Accuracy And Opportunity
The Nov/Dec 2000 AA includes a letter from John Chappel decrying the recent history of the RAIA following “the so-called restructure”. In response, the National President on the same page points out several errors of fact in John Chappel’s letter. The President, however, makes his own mistake of fact in respect to a most fundamental matter. He says, “The former state institutes abandoned their sovereignty in 1929 in order to establish the RAIA”.
No state institute abandoned its sovereignty in order to establish the RAIA.
State institutes continued to exist until various years between 1934 (in NSW) and the 1960s (South Australia and Victoria).
Some, but not all, state institutes handed over many of their functions to the RAIA at its birth but it was a far cry from all abandoning sovereignty in order to establish the RAIA or for any other purpose.
John Chappel’s errors of fact do not diminish the probability that the gist of his letter touched some raw nerves in many members, especially in small chapters. The direction to which the RAIA points nationally may well be the cause of some members starting to think about re-establishment of state institutes.
However, one great opportunity to cement the Institute’s position and importance nationally lies in the Productivity Commission’s recent recommendation that registration acts should be repealed and that the profession should develop a national, non-statutory certification system.
State institutes could not do that but will the RAIA do it?
Unfortunately, it appears that the RAIA is not interested in the challenge and wants to cling to statutory registration, shifting it to a national registration system, notwithstanding the inability to demonstrate real public benefit of any substance in statutory regulation of architects. On that score, I think we can expect a lot of words in the new millennium but what else?
David Standen, WA
RAIA Reply
The RAIA initially thought that a system of self regulation administered by the Institute would be the best course. This would result in more architects feeling compelled to become a member. However our research indicates that the public have greater faith in a statutory system established to protect the public interest, rather than a self regulatory system which is generally perceived as an arrangement under which a profession protects the interests of its members.
A statutory system of registration and regulation is the system that has been adopted by most countries. For Australia to adopt a self regulatory system would probably result in our trading partners viewing our system as being inferior to those other countries such as the USA, the UK, Hong Kong, the EEC countries etc.
To clarify the status of events in 1929, while the state institutes agreed at that time some did not actually wind things up until later.
Ed Haysom, RAIA National President
Promoting Schraeger
As a former Melburnian currently living in London, and studying interior design, I couldn’t help seeing a remarkable opportunity when I recently read an article in Melbourne’s The Age regarding the re-birth of the Southern Cross Hotel. The article hinted that there was concern in some circles as to the market demand for more hotels and retail in the city. This could be true, but this doesn’t necessarily mean Melbourne is not ready for another five-star hotel. It just depends on what sort of five-star hotel.
Ian Schraeger is the man Melbourne should try to secure to transform the Southern Cross into a real talking point, before it becomes just another anonymous city hotel. His most recent work in London includes the St. Martins Lane Hotel, and the Sandersen Hotel, both of which have turned long-forgotten, 60s era eyesores into cutting-edge media and celebrity hangouts that have become regular features in international design and style magazines.
Just as when it first opened, a similar re-work of the Southern Cross would secure it as once again the hotel of choice for all the big names visiting the city.
London’s Sandersen Hotel, in particular, bears a striking resemblance to the old Southern Cross building (albeit somewhat smaller than the SC) which, in its presently gutted form, is just the sort of blank canvas someone like Schraeger excels at.
His designs are completely original and so not to everyone’s taste, but Melbourne, more than any other Australian city, has recently prided itself on its willingness to embrace exciting, controversial design and architecture (the Federation Square “shard” notwithstanding). The city has more than its share of small, boutique hotels that push the design envelope – i.e. The Prince, Hotel Lindrum etc. However, Melbourne is ready for a large, high-profile “designer” hotel. A Schraeger hotel would catapult Melbourne into the realm of “hip city” status, alongside London and New York.
With a Schraeger hotel inevitably come shops and restaurants not yet seen outside the northern hemisphere. The closest thing Australia has at the moment is the “W” Hotel in Sydney. With the recent Olympics and associated restaurant, bar and accommodation boom in the Harbour City, Melbourne has somewhat lost grip of its reputation as Australia’s most sophisticated city.
Sure, there’s some excellent local talent in Melbourne, but with big name architects such as Foster and Piano clambering to add international kudos to the streets of Sydney, Melbourne has a good chance to get in on the act by reeling in some international players for some of the city’s black spots ripe for development.
A Frank Gehry Guggenheim for the vast docklands development, instead of the baffling choice of Geelong? But that's an entirely different opportunity for Melbourne waiting to be overlooked….
Matthew Warne, London
Fixes
• Garry Forward informs us that Forward Brianese did not recommend the use of Thermocell on Hobart’s Federation Concert Hall. We regret any unintended link between the architects and the controversy we reported in relation to the Concert Hall’s perceived thermal performance.
• Unfortunately we failed to credit Lee Lambrou for the rendering of the house and surgery designed by Dominic Alvaro and published in Radar Projects in the January/February issue.
