INTERNATIONAL
Australia’s new World Trade Organisation agreement with China covers architectural practice. The agreement allows foreign architects to provide scheme design services and makes a commitment to bind foreign majority ownership in joint venture operations • The Age architecture critic Norman Day has described Lyons exhibition at the Venice Biennale as “dated”, but concedes that it shows Australia as “an urban and complex society”. The display is a mural of a cityscape made up of 80,000 postcards • The International Union of Architects has not approved a competition to design the new campus of the Singapore Management University, saying it does not conform with international competition regulations. Architects are warned that in the event of litigation between the promoter and competitors the UIA would not be able to take any part • US magazine Newsweek has labelled Sydney’s Olympic facilities “efficient but disappointing” • British journal The Architectural Review and Danish architectural design firm d line partners have called for submissions for the ar+d award, now in its second year.
At the National Convention, architect Myrto Vitart charmed her audience with her work, such as the fine arts museum in Lille, France, and her presentation style.
RAIA NATIONAL CONVENTION
Architecture 2000, the RAIA’s national convention, has been voted a resounding success by delegates. Sponsored by Colorbond (principal sponsors) and Stramit, Caroma, Laminex and James Hardie, the convention was held from 28 June to 2 July at the Convention Centre South, Darling Harbour, Sydney. Memorable keynote addresses included Shigeru Ban’s captivating slide show of his work in Japan and elsewhere. At question time, the urbane Cooper Union-trained Ban became quite nonplussed when an audience member implied a link between his paper tube structures and bamboo. Tanned, fast-talking California-based architect Eric Owen Moss grumbled to the audience about the early timeslot for his address, then launched into a lecture that took in cave paintings, Picasso, ancient Babylonian sky maps and a Martian moon, all before morning tea. And it took about three seconds for French architect Myrto Vitart to establish an intimate rapport with her audience, winning everyone over with her lounge-room style delivery and charmingly hesitant English. Other highlights included addresses by Matthias Sauerbruch (Germany), Rahul Mehrotra (India), and a three-hour tour de force by Winy Maas (The Netherlands), which left delegates with 13 minutes to get ready for the big party at Luna Park. Other speakers included American sculptor and designer Allan Wexler and 2000 RAIA Gold Medalist John Morphett who gave the A S Hook Memorial Address. The cultural ecologies session, with speakers Margaret Wertheim, McKenzie Wark, and Paul Carter, left the audience pondering architecture as “ephemeral ground marking” (Carter) and the medieval rebellion against “the concept of nothingness” (Wertheim) before Wark’s “night thoughts of a public idiot”. The mixed doubles session was an audience favourite, with thought-provoking addresses from living legends and stars on the rise. Sparring partners were Harry Seidler and Camilla Block, James Birrell and Brian Donovan, Neil Clerehan and Stephen O’Connor, Newell Platten and Kerstin Thompson, and Col Madigan and Angelo Candalepas. Convenor Louise Cox kept the show running between sessions, and Bob Perry and his merry band of well-trained “tour guides” showed delegates all the Olympic highlights at Homebush Bay. The much-touted “Olympic weather” had delegates buttoning their coats and reaching for their brollies.
NATIONAL
Following the Productivity Commission Inquiry report, a recent Financial Review article quotes RAIA Chief Executive Michael Peck’s claim that the Building Designers Association of Australia will “soon be seen as a refuge organisation for those that have failed to qualify or demonstrate their skill as architects”. In the same article, BDAA chief executive Barrie Wright described Michael Peck’s attack as a gross overreaction to the commission’s findings • Archicentre recorded a 10 percent increase in complaints about shoddy workmanship as builders rushed to complete projects before GST came in • Rob Adsett of Thomson Adsett Architects is on the new board of Uniting HealthCare, who are charged with guiding the Uniting Church’s health care services into the future • Architecture hit the small screen in the ABC’s In the Mind of the Architect screened during June/July • The HIA has called for a GST moratorium until 31 October for residential building work currently under construction, after six months of unprecedented delays on building sites • The Office of Fair Trading says the deregulation of architecture is not in the interest of consumers • A CSIRO study suggests reduced design fees can lead to increased building costs and inefficiencies • Dick Dusseldorp, the man who created Lend Lease, has died in Tahiti at the age of 81. Described as a revolutionary of the construction industry, Dusseldorp was Australia’s biggest developer during the building boom of the 1960s • Office towers will soon carry a greenhouse rating backed by the Property Council of Australia. The scheme is an attempt to reduce greenhouse gases and energy costs • The arrival of new airlines Impulse and Virgin Blue has facilitated the construction of new terminals at Melbourne and Sydney • Architecture graduates are among the lowest paid, according to survey by the Graduate Careers Council of Australia. Their median salary in 1999 was $28,000 compared to an overall median of $31,000 • Architects will be part of a volunteer service offering advice to rural communities on improving towns under the Revitalising Australia Through Partnership program • Architects have won significant pay increases from the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, to be phased in over two years. Graduates will earn up to $6,000 more a year, while the increase for registered architects is almost $7,000, putting architects on a par with peers in engineering, science and surveying.
QUEENSLAND
Researchers have claimed a proposed new cableway through the Gold Coast hinterland will have a negative impact on endangered frogs • Architectural education is at risk of being downgraded by deregulation, according to head of QUT Architecture School Gordon Holden • The vacant Gona Barracks at Kelvin Grove will be redeveloped as urban housing, as part of Brisbane’s City West Precinct project. However, the barracks may be listed as a heritage site, complicating plans for redevelopment • Suters Architects (NSW) and Anderson Street Architects (Qld) have formed an alliance in Queensland, to be known as ASA Suters. The two firms have been working together since 1996, and are now fully integrated • Queensland architectural firm Daniels Anderson has launched an e-design service, allowing designs to be viewed on-line by clients, consultants and builders as they are developed • The Queensland government will encourage international architects to compete to design a modern art gallery for Brisbane’s South Bank in a bid to find a groundbreaking design • David Pfaff has been appointed to manage the Brisbane office of MPS Architects.
NEW SOUTH WALES
The EcoDesign Foundation is offering a new Master of Sustainment Design postgraduate degree, developed in conjunction with the University of Western Sydney, starting in 2001 • Development of the Kogarah town centre, Australia’s largest solar-powered medium-density residential development, will emphasise a village atmosphere and human scale • Government architect Chris Johnson has praised Sydney’s Olympic developments and has called for a sense of pride in the achievements • Richard Rogers Partnership, the architects behind London’s Millennium Dome and Paris’s Pompidou Centre, are among those short-listed to design the 10 stations on the planned Parramatta to Chatswood railway. Also short-listed are Michael Davies and Associates (with RRP), Conybeare Morrison and Partners of Sydney with Terry Farrell of Hong Kong and London, Sydney’s Denton Corker Marshall with RMJM of Hong Kong, and Hassell • Robert Young and Associates will be in charge of a $170 million refurbishment of David Jones in Sydney • Griffith is to have new nine-story apartment block, the largest of its kind in rural Australia. Prices are close to Sydney metropolitan prices • Sydney’s City West Link Road has a new 40 metre footbridge by sculptor Richard Goodwin • Harry Seidler is one of 100 Sydney residents who have lodged objections to the redevelopment of Luna Park. He is concerned about the height of the buildings and the potential damage to protected trees • Dino Burattini is suing the NSW Labor Party for almost $1 million, claiming the money is owed to him for work done in the 1990s on the ALP’s old headquarters in Sussex Street • The historic Rose Seidler house has been repainted in its original shade of grey. It was previously believed (even by Seidler himself) that the house had always been white. The house will host an exhibition entitled “50 Years of Good Design in Australia” to coincide with its own 50th birthday • The National Institute of Dramatic Arts is to get a new theatre complex designed by Hassell in association with Peter Armstrong. The key element will be a three-storey high glass wall facing the street • Former prime minister Paul Keating delivered an inspirational speech at the recent launch of the book James Barnet: The Universal Values of Civic Existence, by Chris Johnson, Peter Kohane and Patrick Bingham-Hall.“I believe that the lesson of this text is that Sydney is still worth fighting for,” said Keating. “The notion that the aesthetic belongs to the architect solely and that the context belongs to someone else is, I believe, flawed and wrong.”
The design for Magna Carta Place, Canberra by Alastair Falconer and British exhibition designer Marcus Bree.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Architect Brian Kidd has won the Architects’ Board of WA Award for his outstanding contribution to facilities for disabled and elderly people • Chas Spencer of Spowers Architects has designed a new canopy for the entrance of the redesigned Hay Street Mall underpass, as part of the Carillon City arcade revamp • The WA government is preparing to award a mandate for a $300 million convention centre in Perth. Developers Multiplex Constructions and Lend Lease’s Nexus consortium are competing, with different sites in mind. Either site is expected to boost further construction in the city.
VICTORIA
David Marriner’s Westin Hotel on Swanston Street has opened to little fanfare, after local architectural gurus labelled it an architectural dog • In The Age Norman Day has criticised the Victorian government’s proposed Rescode planning law, saying it will keep Melbourne in the past and turn the city into a “giant forgery”. The code is partly a response to widespread anger at perceived inappropriate and incompatible housing. The code emphasises fitting in with neighbourhood character and replaces the Kennett era’s Good Design Guide and VicCode 1 for single dwellings • More than $7 million is being spent on the transformation of Shepparton’s Town Hall and Art Gallery • Mirvac have gained approval for two new apartment towers at Docklands • David Marriner has been given approval to build a 60-storey tower in the CBD. The Grand Central building was designed by Harry Seidler in the 1980s for former site owners Lend Lease. However, it is not certain whether or not the building will go ahead (Marriner may sell the site) • Federation Square’s dumped western shard may be replaced by a flagpole or flat building, according to Premier Steve Bracks. A new working party was to be set up to decide on new design parameters • Victoria’s Auditor-General has produced a report on Federation Square that says the project was mismanaged even before it was on the drawing board, attributing much of the blame to the previous government. The report also shows a budget blowout from $128 million to $262 million. The Victorian government has accused former project director Damian Bonnice of attempting to suppress the report • Distinguished and influential Melbourne architect Robert Alec Eggleston has died at the age of 88. Among his achievements were Modernist buildings including 400 Collins Street and the office building on the corner of Queen Street and Flinders Lane.
ACT
The proposed Speedrail link from Canberra to Sydney may create more than 700 new jobs according to the Chamber of Commerce • Acoustic experts Peter Fearnside and Associates have been involved with the design of the new Canberra School of Music • Pegrum and Associates’ refurbishment of Canberra’s 72-year-old Melbourne Building has been awarded the ACT Rider Hunt award from the Property Council of Australia • Canberra’s parliamentary zone will be given a public heart, with a design determined by competition. It will include an amphitheatre, cafes, shops and a walking trail • The Commonwealth Government will provide up to $5 million for the construction of a reconciliation square in Canberra • RAIA announces Canberra’s Top 10 architecturally significant buildings • Andrew Metcalf has been appointed adjunct professor at the University of Canberra • A group of architecture and urban planning students from Ball State University (Indiana) recently visited Canberra to study its design • Canberra-based architect Alastair Falconer and British exhibition designer Marcus Bree have won an international competition to design Canberra’s Magna Carta Place, Britain’s gift to Australia for next year’s centenary of Federation. Their design incorporates a bronze, domed pavilion against a 50 metre long granite wall.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Progress on Australia’s first National Wine Centre continues slowly. The $40 million centre will include two restored heritage buildings and a new semi-circular glass and stone building • Premier John Olsen has opened the first stage of Adelaide’s Copper Cove marina and housing development at Wallaroo • The EDS Centre on North Terrace has won the Property Council Rider Hunt Award, for being a crucial component in the rejuvenation of that area of the city.
TASMANIA
Launceston’s historic Custom House has been sold for an estimated $700,000 to the JAC Group.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
A new detention centre will be built in Darwin to cope with the tide of illegal immigrants • A recent survey has shown that Alice Springs is the most expensive place in Australia to build a home (the Gold Coast is the least expensive). The high cost in the Red Centre was put down to transport expenses.
