AA July/August 2016 preview

Architecture Australia July/August 2016.

This issue of Architecture Australia considers architecture for education and education for architecture and has been guest edited by Michael Keniger. Michael was the University of Queensland’s Head of Architecture from 1990 to 2000, Head of the School of Geography, Planning and Architecture from 2000 to 2003 and a member of the university’s Senior Executive from 2005 to 2011. The issue considers the recent (and intertwined) trajectories of architecture and education, across Australia and internationally.

Michael has made an extraordinary contribution to Australian architecture since he arrived in this country (from the United Kingdom) in the late 1970s. He brings his many years of experience within the academy and as a public intellectual to the issue’s parallel consideration of the state of architectural education and of some recent buildings architects have designed for the new era of teaching and learning across the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. In his introduction to the project and essay content, Michael highlights what architects offer, concluding that their “capacity to combine design intelligence with the ability to understand the emerging requirements of clients and users builds upon the skills, confidence and judgement provided by a well-directed architectural education bolstered by lessons learnt through focused and adventurous practice.”

The July/August issue contains the following peer-reviewed projects:

• St Ambrose Primary School. Pat Twohill Designs and Twohill and James have designed this primary school for a coastal community in far-northern New South Wales, incorporating outdoor rooms and flexible spaces for learning. Review by Alexandra Brown.
• Ngoolark. JCY Architects and Urban Designers’ new Student Services Building for Edith Cowan University provides the Joondalup Campus with more than just a building. Review by Geoff Warn.
• Tonsley Main Assembly Building redevelopment. A former car assembly building redeveloped by Tridente Architects and Woods Bagot plays a central role in the ongoing development of the sixty-one-hectare precinct of Tonsley. Review by Lindy Atkin.
• The Mandeville Centre. Designed by Architectus, the Mandeville Centre at Melbourne school Loreto Mandeville Hall provides an appropriate counterpoint to its heritage setting and maximizes potential for learning interactions. Review by Shane Murray.
• Nanyang Primary School. Studio 505 has approached an extension to Nanyang Primary School in Singapore with exuberance and dynamism, creating a terraced “valley” at the core of the school. Review by Fiona Nixon Tan.
• Trinity Anglican School Science Building. Charles Wright Architects has created a dynamic new science building for Trinity Anglican School in Far North Queensland, responding to both program and climate with lyrical pragmatism. Review by Kevin O’Brien.

Cameron Bruhn, editorial director, Architecture Australia
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