Discussion
Learn from the stories, lessons and lore
For First Nations cultures, stories are a teaching mechanism. From them, we learn what is important about a place and how to design there.
DiscussionIn which the middle goes missing
We could easily end sprawl altogether, doubling and quadrupling our density while still creating lively, walkable streets and habitable dwellings. Why do we fail?
DiscussionBuilding houses in factories for the Commonwealth Games was meant to help the housing crisis. What now?
Around half of the new dwellings for the Victorian Commonwealth Games were to be prefabricated. So is cancellation of the games a blow for prefab construction in Australia?
DiscussionWork with the landscape
Resist the urge to straighten, flatten, organize.
DiscussionSlow down
This may mean slowing down architectural processes so that the community can be meaningfully involved.
DiscussionEnoughness
While “enoughness” may be an Indigenous economic theory, it can also be considered in ecological and architectural projects as a response to sustainability.
DiscussionRecognize cultural safety and cultural load
Learn what these terms mean, and how you can increase cultural safety and reduce cultural load in your work.
DiscussionKnow who you are to community
Understand where you sit in the circle. Learn community protocols and ethics before you approach representatives to work with you.
DiscussionTurn up
People often ask how to start getting to know First Nations people. Our answer is, “Turn up” – to events, rallies, marches, talks, festivals. Turn up and take part while actively, deeply, genuinely listening.
DiscussionLions in Venice: Reviewing award-winners of Venice Architecture Biennale 2023
Justin Mallia considers the winners of the Gold Lion Awards at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale against the themes of race, politics, decolonization and decarbonization.
DiscussionReconcile with Country
From being mindful when specifying materials to incorporating whole-of-life processes, we can reduce the extent to which our industry harms Country.
DiscussionDe-centre humans
Many of the issues we face as a result of climate change have arisen because humans have taken from nature more than we need, polluting the environment in the process.
DiscussionReconcile yourself and your practice
Value the uniqueness of place and your relationship to it, taking only what you need.
DiscussionCool grass, hot grass
Elizabeth Farrelly considers an under-acknowledged modernist ally – grass – and how the lazy overuse of synthetic substitutes is leading to overheating, increased toxicity and degradation of the natural and urban environments.
DiscussionIt costs nothing to care
We may not be the ones making major decisions or spending big money on projects – but we all have core values, and there’s no reason to stop living those in our work.
DiscussionStart with Country
… And don’t only start with Country. Keep returning to it. Pass everything through a filter of caring for the health and wellbeing of Country.
DiscussionIndigenizing practice: What can non-Indigenous designers do?
This question is on the minds of many non-Indigenous architects wanting to learn how to design with Country. Budawang/Yuin woman and spatial designer Danièle Hromek has gathered together a group of individuals to answer it.
DiscussionEntanglements and more-than-human futures: The Architecture Symposium, Brisbane
The Architecture Symposium, Brisbane, part of the Asia-Pacific Architecture Festival, delved into the broader relationships between architecture and the physical and social environments.
DiscussionDreamhome: Stories of Art and Shelter
This exhibition, at the newly opened expansion to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, features a collection of works in which artists explore their dreams of home.
Discussion‘Sliding doors’ moments: Pathways to public practice
Public sector roles for architects are neither highly visible in Australia nor accessed by defined pathways from education. Monash University lecturers highlight the diverse opportunities for graduates.
DiscussionBuilding in the same old ways won’t end the housing crisis. We need innovation to boost productivity
We are stuck in the very public game of housing affordability “Whac-A-Mole,” says Mathew Aitchison. To meet our housing targets, we need to find new ways of building more with less.
DiscussionReview: The Laboratory of the Future at the 2023 Venice Biennale
Nicole Kalms reviews the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale exhibition,The Laboratory of the Future, curated by Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko.
Discussion‘It’s interesting yet it’s not’: AI and architecture
In Part 1 of a two-part series, senior associates at Warren and Mahoney, Michael Leng and Te Ari Prendergast, consider the advent of AI and how people choose to either adjust, adapt or adopt as it rolls out around us.
DiscussionSurveying Unsettling Queenstown
Donald Bates reviews the Australia Pavilion exhibition for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale and confronts a “lingering dissatisfaction” with the way architects exhibit their work.
DiscourseLines written on water
Rising sea levels will challenge all of our current systems, including property-based capitalism. Elizabeth Farrelly asks how we can plan towns and cities to suit the changing landscape and human needs.
DiscussionPractising ngara in urban Country
Maddison Miller and Matt Novacevski take us on a walk through Melbourne’s Docklands, on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, to explore what might happen if we engage with Country as a living entity, even in the built-up heart of the city.
DiscussionMelbourne Design Week: Thoughts on local texture
Artichoke’s acting editor Amy Woodroffe reflects on the significance of Melbourne Design Week and considers how its “daring, diverse” program fits within the international scene.
DiscussionGetting off the cruise ship: Architeam Conference 2023
Architeam Conference 2023 explored the many ways of working in small practice, celebrating the architects who are sailing their own way.
DiscussionArchitecture after COVID: how the pandemic inspired building designers
Architecture theorist Albena Yaneva introduces his book Architecture After COVID, the first full-length work to explore the pandemic’s impact on the profession.
DiscussionModern Beach Homes 1950–70
An Adelaide exhibition spotlights the emergence of the modern beach house along South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, recalling an era of glamour, aspiration and a nascent leisure culture.
DiscussionA house as a portrait
In 2018, Kerstin Thompson Architects designed Albury House for Jane and Vic Carroll. A written exchange between Kerstin and Jane delves into common questions about the architect–client relationship.
DiscussionOn crediting the multidisciplinary project
Design authorship is sometimes misrepresented or contested among members of a multidisciplinary project. Former Landscape Architecture Australia editor Ricky Ray Ricardo explores why this happens.
DiscussionAn Unfinished Masterpiece
Architect Peter Elliott joined forces with journalist Gideon Haigh to produce a “captivating chronicle” of the intriguing (and ongoing) development of Victoria’s Parliament House.
DiscussionCast in concrete
More than any other single material, concrete was modernism’s enabler and its most potent symbol. Elizabeth Farrelly considers the use of concrete by architects.
DiscussionIdeas from the fringe: Lateral thinking for creative solutions
The Architecture Symposium: Ideas from the fringe explored the how architects can deepen our cultural understanding, support community, consider environmental impact and amplify unique experiences.
Discussion3D printing promises to transform architecture forever – and create forms that blow today’s buildings out of the water
Not since the adoption of the steel frame has there been a development with as much potential to transform the way buildings are conceived and constructed.
DiscussionDesign competitions: Starting from Country
How do we ensure appropriate and authentic First Nations engagement in design competitions? Architect Bradley Kerr explores this question in a roundtable with four industry leaders.
DiscussionFrom Frank Lloyd Wright to Edwin Lutyens, why do unbuilt buildings continue to fascinate us?
Countless designs never make it off the drawing board at all. University of Liverpool lecturer Nick Webb explores why unbuilt architecture exists at all.
DiscussionAn optimistic act: From architecture to politics
The path from architecture to politics is rarely trodden, but Elizabeth Watson-Brown took it. As the member for Ryan, her aim is to create systemic change by design.
DiscussionMelbourne Now: a vast, sprawling and inspiring exhibition that seems to burst out of its architectural framework
Conceived as a snapshot of visual culture in Melbourne and Victoria, the National Gallery of Victoria’s Melbourne Now is challenging, visually exciting and memorable.
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