Catwalk architecture: Wearing the City 2015

Students from Monash University Art Design and Architecture (MADA) have created 11 works of wearable architecture for the 2015 Wearing the City project.

Now in its second year, the project challenged students to reinterpret Melbourne’s iconic interiors, from the historic to the contemporary, at a scale for the human body.

This year, a group of architecture and fine art students worked with architect Cate Hall and fashion designer Miriam Borcherdt to design the pieces. Geometric forms were a common feature among this year’s projects, with many of the architectural hallmarks in the interior spaces echoed in the costume designs.

“The project engages with architectural form at the scale of the body and provides interdisciplinary challenges,” said Miriam Borcherdt, lecturer at MADA. “The students have been experimenting with a range of both rigid and pliable materials that consider scale, proportion, and the body’s movement.”

Hamer Hall (Roy Grounds/ Interior: John Truscott, upgrade by ARM Architecture) by Kia Achilleos and Celina San Jose.

Hamer Hall (Roy Grounds/ Interior: John Truscott, upgrade by ARM Architecture) by Kia Achilleos and Celina San Jose.

Image: Matthew Stanton

The 2015 designs are:

  • St Paul’s Cathedral (William Butterfield) – Monique Woods, Hoai My Linh Duong, Nicole White
  • NGV Great Hall (Roy Grounds/ Ceiling: Leonard French) – Ken Wu, Isabella Alvarado
  • Heide II (McGlashan Everist) – Melissa Brown, Tess McLaren, Eastina Zhang
  • Capitol Theatre (Marion Mahony Griffin and Walter Burley Griffin) – Luke Lim, Caitlin Wallace
  • Hamer Hall (Roy Grounds/ Interior: John Truscott, upgrade by ARM Architecture) – KiaAchilleos, Celina San Jose
  • Baker D. Chirico Carlton (March Studio) – Qianying Weng, Jesse Oehm, Lily Fong
  • Shrine of Remembrance – Galleries of Remembrance (ARM Architecture) Melissa Parker, James Zhao Jin Yan, Julia Quirk
  • Myer Melbourne interior Chasm (NH Architecture) – Ruben Digby-Diercks, Matthew Luong
  • Main foyer 171 Collins St. (Bates Smart) – Cecilia Young, Alisha Vasudevan
  • NAB docklands (Woods Bagot) – Isabella Peppard Clark
  • The Quays (McBride Charles Ryan) – Emily McBain and Yoana Doleva

Students compete head-to-head in a catwalk contest at MPavilion, Saturday 14 November, 5–7pm to be judged by a panel of multi-disciplinary jurors. A winner will be announced on the night.

Wearing the City is inspired by a legendary 1931 costume ball of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, in which over 20 of New York’s pre-eminent architects of the time dressed up as a building they had designed, including William Van Allen as the Empire State Building. It’s a tradition that lives on in many of New York’s architecture schools.

Related topics

More industry news

See all
The proposed Acute Service Building at Flinders Medical Centre by Silver Thomas Hanley and ARM Architecture. Designs unveiled for new hospital facility in Adelaide

The South Australian government has unveiled designs for the expansion of Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) by Silver Thomas Hanley and ARM Architecture.

Yasmeen Lari, Heritage Foundation Pakistan and Chair of INTBAU. Australia Architecture Conference 2024: Full program announced

The Australian Institute of Architects has announced the full program for the 2024 Australian Architecture Conference, to be held in Melbourne from 8 to 11 …

Most read

Latest on site

LATEST PRODUCTS