News - What's Happening in ABP
Here you will find all that is new and exciting in the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning:
- 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. To register visit the SBO8 website.
- 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. More information can be found on the PhD Scholarship website.
- 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 'The Impact of Freight Logistics for Urban Development and Sustainable Future Transport'.
- 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.