News - What's Happening in ABP
Here you will find all that is new and exciting in the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning:
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ABP Alumnus becomes new Premier of Victoria
Ted Baillieu, alumnus of the Faculty of Architecture of Architecture, Building and Planning, became Premier-elect of Victoria on 29 November 2010, with an electoral victory over ALP’s John Brumby. Baillieu’s victory has resulted in the establishment of the first Liberal-National Party Coalition government in the State of Victoria in 11 years. - ABP at Melbourne 2010 Knowledge Cities World Summit
The Melbourne 2010 Knowledge Cities World Summit, 16-19 November 2010, recently brought together leaders who shape and analyze how cities evolve to create local life spaces and professional environments, to enhance the quality of life for citizens. Hosted by the City of Melbourne, the summit’s program included an impressive line-up of local and international speakers and included dynamic discussions around the summit theme of From Theory to Practice. -
VEIL to attend United Cities and Local Governments Congress in Mexico City
The Victorian Eco Innovation Lab (VEIL) has been invited by the World Mayors Summit and Siemens to participate in the upcoming United Cities and Local Governments Congress in Mexico City in November. The VEIL Sustainable Cities Blog, run by Kate Archdeacon, will be run out of the World Summit at Mexico City for the duration of the conference. View Story - Continued ARC Success for ABP
In October, the Australian Research Council (ARC) announced the results for applications in the final round of the Discovery Projects scheme for 2010. Again, staff from the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning were successful in securing grants in their respective disciplines, reflecting the exceptional standard of our academics and relevancy of their research initiatives. View story. - ‘Headspace 1’ gets into New York’s Architecture & Design Film Festival
Dr Stanislav Roudavski, a lecturer in digital technology at the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning, has produced a documentary titled HEADSPACE 1, which has been included in the official program of the 2010 Architecture and Design Film Festival in New York. View story. - Visionary alumni celebrated for their contribution in transforming the Yarra precinct
Two of our alumni were acknowledged this week for their contribution to the revitalization of the Yarra River precinct. Transforming the Yarra, a multimedia walking tour focusing on the extraodinary transformation of the river since the 1980s, was launched by Premier John Brumby on Tuesday 13 July. View story. - Architecture Accreditation Success
The Master of Architecture degree has just been granted professional accreditation by the Architects Registration Board of Victoria and recognition by the Australian Institute of Architects (June 2010).
This formal accreditation is an endorsement not only of the quality and innovation of our new architectural program, but of the ‘New Generation’ degree structure, often referred to as the ‘Melbourne Model’, introduced by the University of Melbourne in 2008. It is also a fantastic endorsement of the Faculty’s new 300-point Master of Architecture introduced this year, specifically designed for people with non-cognate degrees wishing to gain a qualification in architecture. View story.
- ABP staff seize more ARC Linkage Grants
In June the Australian Research Council (ARC) announced the results for applications to the second round of Linkage Projects for 2010. Congratulations to three Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning staff who have been successful in securing ARC Linkage Project grants – Professor Kim Dovey, Dr Robert Crawford and Associate Professor Julie Willis. View story. For further details of the winning projects visit the ARC's website.
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Postcard from Mexico - Monterrey Travelling Studio
14 June 2010
‘We are working in the El Ranchito community Guadalupe Monterrey alongside Dr. Pedro Pacheco’s ITESM Tec de Monterrey students. EL Ranchito is a community of around 900 garbage pickers and their families who live in temporary housing without water or sewerage. Our students have been involved in a design charette, community consultation and development process with the El Ranchito Community. As a result, over the last 4 or 5 days, we have started building a number of new community facilities including a swing and playground, a community meeting place and a soccer field adjoining a mural. These projects have been built using donated and recycled materials obtained from the site. These projects have been well received by the community, who have fed us all each day, and we have received considerable press coverage in two of Monterrey’s daily papers.’ - Dr Peter Raisbeck, Studio Leader
To view an article on the studio published in the daily Monterrey newspaper Gente on Monday 14 June 2010, click here. For more information on the studio visit the MSD Monterrey Travelling Studio web page. -
Headspace 1: Bachelor of Environment students create and display extraordinary headwear
On Friday 28 May, the flamboyant Headspace I Fashion Parade was presented in the Atrium. Headspace 1 is the creative culmination of the Bachelor of Environments' ‘Virtual Environments’ course. The event was attended by more than 300 people and saw students parade extraordinary paper headpieces, designed during the course. View story -
Recognising Teaching Excellence and Innovation: Dean’s Honours Awards 2009
On Thursday May 20, 2010, the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning recognized and celebrated the outstanding academic achievements of students and teaching staff at the annual Dean’s Honour’s Awards. In addition to the numerous prizes and awards given out to high achieving students in our coursework and research programs, awards were presented to ABP academics who distinguished themselves in 2009 by creating and facilitating innovative teaching curriculum and environments. View story -
ABP staff projects all selected to exhibit at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale: View story
The Australian Institute of Architecture (AIA) announced on March 25 the 17 teams to exhibit in the Australian Pavilion, as part of the ‘NOW + WHEN Australian Urbanism’ exhibition, at the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale. Three projects led by ABP academics have been made the final cut:- Peter Raisbeck, Nicola Dovey, Simon Wollan, Madeleine Beech and Jono Brener (as part of Colony Collective) – Mould City
- Steve Whitford (with James Brearley) – Symbiotic City
- Justyna Karakiewicz and Thomas Kvan (with Steve Hatzellis) – The Fear Free City
Several other teams to exhibit in Venice have ABP graduates and sessional teachers as members and Philip Goad is a member of the Institute of Architecture’s Biennale Committee. View story
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MArch graduate Fiona Lew seizes major architecture student prize
Congratulations to one of our recent graduates Fiona Lew who was awarded the BlueScope Steel Glenn Murcutt Student Prize at the inaugural Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards (AAAA) in Brisbane on March 18, 2010. This is a fantastic achievement, given the number and quality of student projects entered into this high profile national competition. View story. - MSD recent graduate receives ‘Special Mention’ in the 2009 Architecture Australia Prize for Unbuilt Work
Recent graduate, Cliff Chang (BPD Arch 2005, MArch 2009) has received a ‘Special Mention’ in the 2009 Architecture Australia Prize for Unbuilt Work for his project Uncovering Williams Creek. The project, completed in 2008, also involved recent graduate Feng Feng Chen and was supervised by Janet McGraw. The AA jury citation noted that: 'This proposition aims to redeem the environmental; health of a once natural waterway which is now a polluted drain beneath Elizabeth Street. In so doing it aims also to revive the once more noble status and memories of water within this part of Melbourne. … This is a skilful proposal which balances the sometimes controversial references to far from perfect environmental husbandry with an optimism to entwine today's city life in an uplifting way with rediscovered nature and history. It is hoped that the political will can enable this unbuilt proposition to become a built reality for all of Melbourne to celebrate.'
Read more about this and other projects in the Jan/Feb 2010 edition of Architecture Australia. - New Urban Planning summer subject: Comparative Urbanisation and Governance
Melbourne School of Design and other University of Melbourne students have the unique opportunity to engage with leaders in the area of urban planning and policy by participating in the intensive summer subject Comparative Urbanisation and Governance. The subject, running from February 15 to 20, features seminars with Sheela Patel, Founder-Director of the Mumbai-based NGO ‘Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres’ (SPARC); Philip van Ryneveld,international consultant on intergovernmental relations, fiscal transfers and municipal finance; Professor Richard Tomlinson and Professor Sun Sheng Han of Urban Planning in our Faculty. This represents Sheela Patel’s much anticipated return to Melbourne and ABP. In March 2009 she gave a presentation on slum upgrading, as part of our Dean’s Lecture Series. Over 300 people attended her public lecture. Following Comparative Urbanisation and Governance, a second intensive on ‘best practice’ and ‘pro-poor’ comparative housing and services (slum upgrading) will be offered by ABP in July 2010. This subject will also be taught in collaboration with SPARC.
- MSD Masters students travel to Chile and propose ideas for the design of a new settlement in Patagonia
Melbourne School of Design students journeyed to Chile in September on a travelling studio led by Associate Professor Ray Green. The studio required the MSD students to partner with students from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and come up with sustainable and creative designs for a new settlement in Patagonia - a town which had been destroyed by a volcano eruption in May 2008. The final designs from this unique and challenging studio were exhibited in the Wunderlich Gallery in November.
View video: Vision Episode 66: Santiago Travelling Studio - Professor Philip Goad writes a feature article in the Nov/Dec 09 edition of Architecture Australia
Professor Philip Goad reviews the 2009 National Architecture Awards, stating ‘National awards programs are like orthodox histories: well intentioned but selective, always partial and rarely magisterial, biased because choices have to be made, a sprinkling of gems and genuine insights matched by workaday and worthy pronouncements, not quite a manifesto but never quite loaves and fishes for all, inevitably self portraits in some way of their authors – in this case, a jury bearing the load of their professional peers.’
Visit the Architecture Australia website to find full details of this issue and articles. - Cosmos –Careers in Science profiles ABP programs
ABP and our programs received considerable coverage in the current edition of Cosmos magazine, magazine, which profiles study and career options available through the University of Melbourne. The magazine features an article on Sustainable Cities with comments from Professor Philip Goad and GAMUT. It also has a piece on Safer Cities which includes three key elements for creating a secure city by Associate Professor Carolyn Whitzman and an article on Professor Richard Tomlinson’s research into the impact of town planning on health in South Africa. Profiles of two current Bachelor of Environment students and one of our high profile alum, architect Peter Ho, also feature in Cosmos.
Check out the full publication at: http://marcom1.unimelb.edu.au/ext/ebook/
- Taking it to the streets
Hannah Lewi’s innovative ipod tour – ‘Formative Melbourne Walk’ – featured in an article on audio-visual walking tours in the November edition of VOICE in The Age on Monday November 9. An online demonstration of the architecture tour is available at at the itouch site. - Faculty features in 2009 Victorian PIA Awards for Planning Excellence
The 2009 Victorian PIA Awards for Planning Excellence was held on Friday October 16 in Melbourne. The University of Melbourne received several awards and commendations at Friday night’s gala ceremony. The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) manages this annual awards program which promotes planning and recognises innovation and excellence in the built environment, specifically in areas involved in planning Victoria's cities, towns, regions and places. View story - Focus on Infrastructure
The Faculty received considerable coverage in The University of Melbourne’s October edition of VOICE (Volume 5, Number 7), published in The Age. Paolo Tombesi, Kim Dovey and Tom Kvan featured extensively in the cover article ‘Building character’; David O’Brien’s ‘Bower 09’ design studio was profiled in the piece ‘Engaging with the community’; and Clare Newton was reported in an article on the Federal Government’s program of school refurbishment. View articles at the Melbourne Voice site. - Architecture students challenge Melbourne's urban sprawl
The roles that existing cities and buildings have to play in a carbon free future were the central debate in a new exhibition by Master of Architecture students held in central Melbourne last month. The three different design studios on show based their thoughts on the central issue that ninety percent of the infrastructure that will exist in 2020 is already built. The exhibition called Grid, Corridor & Field (23 - 29 July, 2009) was a response to the urban planning and design challenges facing Melbourne. Over the last three months, 45 Master of Architecture students from the Melbourne School of Design developed an engaging array of visionary propositions to shed light on the critical questions confronting the life and design of our city. The Government’s plans to release a further 41,000 hectares of land for urban expansion have been gaining media coverage recently. The visions of each studio are just some that attempt to address climate change, urban sprawl adaptability and the ills that go with inequality and vulnerability to change. For more information about the studio visit Grid, Corridor and Field. View or download the the article in The Age, Saturday 27 June 2009. - World University Games
Congratulations to Property and Construction students Victoria Brown and Dimitri Roumpos who have both been selected by their respective national sporting organizations to represent Australia (and by association, the University of Melbourne) at the upcoming World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia (1 – 12 July). Victoria will be representing Australia in Water Polo, while Dimitri will be representing Australia in Table Tennis. Both Victoria and Dimitri have been great contributors to sport at the University of Melbourne, and both have previously been awarded Sports Blues. Their selection to represent Australia at the World University Games is another feather in their sporting cap. An article on The University of Melbourne student’s selection to represent Australia is on the Melbourne University Sport website at http://www.sports.unimelb.edu.au/. - Prize Winners
Congratulations to students in the subject Advanced Landscape Technology, coordinated by Dr Sidh Sintusingha, who have taken out both 1st and 2nd prizes in the Students Competition category of Growing Up: The Blueprint to Green-Roof Melbourne design competition organized by the Committee for Melbourne’s Future Focus Group. They are Mathilde Vasnier and Lara Wescott winning first prize and Yu MingYu and Jie Hui Chen (collaborating with engineering students Jian Yang and Yanqing Ruan) winning second prize. In the Professional Competition category, Ruth Czemak of Botanical Traditions who tutors for landscape architecture also won 3rd prize. The judging panel for the competition was chaired by Geoffrey London, the Victorian Government Architect. View or download news article - Blue Dragons and Gateways
Redesigning and redecorating the gateways in Melbourne’s China Town is part of City of Melbourne and the Victoria Multicultural Commission’s $4 million capital injection targeting a range of improvements in cultural precincts. The Melbourne School of Design’s Asian architecture specialist Associate Professor Qinghua Guo, in collaboration with research student Jia Xu, have completed decorative designs on the two Tianjing Garden entry poles. Named the Blue Dragon of the East, the poles were opened on Wednesday 13 May 2009 by the Premier John Brumby and form the Spring Street entrance to Little Bourke Street’s China Town. View story - Building Smarter
The University of Melbourne Voice featured research students Angela Alessi, Surabhi Chaturvedi and Sung Jun Kim in an article on their research on building smarter offices. The University of Melbourne Voice, Volume 5 Number 1, April 13 - May 10. View article - Trash & Treasure
University of Melbourne students have built a complete shelter out of household waste as part of an investigation into two pressingnational issues: waste disposal and housing affordability. View video: Episode 46: Trash & Treasure - Infrastructure Looking to the Future
How China handles its impressive new Olympic infrastructure both during the Games and after the athletes have gone home is also under scrutiny according to Dr Hao Wu of the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning. See full article in The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 5 14 July - 10 August 2008. - Associate Professor Paul Walker and Dr Scott Drake write feature articles in the July/August 08 edition of Architecture Australia
Dr Scott Drake reviews the new Sam Miranda Winery cellar door building by Alex Popov and Associates saying that "For this, Popov's first venture south of the border, the abstract monumentality of his work has adapted to include a little semiotic play." Associate Professor Paul Walker looks at a house in Elwood designed by NMBW. "Here NMBW has transformed a house- already much altered – which appears originally to have been typical of the neighbourhood, the tightly planned volume decked with woody details suggesting a care for building craft that, in this case, was more rhetorical than real." Visit the Architecture Australia website to find full details of this issue and articles. - Dr Jonathan Sterne visits ABP
In August, Dr Jonathan Sterne will be visiting the faculty for a seminar presentation entitled "Format Theory" (Thursday 7 August at 4.15pm) in the Japanese Room. Dr Jonathan Sterne is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History and Communication Studies and the History and Philosophy of Science Program at McGill University. He is author of several publications including his next publication tentatively entitled "MP3: The Meaning of a Format." Postgraduate students located in the Melbourne area are invited to schedule an appointment with Dr Sterne who will be available on Friday 8 August (10-3pm) to meet to discuss research ideas, career trajectories and thesis conundrums. More details and to make an appointment ... - Professor Catherin Bull Awarded an AM in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2008
The Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning congratulates Professor Catherin Bull on being appointed Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for service to landscape architecture and urban design. The Faculty proudly celebrates the achievements of our staff and is particularly delighted that Catherin has been rewarded in this way. She represents the University impressively in her involvement with the faculty, university and the wider community. View the Caulfield Leader article - Research Student Is a Finalist In An International Architecture Competition
Milinda Pathiraja, a Bachelor of Architecture graduate and currently enrolled in research degree, under Paolo Tombesi's, supervision is among the top-ten finalists in "AMD Open Architecture Challenge | Africa." More information can be at www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/challenge/africa - Glass Now Half Full – Public Acceptance of Recycled Water on the Rise, According to New Study
Community attitudes towards recycled water are undergoing a massive change for the better, according to a new University of Melbourne report completed by Completed by Dr Anna Hurlimann for the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment. More details ... - Malaysian Designers and Planners Make Leading Contributions to Sustainable Cities
An acknowledged expert on sustainability in design, Professor Tom Kvan of the University of Melbourne, says Malaysian architects and planners are recognizing that sustainability is a major issue for Malaysian cities. More details ... - Dr Alex Selenitsch and Andrew Hutson write feature articles in the May/June 08 edition of Architecture Australia
The May/June 08 edition of Architecture Australia sees Dr Alex Selenitsch reviewing PHOOEY Architects' Children's Activity Centre at Skinners Playground in South Melbourne. He says "... this is not a playground, but a kind of house/office/school for the flats in front of it. For once, Activity Centre seems to be an accurate name. And when this difference is established, you can see what architecture offers, and how it is different from what you normally find in such compounds." Andrew Hutson reviews John Wardle Architects' Nigel Peck Centre for Learning and Leadership at Melbourne Grammar School saying "The prospect of locating the Nigel Peck Centre for Learning and Leadership at the school boundary, a busy thoroughfare, was an opportunity for Melbourne Grammar School to address its image at an interface of private and public realms. The challenge for John Wardle Architects was how to balance its response to the school's heritage with awareness of public engagement."
Visit the Architecture Australia website to find full details of this issue and articles. - Re-imagining Fitzroy: Re-urbanizing Atherton Gardens
Eight Masters of Architecture students at the University of Melbourne are holding an exhibition of ideas for the future of the Atherton Gardens estate and Town Hall precinct in Fitzroy. The exhibition is at the Reading Room of Fitzroy Town Hall from Thursday 1 May until Sunday 4 May (daytime). The students will host a community feedback forum on Sunday from 3-5pm in the Reading Room to explain their ideas and get direct feedback from the local community. See exhibition details - Architecture Student Wins Honourable Mention in MIT Competition
Congratulations to architecture student, Kirsten Miller, won an honourable mention in the MIT 'Just Jerusalem' competition for a project that she completed for her Architectural Design 5B studio in 2007 coordinated by Janet McGaw. More details ... - Students Win Prize in Google Competition: Virtual 3D Campus
Two University of Melbourne student teams from Geomatics (Faculty of Engineering) and Architecture, Building and Planning, have taken second and third places respectively in a Build Your Campus in 3D Competition for Australian and New Zealand universities. - SB08 MELBOURNE - Sustainable Building 08 Student Sessions
ABP is hosting the student sessions of the SB08 Melbourne conference. The core theme of the SB08 Melbourne Student Sessions is to shift the goal of minimising harm to creating maximum benefit and true symbiosis between built and natural environments. To meet this challenge the student sessions will discuss the issues of supporting research development and encourage new design thinking to push the concept of sustainability. - ABP announces two new ARC-Funded PhD scholarships in Sustainable Architecture and Architectural Design
Applications are invited from suitably qualified applicants to undertake research in the areas of Sustainable Architecture: Occupant Comfort in Naturally Ventilated and Mixed-Mode Spaces within Air-Conditioned Offices and Architectural Design: A Study of the Potential for the Public to be Involved in the Design of Large Scale Public Works. Applications close 26 March 2008. - Transport Logistics Research to Shape Sustainable Urban Development
Professor Kevin O'Connor has been successful in winning a grant from the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations to study 'Transport Logistics Research to Shape Sustainable Urban Development'. - Website Launched for Study into Students, Community and Place-making
Transnational and Temporary is a research project conducted by Professor Ruth Fincher, Professor Paul Carter, Associate Professor Paolo Tombesi and Dr Kate Shaw who are investigating the question of how place-making might occur when the majority of people are transnational rather than local in their orientation, and temporary rather than permanent in their settlement. - Podcast
Up Close Episode 8: Getting Public Transport Back on Track. In this episode, Dr Paul Mees from the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning explores public transport systems for dispersed cities like Melbourne.