Letters: Architecture Australia, January 1998

Never A Foster Staffer
As always, your feisty journalism is received in the spirit that it is intended but for the sake of accuracy [‘Radar Projects’, AA Nov/Dec 97] … I have never worked with Norman Foster or in his office. I did write a thesis on his work (and that of Rogers, Piano and others) in 1982 and have consequently visited many of his buildings and offices. I also visited the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank during construction during those halcyon days which gave rise to his stardom but was never in the Sir’s employ. I take your comments as a great compliment but it should be noted that they are, unfortunately, untrue. The only foreign architecture office which I have had the fortune of working in was Marcel Breuer & Associates in New York during 1979-80, shortly before the old master’s death. Notwithstanding this, the Ang House is great and I look forward to your in-depth article on it when construction is complete next year.
From Ed Lippmann, Sydney

Crawley Campus Info Call
I am organising an exhibition for the University of Western Australia’s Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery on the 1914 design competition for ‘Laying-Out the University Grounds and Gardens, Including the Disposition of the Buildings of the University of WA [Crawley Campus]’. The exhibition is scheduled for September 1998 and I am seeking help to obtain drawings, articles and other papers relevant to the competition brief, entries and management.
The exhibition will show as many of the original designs as possible in the context of prevailing national and international ideas on town planning (eg the Canberra competition held only two years prior), university planning (eg the 1900 competition for the University of California at Berkeley) and landscape architecture.
Twenty-six entries were received and three prizes awarded: 1st, Melbourne architect H. Desbrowe-Annear; 2nd Perth civil engineer H.W. Hargrave and Honourable Mention, English gardeners J. Cheal & Sons. Other known entrants included W. Burley Griffin and Sydney architects G. Sydney Jones and J. Barr, but we have not been able to locate a registrar of entrants. Unfortunately, entries were returned to their authors at the close of the competition.
I seek your help in identifying the remaining 20 competitors and, ideally, images of their submissions. I would like to hear from anyone who has encountered mention of thecompetition in their research. If you can help,

Federation Square
Your comment [‘Federation Square’, AA Nov-Dec 97] that the entries shown represented the approach of trying to match the design taste of a famous juror is apt. However, this could be answered by a reference to the Opera House, where Utzon’s ‘take’ on Saarinen’s neo-expressionist shells was a great success.
However, the Opera House is on a relatively isolated spit of land. And the current controversy over its unsatisfactory new neighbours shows that, even at such an open site, new construction ignores existing buildings at its peril.
The Federation Square site is, by contrast, part of a fine-grained downtown grid—one of the world’s most successful examples of this urban form. A southward extension of the edge of the building east of the cathedral would have formed an open space of the size called for, would have left clear views to the cathedral and the station corner and would have assisted subsequent solutions to one of the major problems of the site: how to entice pedestrians across the main roads and down to the river.
Such a solution would not necessarily imply a 90-degree geometry, either for the remainder of the complex or for the extended edge. (Many of Sitte’s exemplary plazas are trapezoidal or irregular in plan.) To my eye, all five of the shortlisted schemes ignored this essential principle of urban design and produced open spaces which are too large and/or too fragmented.
From Joseph Buch, Nedlands, WA

More ESD Projects Please
Architecture Australia [Nov/Dec 97] included an admonition by Professor Peter Droege about an apparent lack of progress in implementing ESD: “… but where’s the progress? Where is the mass implementation of Mobbs’ seventies sanity? Where are the prayed-for solar generators and trail-blazing environmental innovations?” This apparent lack of on-the-ground implementation arises from a presumption that ESD is the preserve of government in large development projects. It is reinforced by the absence of room in architectural publications about ESD implementation. Perhaps a small corner could be found in AA for this aerial overview of a small selection of

Stocktake Error
I refer to an article [‘Radar Review’ Nov/Dec 97] which attributed the organisation of the Sustainability Stocktake conference to the Urban Design Forum and the Australian Council of Building Design Professions (BDP).
Although from all reports it would appear to have been a most successful conference, BDP is unable to take credit for hosting or organising it.
BDP was one of a number of organisations which provided sponsorship for the event. In addition, BDP chose to present its inaugural Urban Design in Australia Award at the conference and I thank the organisers for this opportunity.
I congratulate Jan Martin (convenor), Geoff Campbell, David Collett, Angharad Dean, Pedro Geleris and various others whose hard work made the conference possible.
From Heather Howes, executive officer, Australian Council of Building Design Professions, Melbourne.

Credit Fix
Rosso Design in Auckland has written to say that our ‘Radar Projects’ coverage of New Zealand Parliament House, Wellington [AA Sep/Oct 97] did not include credits for Warren & Mahoney as principal architects for the Parliament and Library buildings or Works Consultancy Services (now Opus) with Rosso as architects for Victoria University works on the site. Our coverage focused on the conservation role of Sydney architects Howard Tanner & Associates, in response to their concern that NZ publications, apparently working with press releases initiated by Warren & Mahoney, ignored or diminished the Tanner contributions. The projects recently won NZIA awards.

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