Atrium Atrium 15 | 2010 15 | 2010 DESIGNING INNOVATION THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & PLANNING Atrium Page 15 | 2010 02 | 03 THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & PLANNING Today’s CiTy CreaTed in The PasT 04 oCCasional address: PeTer MarTin 17 designing innovaTion in ConsTruCTion 08 FaCulTy reColleCTions: Max ChesTer 18 headsPaCe ProjeCTs 10 vale anThony williaM MaTThews: neil Clerehan 19 Managing innovaTive ConsTruCTion 11 CeleBraTing ParTnershiPs 20 The PainTed deserT 12 a Change in The landsCaPe: 22 veniCe Biennale 13 CaTherin Bull reFleCTs Miegunyah dinsTinguished visiTing Fellows 14 2010 honour roll oF donors 25 auBea 2010 16 FroM The FaCulTy 26 Dean’s Message 2010 Highlights benefactors who have made the experience as we near the end of 2010 it is timely to possible and who are very keen to provide reflect upon the Faculty’s achievements and ongoing support. events of the last 12 months. it has been a year where our research, projects and our Faculty’s representation at the 12th studio activities have been increasingly venice architecture Biennale – one of the visible on a national and global stage. most significant events on the international architecture calendar - was remarkable. Forging strong connections with communities of the 17 projects selected by Creative continued in 2010, as several travelling directors, john gollings and ivan rijavec, studios journeyed to different parts of the three teams were led by members of our world. our Msd students travelled to Faculty and six consisted of our alumni. Mexico, nanjing, genoa, Papua new guinea whilst in venice for the Biennale, i had the and the south australia bush. These studios chance to hear first-hand the reaction of and field trips are ‘working laboratories’ many who experienced the now and when where both students and staff work with exhibition in the australia Pavilion. The locals to create design solutions for real-life images of australia today by john gollings problems – be it a low cost dwelling in and the possible urban futures were Monterrey, or an architectural intervention enormously powerful, wonderfully stitched in genoa. together by Flood slicer. unusually for a Biennale installation, Now and When will our design studios within australia are be touring australia in 2011. There have also an important focus of our postgraduate also been requests for the exhibition to tour programs. The ‘Bower’ series of architecture europe and north america, so the three studios, led by david o’Brien and hamish entries by our colleagues will help to further hill, have received much media attention this bring our Faculty to international attention. year and are part of the Faculty’s ongoing read more about the 12th venice Biennale engagement with indigenous communities in Peter raisbeck’s illuminating article on in the northern Territory. This work has page 13. been generously supported by several Atrium 15 | 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & PLANNING Bringing leading and innovative Designing Innovation in this issue we celebrate the career practitioners to Melbourne to address The theme of this edition of Atrium is of Catherin Bull and announce The and work with our Faculty is part of our ‘designing innovation’ – design, theory Catherin Bull scholarship in landscape commitment to engaging with international and practice in the global environment. architecture to support students in the discourse and practice. we were delighted within this, we look at some new methods Masters of landscape architecture. This to welcome Chilean architect Mathias and technologies in design, fabrication scholarship complements the david yencken Klotz, international planner william and construction and the impact of new Phd scholarship in landscape architecture Cobbett, uK engineer jane wernick and technologies (intellectual as well as digital which will be awarded for the first time French landscape architect Catherine and physical) on design, its practice in 2011. Mosbach, as part of the 2010 dean’s lecture and management. series. we were also honoured to host Finally, we pause to reflect on the Faculty’s Professor attilio Petruccioli and Professor alan March examines the urban policy long term association with hansen yuncken. Claudio d’amato guerrieri from the innovations in the 1980s of evan walker we use this opportunity to commemorate Polytechnic of Bari in italy, both of whom and david yencken. design innovations the 20th anniversary of establishing the presented a fascinating Miegunyah lecture in landscape architecture are outlined hansen yuncken prize for construction in july. with their extensive experience by andrew saniga in his piece on his students , and to celebrate the great around the whole Mediterranean basin woomera travelling studio and Terra number of students that have gone on and beyond, they brought insight to cross Oddities exhibition. Paolo Tombesi provides to work with the firm. cultural design and construction issues. an insight into design innovation in the realm of construction in his pieces on Best wishes we have been particularly pleased to host Miegunyah visiting Fellows Professor attilio Tom Kvan a rich series of exhibitions – this year we Petruccioli and Professor Claudio d’amato image: Pattern events exhibition have held over 40 in the wunderlich gallery guerrieri. he also writes about the AUBEA by dr stanislav roudavski and other venues in our buildings. a highlight construction management conference of these was the aBP alumni retrospective hosted by the Faculty in july. Front Cover image: Photograph series, with exhibitions by architect daryl by Peter glenane jackson in april and Phooey architects (under the directorship of Peter ho) in september. we look forward to profiling more extraordinary work in this series during 2011. Atrium Page 15 | 2010 04 | 05 THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & PLANNING Today’s City Created in the Past: Evan Walker & David Yencken AlAn MArch Present-day Melbourne is faced with Professor evan walker was dean of walker and yencken highlighted the multiple challenges and uncertainties that the Faculty between 1991 and 1995, opportunity to reverse central Melbourne demand the attention of built and natural having originally graduated with a having its back turned on the yarra environment professionals. however, Bachelor of architecture from the river. The western suburbs were under clarity as to the best urban form for our university of Melbourne in 1959. after considerable stress from unplanned city has not yet emerged between the founding a practice in Melbourne in 1963, development pressure, suffering from a multiple competing demands of population with daryl jackson joining as a partner, range of environmental quality, industrial- growth; the range and location of possible he worked as an architect until 1979. residential interface and amenity issues. building types and densities; and transport he was awarded the order of australia The state planning agency had opportunities connectivity. The ecological impacts for service to architecture, town planning to improve its monitoring and forecasting of current settlement patterns appear and the victorian parliament. abilities through the use of emerging unacceptably high, yet generating technologies such as computing and sufficient conviction to redress this david yencken, now emeritus Professor, associated methods. regulation of comprehensively at the metropolitan was head of the school of environmental change in heritage areas, beyond level remains elusive. Further, Melbourne Planning from 1987 to 1996. amongst individual sites, was poor. district centres is becoming a divided city between those his many achievements have been the were not defined clearly or planned for, who do and don’t live in well-connected establishment of Merchant Builders and leading to disjointed and variable retail, areas serviced by a range of educational, Tract Consultants, and acting in roles such transport and service provision across health and recreational facilities. as Chairman of the australian heritage the city. Planning and related legislation, Commission. he was granted the order such as that controlling the subdivision when it comes to actual practice, built of australia for service to conservation of land, was fragmented and duplicated and natural environment professionals and history. in multiple controls. Finally, the department are bound to act in the present, seeking of Planning & environment required better outcomes in the future. The in 1982, with john Cain as Premier, considerable re-skilling to keep up with Melbourne we live in today embodies evan walker became Minister for best practice and to address the certain social, environmental, economic Planning & environment, appointing challenges being identified. and physical characteristics that are david yencken as secretary for Planning. the result of important previous work. a range of highly influential planning and under the direction of walker and examination of these characteristics design policies soon began to emerge yencken, the department of Planning can draw attention to the ways that in response to identification of pressing & environment undertook a range of outcomes have been achieved, providing urban problems in victoria. while the innovative and far-reaching activities means to assess and act upon current subsequent fortunes of these policies in response to the planning challenges circumstances.