the laminated sign Blu-Tacked to a glazed door – visible to the camera’s eye. Over time there will be repairs, dirt, straggly pot plants, plastic litter bins.
Buildings are said to be ‘finished’ when construction ends, but this is really their moment of birth. After a decade or two of love and appreciation, they go through a protracted and usually problematic mid-life, before – if time is kind and public opinion held at bay – emerging as heritage, their histories smoothed over by the adaptation to new uses for new times. Their flaws and fragilities are exposed in the ugly phase and, if serious enough, condemn the building to demolition or major surgery. In Stephenson’s observations we don’t see the ageing of insulation, the gnawing away of wiring by mice or the slow dripping and cracking of pipes. The creaking of air handling units, the filters clogging up; faults in the software of the building management systems. The seals in double-glazing units failing. Black mould creeping up plasterboard. Lurking behind the optimism of dappled light falling across a perfect wall, the unmoving eye of the camera poses a nagging question: how many of these buildings will survive for future generations, or is their seeming solidity concealing frailties that will lead to the wrecking ball? How quickly, or slowly, will all that investment – of money, of carbon, of labour – turn to dust?
‘The Architect has left the Building’ is at the RIBA Gallery, London, until 12 August. More
Brisbane Open House returns in 2023 with a curated selection of iconic and contemporary buildings open to the public. Taking place on 15 and 16 July, the program spans 80 buildings and places across 11 Brisbane precincts, particularly this year’s Iconic Precinct: Herston Health and Heritage. The area’s buildings represent more than 120 years of […] More
Architecture, landscape architecture and interior design practices can now create their own profile pages on ArchitectureAU, with the launch today of ArchitectureAU Directory. This new feature provides an opportunity for practices of all sizes to tell their story in their own words and benefit from the credibility inferred by association with Australia’s most respected architecture […] More
Open House Melbourne 2023 has unveiled its program of more than 180 buildings, tours, events and design talks across the last weekend of July.
Themed “Collective City,” the program explores architecture and design across Melbourne against the backdrop of climate, economic and housing uncertainty.
“As Melbourne expands to reach a projected population of 8 million by 2050, our theme for Open House Melbourne 2023, Collective City, seeks to explore how will we reinvent, re-purpose and adapt our city to live better together now, and into the future,” said Open House Melbourne executive director Tania Davidge. “We want to inspire every Victorian through the Open House Melbourne Weekend to consider the principles of good design so together we can advocate for a more equitable and welcoming city that meets the needs of all Melburnians. Our program for 2023 reflects our desire for all to come to a shared understanding of the best way to shape the future of the city.”
Highlights in the 2023 program include Making Home, a perennial series of talks and tours that explores social and affordable housing. It will include a panel discussion on the role of developers in the provision of social housing , as well as a tour of a Markham Avenue project designed by Architectus and delivered as part of the Homes Victoria Big Housing Build program.
Flat Life offers Open House Melbourne visitors a walking tour guided by architect David Brand through St Kilda and its apartment housing stock, including subdivided mansions, 1960s six-packs, and high-rise towers designed by European émigré architects.
Private home tours will also be returning after a pandemic-induced hiatus, with 16 contemporary and historic houses participating across Melbourne. The 2023 program newcomers include Lippincott House (co-designed by Walter Burley Griffin) and Gantry House by Oof Architecture.
The Victorian government’s Future Homes design competition entries will also be a feature of Open House Melbourne. Audiences can experience full-size interactive walkthroughs of the designs, as well as a presentation.
The soon-to-be-opened Holocaust Museum by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) will return in 2023 with tours guided by KTA associate principal Claire Humphreys. Open House Melbourne will also honour Kerstin Thompson, who was awarded the 2023 Gold Medal from the Australian Institute of Architects, with a film celebrating her career.
Comedian, author and historian Michael Veitch will be giving the 2023 Heritage Address, which will explore untold stories of Melbourne.
RMIT academics Christine Phillips, Beau de Belle and Jock Gilbert will discuss the role of Indigenous wisdom in contemporary architecture in Design with Country.
The 2023 Open House Melbourne will take place on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 July. The program will be live on 28 June. More
City of Melbourne has appointed Lendlease for the biggest mixed-use development in the council’s history.
A 3.2-hectare precinct south of the Queen Victoria Market is set to become a three-tower complex with a 1.8-hectare park on the site of the market’s existing car park.
The design team comprises NH Architecture, Kerstin Thompson Architects, 3XN Australia, Searle × Waldron Architecture, Openwork, McGregor Coxall, Lovell Chen and Urbis.
The $1.7 billion development is enabled by the council’s “landmark divestment of the Southern Precinct,” with the funds reinvested in the market’s renewal.
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The proposed Gurrowa Place designed by NH Architecture, Kerstin Thompson Architects, 3XN Australia, and Searle × Waldron Architecture. Image:
Courtesy City of Melbourne
A collection of historic buildings on Franklin Street will also be refurbished into a new retail village, which will be retained by the council.
The redeveloped precinct, to be named Gurrowa Place, will comprise a 28-storey office tower, a residential tower with 560 units (including 15 percent affordable housing and built-to-rent apartments), and a student housing tower accommodating 1,100 beds.
A long civic pavilion, to be known as the Queen’s Corner Building, will support the Market Square with public amenities and activations. The design of Market Square will be led by City of Melbourne.
“Gurrowa Place will enrich the traditional market offerings Melburnians and visitors know and love – attracting thousands of new residents, workers and visitors and boosting business for traders,” said lord mayor Sally Capp.“This globally iconic precinct will be a place to celebrate – with spaces for events, world-class retail and new laneways and arcades to complement the beloved market experience.”
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The proposed Gurrowa Place designed by NH Architecture, Kerstin Thompson Architects, 3XN Australia, and Searle × Waldron Architecture. Image:
Courtesy City of Melbourne
The project team will consult with Wurundjeri elders on a precinct design that honours the site’s precolonial history.
“The creation of Gurrowa Place begins the next chapter in the evolution of Queen Victoria Market,” said Lendlease managing director of development Tom Mackellar. “It will celebrate the rich history of the place, while introducing new spaces for the community and a vibrant precinct that welcomes locals and visitors.”
The team will also prioritize carbon reduction in materials and construction; the development is inteded to be carbon neutral in operation, using renewable electricity across all commercial and residential buildings.
Targets for the precinct include a 6-star Green Star rating for commercial spaces and a 5-star Green Star for residential buildings.
If approved, the project will begin in 2024 and be completed in 2028. More
The Fishwick House by Walter Burley Griffin in Sydney’s Castlecrag is on the market for the first time in nearly half a century since it was purchased by its current owners in 1976.
The house was designed in 1929 and on the newly developed peninsula suburb of Castlecrag at the end of a cul-de-sac. The site is identified by its irregular shape that falls steeply from west to east. On the wedge-shaped block with panoramic views over the peninsula, the Fishwick House has become a canonical instance of early-20th-century residential architecture and has even been attributed with the birth of modern architecture in Australia.
The house was built predominantly out of sandstone, quarried from the natural rock escarpment onsite and on a site nearby. Rock-faced stone has been used for external walling to give the house the appearance of rising out of the rock on which it is built. This stone has also been used to form the internal walls, the grand fireplaces and the chimneys.
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The large entrance hall features floor-to-ceiling pillars, painted the deep greens and browns of Australian eucalypts, with metallic gold highlights. Image:
Tamara Graham
As well as its sandstone rockface, the home is renowned for its split floor levels and its boundary-pushing interior design innovations. Its notable features include open planning, a spacious colonnaded reception area and a sunken study.
The study can be opened fully to the entrance hall through a pair of double glass doors – a concept that did not become popular until mid-century. In the large entrance hall, floor-to-ceiling pillars were painted the deep greens and browns of Australian eucalypts, with metallic gold highlights.
On the first floor are four bedrooms and two bathrooms, including the master bedroom, which incorporates a unique semicircular design with a row of north-facing windows that provide ample natural light and bush views.
Added to the NSW State Heritage Register in 2006, Fishwick is a rarity as one of only 13 remaining Griffin-designed houses. Its current condition is the result of more than 30 years of careful restoration by its current owners.
The home will be listed on the Modern House website, with viewings available by appointment.
For more coverage, see Peter Salhani’s story about the Fishwick House from Houses Issue 152. More
