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federation
square
more money for square 3.10.00
The State Government has just approved a further $75M bailout
to the Federation Square project, and confirmed that the "Federation
Square Management Company" had taken over the running of the
project.
the
age - passing of the shard (22.09.00)
the
national trust view
OMP sacked from fed square 23.09.00
The Office of Major Projects have been removed from responsibility
for the Federation Square Project after costs were realised
to have tripled from the original $110M. The decision was
recommended by a recent Bracks government review. In other
news, LAB architects have been charged to come up with a new
design to replace the ditched northwestern shard, one that
retains the view of St Pauls Cathedral.
the
age (22.09.00)
the
age - passing of the shard (22.09.00)
shard woes 14.05.00 A working
party is to start examining options for the redesign of the
Swanston/Flinders corner in the wake of Premier Bracks decision
to can the western shard. The architects are still hoping
for the reinstatement of the shard, stating delays, extra
cost and impossible re-planning among their reasons. The cost
of the project is set to escalate over $300M. Latest news
at the age and shards-yes.com Discuss at the age talkback.
shards
09.05.00 Federation Square's eastern shard vetoed by Premier
Bracks. The architects lectured a full Storey Hall Monday
on why the shard should stay. Latest news at the
age and shards-yes.com
Discuss at the
age talkback.
Federation Square archive
2001
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hanover
design competition / homelessness
wardle's slice of life 2.12.00
John Wardle Architects in conjunction with
Becton have won Melbourne's Hanover Design Competition with
a busy multifunctional building that includes a glass wall
to Flinders Street revealing unofficelike activities to the
street. Parallels with the market building that occupied the
site until 1958 are intentional. Will it be built? Not likely
in this form, but let's hope Wardle gets to do something on
the site.
age 1.12.00
hanover
at the age
www.johnwardle.com
hanover entries complete
23.11.00 In
early September, eight Melbourne architects were randomly
paired with eight developers to design a structure for the
wonderfully seedy western end of Flinders Street. The resulting
building had to include low cost housing, which has been decreasing
in availability in recent years. Most of the architects have
design galleries of their submissions at the following link.
See winner below.
hanover
at the age
competition
to benefit homeless 09.09.00
The
Hanover design competition will hopefully see one of the gloomier
intersections in Melbourne's CBD given new life. Eight developers
have paid $10,000 each to Hanover Welfare Services to take
part. They will each pair off with architects (Six Degrees,
Ashton Raggatt McDougall, Nation Fender Katsalidis, Elenberg
Fraser, Carey Lyon, Peter Elliott, John Wardle and Kirsten
Thompson) to make proposals to develop the site. The development
must include twelve low income housing units, but other than
that the brief is open. The completed designs will go on show
in the middle of October.
the
age (08.09.00)and
the
age (08.09.00)
homeless
numbers surge 26.09.00
Housing prices, Olympic demand, backpackers
and a lack of commitment to public housing have pushed Sydney's
public housing waiting list up to 97,000 people. This equates
to an eight to ten year delay in people gaining housing.
Victoria is not far behind with 65,000. 70,000
people in Sydney found themselves homeless for an extended
period in 1999. 1,200 housing units were built last year in
Sydney, about 20% of the figure 30 years ago. Not helping
matters is the widespread conversion of boarding houses into
hostels catering to the booming backpacker industry. (the
age GW 09.09.00)
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melbourne
issues
are
they kidding?? 28.11.00
The Melbourne City Centre Executive,
a government and council-funded body, has submitted its ten
year plan for the Central Business District. In what seems
to be a move to convert the city centre into an inner Chadstone,
the following moves are suggested:
>A monorail(!)
to connect shoppers between the city, southbank and the casino.
>Closing
Chinatown to traffic.
>Gentrifying
Swanston Street into a quality retail and lifestyle avenue.
>Roofing
over Bourke Street Mall and expelling its trams.
>Extending
the shopper "ant track" that runs south from Melbourne
Central beyond Bourke Street Mall by building another department
store.
This report
doesn't stop there but it's too distressing to continue. In
their enthusiasm to create a "truely world-class shopping
centre", they seem to be losing sight of what is unique
in the city as it stands. At least they didn't ask for more
carparks.
(yarra leader 27.11.00)
Sandridge
Bridge 17.11.00
Melbourne's derelict Sandridge
rail bridge sits forlorn at a pivotal point of the city. Expressions
of interest are being sought for uses for the structure. More
information on how to compile a design and construct submission
is available here.
britomart
winner 26.11.00
Auckland's Waitemata Waterfront competition
has produced a winner, Southern Californian
Mario Madayag, after/font> a two stage
competition. The competition focussed on the difficult block
of reclaimed land that includes the closed CPO and the Britomart
Bus Terminal. Madayag's winning submission imagines a 'market
square' in place of the bus terminal, and a forest to fill
the downtown area's great mistake, QEII Square.
Jasmax Architects have been helping Mayadag develop the scheme
since he reached the second stage of the competition. Rem
Koolhaas' name pops up on the project team line up, but in
an as yet unknown capacity.
(NZ
Herald, 18.11.00, 22.11.00;
NZIA Architext 11.00)
rescode
"fundamentally flawed" 12.11.00
An independent planning panel reviewing
Victoria's draft residential code is rumoured to think that
the whole thing should be thrown out. It is belived that the
new code's complexity, and its one-size-fits-all approach
have made it unworkable. metro 08.11.00
sam newman to keep his facade
12.09.00
Sam Newman's controversial St Kilda house,
designed by Cassandra Fahey, is to keep its pixellated glass
Pamela Anderson facade now that the local council has approved
its retrospective planning permit. But what does Pamela think?
the age (12.09.00)the
age - norman day (12.07.00)
green
games get bronze
07.09.00
"Greenpeace has downgraded the Olympics
to a c-grade in environmental responsibility. "There’ve
been broken promises about PVC, ozone-depleting and greenhouse-polluting
air conditioning, and natural gas buses". (natural
life canada 21.08.00)
spowers
seeking spencer street 17.09.00
Spowers Group of Melbourne is to present
an unsolicited scheme this week proposing an $825M development
on top of the rundown Spencer Street Station. They are proposing
a mix of eight and twelve storey towers, with a "green"
theme afr
14.09.00
olympic architecture exhibition
06.09.00
An exhibition has opened at the Custom
House in Sydney profiling the buildings at Homebush. (raia
28.08.00)huh?
architects face deregulation 07.07.00
The Productivity Commissions draft report
into the Architect's Act is available for reading online,
as are transcripts of the June hearings. Responses from the
RAIA and registration authorities are also available via the
practice section.
guggenlong29.07.00
The entertaining pursuit of the Guggenheim by Geelong has
netted a visit to Geelong by museum director Thomas Krens.
After a year of harrassment by Geelong's council, the media,
and Premier Steve Bracks, Krens has relented to touring Victoria's
own Bilbao later this year to decide whether a feasibility
study should be made. The siting of the imaginary museum is
causing friction too. Geelong councillor, Ken Jarvis, who
holds the 'guggenheim portfolio', has called local conservationists'
actions "terrorism". The Port Phillip Conservation Council
Inc recently announced to the museum that it would oppose
siting of the museum on the Eastern Park foreshore. (the age
29.07.00)
raia gets with it
06.09.00 Architecture in Australia gets an important
new resource with www.architecture.com.au,
which I've finally discovered. A searchable online database
of australian award-winning architecture.
"roads, roads and more roads"
21.08.00 The Royal Australian Planning
Institute says past premier Kennett's freeway plans are back
on the agenda. The new Bracks government recently announced
it is investigating several new roading projects, some of
which were dumped when they entered office. Three of these,
freeways at Craigieburn, Scoresby and Ringwood, will interfere
with creeks and wetlands. Opponents say that VicRoads
bureaucrats have stepped in to fill a government policy vacuum.
protest (the
age 21.08.00) / feature (the
age 20.08.00) / scoresby and ringwood (the
age 08.08.00) / scoresby positive comment (the
age 10.08.00) / scoresby negative comment (the
age 09.08.00) /
craigieburn
(the
age 08.08.00)
rescode2000 implications dawning
28.08.00 The proposed victorian planning scheme is
causing some agitation in councils as they realize the difficulties
in being required to vet the character of new developments.
Leigh Snelling, Moreland councillor responsible for planning,
feels restricted by the constraints of the plan, saying that
it will prevent "delivering the architeture of tomorrow".
She puts the conservatism of the code down to the strength
of the backlash that brought it about. Paul Jerome, the Department
of Infrastructure's Director of Planning responded that, "built
form is not architectural style. Built form is more about
bulk, setbacks, height of a building. Architectural style
is about the detail within that." He conceded that more debate
is required. (the age 26.08.00) rescode2000
home page
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foreign
issues
the greyer the better 12.11.00 Beijing,
in an odd move to beautify the city with the 2008 Olympics
in mind, has determined that all new buildings be grey. More
at AP(8/11/00)
millennium dome wins an award for a change
The
Guardian
- Dead duck cartoon
20.10.00
London's doomed
dome finally won an award - a construction industry award
praising its tensile membrane top. But otherwise it's all
bad news. Tony Blair has apologised for it, people are getting
arrested for it, and a Michael Jackson / David Copperfield
funded consortium might be buying the 937M pound elephant
for a bargain 135M pounds.
The
Guardian
- The Dome
The
Independent
- The Dome
Russian
architectural monuments go the way of the rouble20.10.00
The last ten years have not been kind to many of russia's
landmarks, including the Bolshoi Theatre and the Hermitage
Museum. Local money is hard to find, so many institutions
are seeking overseas sponsorship. More at cnn
 dulles
watch 24.08.00 Eero
Saarinen's Dulles Airport in Washington was the 'fastest growing
airport in the world' last year and so a US$3.4B extension
and renovation is planned. The building was last extended,
to Saarinen's plans, in 1996. As part of the development,
new walkways connecting the terminal to concourses are currently
being built. The design and rendering for these appear disturbingly
amateurish next to Saarinen's work.
architectural
record 8/00
dulles
D2 homepage
washington
airports project information
"a
monstrous blancmange" 24.09.00
Prince
Charles has eagerly joined the mounting opposition
to London's beleaguered Millennium Dome, telling visitors
to Buckingham Palace that the Dome was a "monstrous blancmange"
and a "crass waste of money". In 1984 the Prince
referred to the first proposal for an extension to the National
Gallery as a "monstrous
carbuncle". We at zebra hope that the royal vocabulary
may be broadened before the next attack on contemporary architecture.
The
Independent
- Prince's rant
08.09.00 /
The
Independent
- The Dome Mess
the latest /
what
is a blancmange?
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other
items
seijima
and the MCA 20.08.00 Japanese
architect Kazuyo Seijima has been invited to recompete for a
competition she thought she'd won three years ago. The Sydney
MCA extensions were to take place two years ago but the well-publicised
management restructuring has meant a new competition is required.
Seijima was less than happy to receive an invitation to the
new contest and has made her feelings known in a letter to the
MCA. "... Even if the financial situation surrounding MCA has
changed since then, our position as a selected architect should
not be influenced." smh
27.07.00
praemium imperiale 17.08.00 Richard
Rogers has just been awarded this nobel equivalent in London.
venice
biennale news
 brass
bridge rocks the boat 11.08.00 The
Christchurch public has been heatedly debating the merits of
the soon to be constructed "millennium pedestrian bridge" over
the river avon. The council-run competition was recently won
by sculptor Andrew Drummond. Architecturally conservative Christchurch
is a city caked in gables and mansards on both new and old buildings,
so hopefully this simple design will signal easier times ahead
for artists and architects.
bridge
home page
CBD gets more buildings 15.07.00
Harry Seidler has designed a building for
developer David Marriner on a key corner of the CBD, Bourke
and William Streets. The Grand Central will stand 56 storeys
high. article
at the age.
It now appears probable that a 33 storey DCM-designed
building for APN will be built on the corner of Exhibition Street
and Collins Streets.
rescode2000 backlash begins 15.07.00
Signs of concern for the implications of
the draft victorian planning code are beginning to surface in
the press. In an Age article, architect Norman Day discussed
the recent popularity of "unfriendly" modernism in australian
design and how the Rescode will work against this work. "[Some
of] The public has become increasingly upset with what planning
has done to their suburbs... [they] would prefer the badly reproduced
forgery to a contemporary creation, and the new RESCODE legislation...
supports that view. (the age 15.07.00)
rescode2000
home page
legionella 11.07.00
The legionella keep on showing up in a
cooling tower near you. Last week a spray mist from 241 Collins
Street was investigated and found to contain the bug. This was
the fifth occurence this year. Last month it was found in the
Collingwood footy team's spa pool, and the month before at 222
Exhibition Street. In April three died after a mist drifted
across queues entering Melbourne Aquarium.
Yarra Leader 10.07.00 state
government help page
las vegas fortress 07.07.00
The new Las Vegas courthouse has been built
with curtain walls and slab connections to resist bombs like
Oklahoma's and upthrusting earthquakes like Northridge's. Connect
to the LA
Times for a full description of the structure.
rescode2000 defines 'neighborhood character'
14.06.00 Planning
minister John Twaites has responded to the vocal Save our Suburbs
groups in the draft planning code just published. Developers
will now have to demonstrate adherence to the predominant neighborhood
character as gauged by the local council. "The govermnment wants
appropriate development, it does not want streets destroyed
by ugly boxes", he said. The government is not seeking to obstruct
medium density housing, which it sees as inevitable with the
number of small households relocating into the city. Dual occupancies
will not require a planning permit if they satisfy certain conditions.
In a surprise move, the opposition is seeking an interim planning
code to replace the Good Design Guide in the meantime. The final
code is intended to be released next year.
the herald sun
(no link to article)
rescode2000
home page
day in dili 10.06.00 Norman
Day and a crew of Australian architects and urban designers
are contributing to the redefinition of a shattered country.
Click to headspace20
.
reconciliation square 22.05.00
The Federal Government is to build a $5M
square to reconciliation in the parliamentary triangle. It will
acknowledge 'indiginous contributions'. The announcement came
a day after prominent activist Charlie Perkins publicly lamented
that reconciliation would be unlikely while John Howard was
in power. the
sydney morning herald
sydney gets a 'new' train line 22.05.00
No longer need you chance your luck in
Sydney's airport taxis, the train has arrived - sort of. The
Campbelltown line has a new side branch that passes by the airports.
Several new stations have been built, which with the new track
cost $900M. Tourists are having to pay up to four times as much
as the commuters they share the trains with to pay off this
debt. The new stations are very similar (confusing for travellers)
and are fitted out with such restraint that they verge on the
bland. the
sydney morning herald
strike 22.05.00 The
recent death of a building site worker has prompted a walk off
of many others. They claim that the new state government is
dragging its heals with WorkCover reform. Full story in the
age.
the cost of bricks 14.05.00
The cost of laying a brick has doubled
in the last year due to a pre-GST residential building boom,
making supply scarce. Ironically the boom is causing over-committed
builders to go bust as they pay too much to their subcontractors
to get the work done. Two major home builders have fallen in
the last two weeks leaving more than 700 homes incomplete. Full
story in the
age.
docklands goes residential 14.05.00
The Studio City consortium is to go into
liquidation, stalling indefinitely the Viacom-backed theme park
at Docklands. Residential projects are the only starters apart
from the Colonial Stadium that are likely to be completed. Mirvac
recently announced that documentation work would recommence
on their second and third riverside towers. Work stopped earlier
in the year during union 36 hour week negotiations. the
age
avonwood anger 06.05.00
Hundreds of owners of half-built houses in Victoria and Queensland
protested outside the head office of Avonwood homes after they
went into liquidation. Last minute efforts to form an allegiance
with Sydney's Clardendon Homes fell through. Avonwood have directed
blame at the surge in the cost of bricks due to pre-GST panic
demand.
housing guarantee
fund 24.04.00
Robert Caulfield, manageing director of
Archicentre, has called for a state government review of changes
made to the Housing Guarantee fund last year by the Kennett
government. The limit for the claimable amount was reduced from
$100,000 cover for defects and faults plus $100,000 for bankruptcy
down to 20% of the contract sum.(sourced
from The Age 24.04.00) April 2000.
legionella 06.05.00
The Melbourne Aquarium is now under threat
of a class action by customers made sick by the building. Two
have died and over 70 more are affected. The management, contractor,
subcontractors and government are currently ducking and weaving
around allegations of negligence.Latest
news at the
age/issues
tunnel opens19.04.00
Melbourne's Domain tunnel opened on April
16th to the delight of some and the consternation of others.
Southbank architect Peter Deacon, living next to its vent stack,
said recently that, "I feel they have a responsibility to do
it right in the first place and if they haven't got it right
they should be made to do so. If filtration systems are available
they should be made to install it." The Environmental Protection
Agency has announced better air monitoring around the
tunnel. April 2000 (Metro News 19.04.00)
gold The RAIA awarded
this year's gold medal to South Australian architect John Morphett.
April 2000.
Full coverage at the RAIA.
good design guide going? 19.04.00
Victoria's City of Yarra, encompassing
Richmond and Collingwood, has adopted a new residential planning
code to replace the Kennett government's "Good Design Guide
for Medium Density Housing", and the City of Moonee Ponds is
following suit. The Yarra model requires more housing projects
to be subject to planning permits. Planning minister John Thwaites
is considering approving the new design guide. (sourced
from Metro News 19.04.00) April 2000.
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