Dr David O'Brien
BPD, BArch (Hons) (Melb), PhD (Melb)
Senior Lecturer in Architectural Design and Technology
Email: djobrien@unimelb.edu.au
David O'Brien practiced as an architect before joining the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. He has since worked in community development projects in rural Thailand, the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea. He works in teams to consult, design and build community infrastructure projects alongside community groups, postgraduate students, government agencies, aid workers, builders, engineers and sociologists.
Thailand
David’s Thai based research has been supported by the Sir Edward Weary Dunlop Fellowship, an Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Award and funding from the Australia/Thai Institute. In 2005 he lived in northern Thailand to complete his PhD thesis Global ideas and local practices: Unearthing the 'glocal' in Thailand’s low-cost housing market.
He has worked with local community groups as well as partners including Population and Community Development Association, Thammasat University, Silpakorn University, Kasetsart University and Chiang Mai University. In 2008 he coordinated a subject where masters level students worked with Thai counterparts to build a sala (pavilion) at a health clinic in rural Thailand.
Further details can be found at the Thai Project website.
Australia
David’s ‘Bower’ series of projects with indigenous communities in Australia’s ‘top-end’ have been funded by grants from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the University of Melbourne and by philanthropic supporters. In 2008/2009/1010 he coordinated subjects where masters level students worked with indigenous communities in design/build/consult projects to improve housing outcomes and build community infrastructure projects.
In 2009 the University team worked with local groups to renovate a house in the Gudorrka Community. Further details of this project can be found at the Bower 2009 website.
In 2010 the University team worked with local groups to built two ‘Media Hubs’, one in the Gudorrka Community and the other in the Knuckey’s Lagoon Community. Further details can be found at the Bower Studio website.
Papua New Guinea
In 2010 a team of postgraduate students from Melbourne worked with students from Papua New Guinea University of Technology to build a pavilion in the remote village (Serongko Village) and another in the shantytown (Bumbu). The rural villagers provided cut timber (prefabricated to our instructions) and city shops provided the industrialised materials (nails, corrugated steel roof, gutters and water tank). In both locations a similar pavilion was built so we could test the capacities of our partners to prefabricate, the ways the pavilions would be appropriated by the communities, test ideas about future housing types and also examine the building’s capacity to capture and collect fresh rainwater and its use.
Further details can be found at the Hauswin website.
Aceh Province, Indonesia
David’s work in Indonesia’s Aceh province is funded by the New York architectural firm Rafael Vinoly Architects. The project investigates resident’s modifications to the houses built by reconstruction agencies working in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The project tests for ways to improve the provision of disaster relief and the ways to improve the environmental, cultural and spatial sustainability of housing in the aftermath of disasters.
Further details of this project can be found at the Aceh-project website.
Current Teaching Responsibilities
- Architectural Design (postgraduate)
- Sutainable Tropical Housing (postgraduate)
- Construction Technology (undergraduate and postgraduate)
- Masters and PhD students
Research Interests
Indigenous housing, community development, tropical architecture, low-cost housing ideologies, low-cost housing technologies, self-help housing, informal settlements, sustainable construction materials and systems.
Recent Publications
Chapters in Books
O'Brien D. 2003. Hybrid space: New housing prototypes in north-eastern Thailand. In J Haswell & D MacCallum (eds), Liveable communities. Perth, Australia: Black Swan Press, pp. 107-116.
O'Brien D. 2003. Modernity's Legacies: from Corb to CBIRD. In RJ King , O Panin & C Parin (eds), Modernity, tradition, culture, water, Bangkok: Kasetsart U.P., pp. 269-274.
Journal Articles
Natakun B & O’Brien D. 2009. Extending the house/extending the dream: Modifications to government-built housing in Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Journal of Architecture/Planning Research and Studies. 6 (3): 45-64.
O’Brien D. 2009. Regrowth Pod. Architecture Australia, 98 (4): 27-29.
Morton J & O'Brien D. 2005. Selling Your Design: Oral Communication Pedagogy in Design Education. Communication Education. 54(1):6 - 19.
O'Brien D. 2004. Eurocentrism: Do Thai and Australian Housing Developers Have a Case to Answer?. Na Jua – Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, Silpakorn University. 20:130-138.
O’Brien D. 2002. Moderated Influence: Globalisation and Thai Housing. Na Jua – Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, Silpakorn University. 18:59-75.
Conference Proceedings
O'Brien D. 2010. From Humpies to Houses: The Development of an Indigenous Town Camp Community. In Chapman M & Ostwald M(eds), SAHANZ - Imagining. Proceedings of the 27th International SAHANZ Conference. 1 (1): 311-317. Newcastle, Australia: SAHANZ.
Stout A & O'Brien D. 2010. Giving Voice to indigenous Housing: Consultations with a 'Top End' Town Camp Community. In Chapman M & Ostwald M(eds), SAHANZ - Proceedings of the 27th International SAHANZ Conference. 1 (1): 414-419. Newcastle, Australia: SAHANZ.
Ahmed K & O'Brien D. 2009. Sustainable organic building materials for housing: the case of post-disaster reconstruction in Indonesia. In Loo S, Nolan G, Sequeira S & Soriano F(eds), Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Architectural Science Association, ANZAScA 2009. 0-0. Launceston, Australia: School of Architecture and Design, University of Tasmania.
O'Brien D & Hill H. 2009. Safe 'n' sound: Building with indigenous workforces in Australia and Thailand. In Lingard H, Cooke T & Turner M(eds), Conference Proceedings: CIBW099 Conference 2009. Melbourne, Australia: RMIT University.
O'Brien D, Ahmed K & Hes D. 2008. Housing reconstruction in Aceh: relationships between house types and environmental sustainability. In Lizarralde G, Davidson C, Pukteris A & De Bois M(eds), Building Abroad: Procurement of construction and reconstruction projects in the international context. 361-370. Montreal, Canada: The University of Montreal.
O'Brien D. 2007. International Temperature Variations in Hot/Humid Climates. In Coulson J, Schwede D & Tucker R(eds), Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference of the Architectural Science Association ANZAScA. 174-181. Adelaide, Australia: The Architectural Science Association.
O'Brien D & Hes D. 2007. The Third Way: Developing low environmental impact housing prototypes for hot/humid climates. In Wakefield R & Blismas N(eds), Proceedings of the XXXV IAHS World Congress on Housing Science 2007. Planning, Design, Construction, Performance. 1-9. Melbourne, Australia: RMIT University.
O’Brien D, & Dovey K. 2006. Reality/Television: Hype, Tradition and Everyday Life in Rural Thailand. In N. Al Sayyad (ed), Hypertraditions. International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE). University of California, Berkeley.
O'Brien D. 2006. Lightweight tropical: Reconnecting construction technologies with thermal comfort. In S. Shannon, V. Soebarto & T. Williamson (ed), Challenges for Architectural Science in Changing Climates, ANZAScA 40th Annual Conference of the Architectural Science Association, The University of Adelaide.
O'Brien D. 2005. Can New Construction Technologies Drive a Sustainable Housing Industry in Rural Thailand?. In F Shafii & MZ Othman (eds), Conference on Sustainable Building South East Asia. 484-492. Johor, Malaysia: Construction Technology and Management Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
O'Brien D, Sintusingha S & Dinh QP. 2004. Regionalism and the Global Suburb in Southeast Asia. In A Kasemsook (ed), Current: Reflection of Society. Silpakorn Architectural Discourse 2003: 3rd Mini Symposium. 23.1-23.15. Bangkok, Thailand: Faculty of Architecture, Silpakorn University.
O'Brien D. 2004. Modeling Asian Modernity: New Technologies and their Impact on Rural Spatial Structures. In J Wu , Z Wu & S Muramatsu (eds), Modern Asian Architecture Network 4th International Conference Proceedings: Safeguarding and Revitalizing Local Heritage. 346-351. Shanghai, China: College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University.
O'Brien D. 2003. Regional housing development: pitfalls and possibilities. In T Trong Hanh, T Hong Doan, D Hau & U Dinh Chat (eds), Creating better cities in the 21st century. 550-556. Hanoi, Viet Nam: Hanoi Architectural University.
O'Brien D. 2003. Timber, earth or concrete? Towards a new housing industry in South-East Asia. In G Gilbert , C Langston & JRW Robinson (eds), Proceedings of the Postgraduate Construction Research Conference. 1-15. Melbourne, Australia: RMIT University.
O'Brien D. 2001. Mediating Cross-Cultural Exchange: Curriculum Design for Teaching Programs in South East Asia. In S Pullen , V Mehrtens & G Zillante (eds), Proceedings of the Australasian University Building Educators Association 26th Annual Conference. Constructing and Managing the Built Environment: Education and Research for the Future. 27-31. Perth, Australia: Australasian University Building Educators Association (AUBEA).
Design Awards
2005. Best Use of Timber Award at the Architeam Awards for the Littlewood House, Bunbury O’Brien Architects.
2004. Exhibit award from the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria for the Trail of the Elephants at the Royal Melbourne Zoo, Green and Dale Associates and David O’Brien.
2003. National Award for Excellence in Heritage Interpretation from the Interpretation Australia Association for the Trail of the Elephants at the Royal Melbourne Zoo, Green and Dale Associates and David O’Brien.
2000. S Whitford, D Radovic, Q Guo, D O’Brien, et al. International Urban Design Competition for Shenyang University Campus and Student Housing, (Third Prize).
Research Grants
2009. Rafael Vinoly Architects Research Grant ‘Transformation of Post-Disaster Housing: The Case of Aceh, Indonesia’ ($60000)
2008. Strategic Research Initiative Fund, University of Melbourne, ‘Indigenous Housing: The Sustainable Alternative’ ($25000)
2007. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia/Thailand Institute Research Grant, ‘Sustainable and adaptable housing prototypes for Thailand’s rural communities’ ($16000)
2005. Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Award, Awarded by the Australian Government’s Department of Education, Science and Training ($25000)
1999. Sir Edward Weary Dunlop Asia Fellowship, Awarded by Asialink ($15000)
1999. Multimedia Pilot Grant ‘Developing Computer Based Learning Techniques To Enhance Curriculum Delivery: Computer-based learning in Communications’, Teaching and Learning (Multimedia and Educational Technologies) Committee ($9500)
Jury Member
2005. Association of Siamese Architects (Lanna Chapter) Jury Member, Annual Architecture Awards (Domestic and Commercial).