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Closing the pod bay door
31.12.01 WITH UPDATES
The sun finally shines down on us in Melbourne, after the coldest and greyest December on record. It's been a year of broken records, few of them good.

On the last day of the year, Sydney experienced its highest pollution levels ever due to 100 bush fires along its perimeter. Over 100 houses have gone up in flames and the weather is not improving. Blames for the damage has been laid in various quarters: The home owners for building too close to the bush (100 metres is recommended but not very practical); and urban bureaucracy for delaying approvals for back burns that would have lessened the current devastation. Central to both is a lack of understanding of how we should dwell in and interact with a fire-prone land.

December is the time of year to slip controversial decisions through without anyone noticing. The National Gallery of Australia has approved Tonkin Zulaikha Greer's revised entrance, surprising even the architects. The original glazed proposal caused a flurry in the mainstream media not often witnessed when the topic is architecture. The revised proposal has a lot more zinc than glass in it, not that this would appease Colin Madigan, the architect of the original structure. He was caught off guard by the new proposal. On Friday he said, "I thought it was abandoned." The latest approval appears to test the new Moral Rights legislation which requires building owners to keep the original architects informed of alterations.

The NGA upstaged a new building down the street, in the local media at least. Ashton Raggat McDougall's National Museum of Australia had them excited overseas though when it opened in March. Domus featured the building, Daniel Libeskind fumed about it, and Deyan Sudjic called it, "an architecture of intelligence and anger, of imagination and obsession, with an ambition not just to redefine Australia's sense of itself, but architecture too."

September 11. The day was 2001 for many. New York lost 3000 people and its two front teeth. This act of terror had firm connections to the construction industry. Osama is the estranged son of a Saudi family that made millions in construction. Ring leader Mohammed Atta studied architecture in Egypt and urban planning in Hamburg. Resources page.

A rare item of light relief during the year has been Geelong's attempt to become an instant cultural capital using the Bilbao / star architect formula. Their efforts to secure their own Franked Guggenheim have suffered as the fortunes of the Gugg itself decline. The following is from a feature article in the Australian Magazine, December 2001: "In 1998, Cousins told his fellow diners at the Empire Grill: " If you build McDonald's golden arches to lure potential visitors off the highway, he argued, why not substitute the international cachet of the Guggenheim brand, diverting into the city the million or so tourists who bypass Geelong each year as they head for the Great Ocean Road."

Mid year say the collapse of Australian insurance giant HIH, exposing many builders to liabilities for past and present buildings. Architects have suffered many flow on effects as domestic builders have not been able to secure insurance, many now working illegally.

The future of the architectural competition gets shakier after a year of pulled plugs and burnt fingers. In Sydney, the second competition for the MCA required two designs from each participant, was clearly won by sauerbruch and hutton from a large field of entries. It's now been canned, which is a shame as they played the same trick just a couple of years ago, causing Kazuro Seijima to spit tacks after her winning design was turfed out. Sydney shone again this year when it neglected to announce a winner for the Ultimo Pool competition, despite having shortlisted five participants. In Wellington things have been no better in the Dowse Gallery competition, which drove Peter Woods to state that,"the raison d'être of architectural competition became a brainstorming forum for a potential client's speculative project."

In an admirable attempt to drain the king tide of mediocrity that is Sydney multi-residential housing stock, Premier Bob Carr has introduced a pattern book for developers to follow, based on ten architecturally designed medium density developments. In addition, Carr has introduced legislation forcing developers to use architects if their building is to be three storeys or higher. Maybe Auckland, a similar city with similar problems, could take a tip.

Meanwhile Auckland's new Britomart precinct should have begun excavation by now, all going well. After decades of procrastination, Mario Madayag's scheme was selected to make sense of this large block of reclaimed waterfront land. A central motive of Britomart is to provide Auckland with the public transportation hub that it doesn't have. It's a worry then that in his recent report to the newly elected council, hatchet man Bill Birch has identified public transportation as an area where savings can be made (because "most people prefer to drive cars").

Grollo says Rialto would not have fallen 08.12.01
Yesterday it was alleged in Melbourne's Herald Sun tabloid that the Rialto Towers were also a target for suicide bombers trained in South Australia. Bruno Grollo, the semi-retired head of Melbourne's most famous building firm, said in September that the 63 storey Rialto Towers would have survived the attack because of their solid concrete cores and columns."When the planes hit, that was just plain madness but when the buildings fell I thought, 'what the hell is going on here' ", Grollo said. " If they'd had a concrete core in New York, you would have got most of the people out."

The Rialto Towers were built in 1985 and the highest tower remains the Southern Hemisphere's tallest building.

In 1995 Bruno Grollo proposed to build the 680 metre tall Melbourne Tower, which would have been the world's tallest building. It was designed by Denton Corker Marshall architects and Bonacci Winward engineers using a steel exosketal system similar to the World Trade Center's.

In related news, Bruno Grollo's wife Mrs Dina Grollo died this week after a long illness.

SOURCES:
HERALD SUN 07.12.01
WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN 08.12.01

Plischke building under threat 17.11.01
The Cashmere Community Centre in Wellington is under threat of demolition. Plischke was a Viennese architect who spent 24 years in Wellington after escaping Austria at the beginning of World War Two. He pushed a grudging local population into modern architecture with his work for the Department of Housing Construction in Wellington, before going into partnership with Cedric Firth and concentrating on private houses.
RELATED:
ARCHITECTURE CENTRE PRESS RELEASE
BIOGRAPHY (NZ HISTORY)

Noosa as a stage 17.11.01
Noosa is to host the inaugural Floating Land Festival. This environment art festival takes place from December 2 - 16 and will include works by Warren Langley and Pamela Lofts of Australia, Andre Maigne and François Davin of France, and Malta's Norbert Attard.

and the winners are: 17.11.01
The 2001 RAIA Architecture Awards were announced in Adelaide yesterday. The big gongs went to Denton Corker Marshall who won the Sulman Award for Melbourne Museum, and to Donovan Hill, who scored the Robin Boyd Award for Residential Building with D House. The Australian reported that this was DCM's 60th award and Donovan Hill's fifth award. The jury got quite excited by the Museum, calling it a "heroic architectural achievement." A group of students from the University of South Australia, working with Chris Landorf won the Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban design with the Line of Lode Memorial at Broken Hill.

The other award winners:
Commercial : Bligh Voller Nield for the Sydney Ansett Terminal.
Interior Architecture Award + Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage : Wood Marsh + Rice Sklinner for Mansion Hotel, Werribee.
Sustainable Architecture Award : Ryder Associates Architects for Sydney Velodrome.
Special Jury Awards : Andrew Nolan's Jenkins/Robson House and Craig Rosenvear's Whale Beach House
Colorbond Steel Award : Woodhead International for the Karijini National Park Visitor's Centre, Pilbara.

SOURCE : THE AUSTRALIAN 17.11.01
RAIA PRESS RELEASE

taskforce thinks design costs too much 13.11.01
Premier Bob Carr's proposal to have expert design panels vet urban development has stirred a response from the heavyweights. The Urban Taskforce, including Mirvac, Meriton and a few other players in the multi-residential development industry, have complained of being shut out of the design panels. While an improvement in urban design standards would be a good thing, they say, the extra design work and consultation will make inner city developments a domain of the rich. Spokesperson Wendy Machin said in the SMH, "We would all benefit from improved urban planning, but my fear is that under the current proposal only a few could afford it."
Fears Carr's design war will push up prices (SMH 13.11.01)
And quality for all: Carr wants good flats everywhere (SMH 06.11.01)
Bob Carr's vision splendid of a proper block of flats (SMH 05.11.01)

millennium dome going nowhere 06.11.01
For a moment there it seemed that London's white elephant dome might have a new home at Ground Zero, sheltering the site from the onset of winter. But it was all a mistake. The dome will continue losing money right where it is in Greenwich.
Duke drops Dome bid (BBC 03.11.01)
Millennium dome to conceal WTC site (Frontier Post Pakistan, 04.11.01)

bill lucas dies at thredbo 03.11.01
Sydney architect Bill Lucas has died of a heart attack at Thredbo, aged 76. Bill's work included the glass house at castlecrag, the Paddington Orange Tree Grove apartments and Moonbah at the Thredbo resort.
full obituary by Neville Gruzman (SMH 01.11.01)

snøhetta win margate competition 03.11.01
Norwegian firm Snøhetta, in collaboration with Spence Architects, last week won the commission for the new Turner Centre in the depressed seaside resort Margate. The result is perched on a wharf and resembles a giant upside-down purse. It will be clad in green oak.
aj 31.10.01 (photos)
snøhetta

koolhaas wins copyright case 03.11.01
Rem has just won a court case that should send shivers through any employer. His company was taken to a British court for his Rotterdam Kunsthal design, which a disgruntled ex-modelmaker thought copied his work. While the case was thrown out swiftly, Koolhaas is unlikely to recover legal costs.
guardian UK 03.11.01

FAME - world's going to live forever? 03.11.01
A new graduate group has formed in Melbourne, and had its first meeting Thursday night at the Trades Hall. The focus of the group is sustainability and a varied panel of experts tackled the issues from their own perspectives. The key message seemed to be that if you want to make a difference, just start doing it and stop waiting for an enlightened client to walk through the door.

Also, sustainable community design was seen as an important direction. With the bulk of australians entrenched in speculative, energy-intensive housing in the 'burbs this will be a hard barrow to push.

Future information on this group will be posted as it comes to hand. (FAME = Future Architects of Melbourne).

ando in st louie 30.10.01
Japanese architect Tadao Ando has just completed his first U.S. commission in St Louis Missouri, for the Pulitzer Foundation of the Arts. "My goal... was to take to the limit the relationship between the works of art and the volume of the building's space."
PHOTOS:
Art of Ando in St. Louis Architecture Week
Pulitzer Arts Foundation

silent monument 28.10.01
Australian architecture and design magazine Monument has quietly removed its innovative web site. It has not been accessible for the last two weeks and had not been updated for several months. The site was launched in November 2000. The print version of the magazine is still available, but getting harder to find. Looks like they could do with some support.
www.monument.net.au [off air]
www.terraplanet.com


all farewell the watchtowers 28.10.01
Northern Ireland is losing its border watchtowers - ungainly and menacing structures built in a hurry by the British military in the 1980s. This is a symbolic response to the Irish Republican Army's weapons diposal programme.

The towers operated as self-contained police stations - even waste was ferryed away by helicopters. In a sign of the times, spy cameras started to appear on them in the mid '90s. Security has less of a requirement for architecture now finds its new home in the electronic realm.

Demolition of the towers will please many of the residents who have had to live beneath their gaze and had to deal with the consequences of high local radiation.
RELATED:
+ Watching the bases come down BBC 10/01
+ GUARDIAN JANUARY 2001
+ TOWERS OF SILENCE PHOTO ESSAY


mirror mirror 28.10.01
update: the tent will stay until Nov. 25.
MELBOURNE FESTIVAL
The Spiegel tent at the Melbourne Festival is a prefabricated timber performance venue with more in common with a merry-go-round than a tent. It was imported from Europe (though I heard someone say Adelaide). It's probably really old (but might not be, it could be one of the copies). Marlene may have danced in it. This building could be an imposter.

No matter. There were plenty of people dancing in it happily at 3 this morning, hours after the bar had closed. I don't imagine it being very exciting by day, as this building is made for the night. The mirrors, the highlight windows with the night sky beyond, the minimal lighting, the intimate scale, the timber booths, the round parquetry dance floor creaking with the rhythm, the breakneck manouevres of Algerian dancers, all conspire to whip you away to a place that only really exists in the imagination.

The season of the Spiegel Tent draws to a close. The dancers will depart taking their music with them. The Arts Centre Forecourt will return to its dull self. And the clubbers will return to their concrete box nightclubs under the city and wonder what's missing (I hope).
RELATED :
SPIEGELTENT
ABC INTERVIEW

melbourne maxes 22.10.01
The Melbourne job scene for architects has not been like this for years. This editor was contacted twice today as the headhunters get busy.The short message is: this is not the time to sell yourself short (unless you happen to be particularly enjoying yourself in your current workplace or you like to think of yourself as a hobbyist). Architectural salaries have been held artificially low since 1989, and now is the time for them to be corrected. When you're next negotiating, don't forget that inflation ran at 6% for most of this year and that award rates have increased significantly in the last year.

RELATED:
APESMA AWARD RATES LINKS


bowled by myer 11.10.01
MELBOURNE FESTIVAL
The Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne's Domain was opened this evening by Xanana Gusmao, leader of East Timor. Hundreds turned out despite the chill to see the Australian Chorale and Boys Choir test the venue. Greg Burgess et al have done well. The slick refurbishment brings the bowl into the present with great respect. The aluminium panels glowed with kaleidoscopic projections, mesmerising surtitles to the music. The steel cables and posts are gleaming. Concrete balconies have been installed to the sides of the stage injecting a Hadid-ish counterpoint to the mid-century roof.

The acoustics were lousey, but that's not what the bowl is about. Yuncken Freeman's 1950s design has been used for events as diverse as iceskating, AC/DC concerts and raves.

Slightly disturbing for what was presumed to be a public free venue, the landscape has been shifted around so that it's difficult to see performances from the newish perimeter fence. The grass viewing slope seems steeper and closer to the stage. A smart cafe and toilets have been strapped around the back of this viewing mound bringing another dose of coffee commerce into the gardens.

blocks of wood 05.10.01
1000 Melbourne architects and artists are currently locating their 140 x 140mm blocks of wood around the city. This is the new dipersed Fringe Architecture Show. Each block will be doctored as its owner sees fit, then placed on a step or ledge for all to see and trip over. A litter problem is not expected as the blocks will probably get nicked fairly swiftly.

architectural landfall 30.09.01
The New Zealand literary journal "Landfall", issue 201:Shelter, features an interesting set of articles with an architecturtal bent. Included are an article by Douglas Lloyd Jenkins about a Rigby Mullan house for a gay couple in the late 50s, David Mitchell on Mario Madayag and his Britomart-induced entry to Auckland, and a lot more. Worth a look. (University Of Otago Press, $NZ 24.95).

where in the world? 29.09.01
After a bit of a web search, zebra is left wondering what exactly the World Architecture Day is. The great Google can only find traces of it in Hong Kong and Australia. It would seem to be misnamed.

However, such an event does occur down under, with its strongest focus probably being in New Zealand, where it even warrants reporting in the daily newspapers. Thumbs up to the NZIA, which has a very successful tie-in with the WAD, having hundreds of practices across the country open their doors to the public.

In Australia, marking of the day is low key. In Melbourne it consists of an exhibition of 1920 Stuttgart housing and two tours of the city. Quite possibly the exhibition would have happened without it being World Architecture Day (whenever that is).

Zebra hopes that our esteemed professional bodies get their acts together in the future and exploit the potential of this event to bring architecture a bit closer to the masses.

but why did they fall? 12.09.01
The attack on the New York World Trade Center towers.

Why did they fall? The airliners impacted and the buildings stood for up to an hour. Then they fell in succession, barely shifting from their sites. And the world watched, silent and sickened.

The american TV network ABC interviewed the engineers of the WTC and presented the rumour : intense 1600F heats generated by the internalised fire caused the thin steel floor trusses to expand, pushing out the exoskeletal steel mullions, and causing them to buckle. As the external mullions were doing a lot of the work supporting the floor plates, when they buckled the floor fell. And so on.

This would explain why both buildings fell in such a contained way, and why the mullions are all that is visible at the top of the eight storey mountain of rubble. It also would explain why the external walls bulged slightly as the collapse began.

What is yet to be explained is why this common tall-construction method has such a fatal flaw.

RELATED:
ZEBRA : DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING

plug pulled on pool competition 01.09.01 The City of Sydney has not found a winner for the Ultimo Aquatic Centre competition. Despite allowing five of original 100 entrants into the competitions shortlist, the jury determined that, "the entries did not meet its expectations in terms of design excellence."

The losers have not been quiet about it. Simon Hanson told the SMH that, "the Lord Mayor is questioning the level of professionalism of the industry itself." Des Smith says he would tear down his panels from C.E.S. exhibition of the finalsts if he was in town. The architects also said that the brief required too much to be squeezed onto a tight site with an inadequate budget.
SMH ARTICLE 31.08.01

Open the pod bay door 20.08.01 "Space Odysseys" opened at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on the 18th (closing 21 October), and will exhibit all manner of spatial multimedia by local and international artists. László Moholy-Nagy's 1930 film, Lightplay Black-White-Gray will also play. Extending the concept of art that you can enter, the exhibition also has a crash hot student-run online component.
AGNSW
SPACE-ODYSSEYS.COM

Melbourne goes globally green 20.08.01 Melbourne has snuck in ahead of the rest of the world's cities by signing itself to the UN Global Compact. The new council endorsed a proposal by the Committee for Melbourne to join 400 businesses on the international list. The move may see future contracts awarded to more evironmentally responsible businesses. The council will now have to comply with the aims of the compact, which include human rights standards, work place equality, and alternative technologies promotion.
THE AGE 20.08.01

no no to demo 20.08.01 A woman is facing two charges and a $120,000 fine for demolishing a heritage facade in Fishermans Bend, Melbourne. The facade was part of a housing estate built in the late '30s and '40s.
PORT PHILlIP COUNCIL

bourke street strut 12.08.01 The Melbourne City Council is spending $300,000 wondering what should be down with the Bourke Street Mall. Proposals include roofing it over and diverting trams. They don't say what the problem is with the existing mall though.

sydney design week 09.08.01 A week of design kicked off in Sydney yesterday with the Young Designer of the Year presentation. Featured speakers include Shigeru Ban and Marc Newson. The latter also has an exhibition at The Powerhouse Museum starting on Friday and playing until February 2002. And there's a lot more.
SMH site

the age - the inhouse version 03.08.01 If you're a Melburnian you might have thought that The Age does a pretty good take on contemporary architecture. Now it's getting in on the act with its new printing facility at Tullamarine - that one with the 32 metre high rolled up newspaper saluting passing motorists. The Age inhouse newsletter, Agenda, recently described the building to its staff by way of 20 easily digestable facts. Here are a few out-takes to brighten your day:

• The weather plays an important role in deciding when and how structures can be built. Rain and wind can create a dangerous environment and hamper progress. For example, bolting large sheets of frosted glass on to the steel framework in the construction of The Age newspaper sign is difficult to do in wind or rain.
• The weight of steel in the building (1800 tonnes) is equivalent to 257 african elephants or 16 blue whales or 4.8 Boeing 747s.
• The model for the building was built in Italy and transported to Australia. To avoid damage from jolts during transport, the columns were built of spaghetti strands that could flex if subjected to a sharp bump.

toyo ito in auckland 02.08.01 Japanese architect Toyo Ito will be giving a lecture at the Bruce Mason centre in Auckland on August 8, in conjunction with an exhibition at Art Space in Karangahape Road, Newtown. Ring the NZIA.

nsw winners 02.08.01 The state awards have been announced, and Sutchbury Page with Suters Architects received the Sulman prize for their Life Sciences Building at Newcastle University. Craig Rosevear won in the residential category with a "timeless" beach house, and Harry Seidler won also for a "meticulously detailed" house in the southern highlands. To read the full RAIA press release, pop here.


meanjin 1/2001 recommended 19.07.01 The first edition of the Meanjin journal for 2001, "under construction" presents the australian city afresh through the eyes of writers. Weary architects, wondering if anyone else really gives a toss about space and place, should flip slowly through this one. And then smile. Buy (AU$14.20).

RELATED
MEANJIN

flat out 14.07.01 Victoria is experiencing a surge in building works unlike anything seen in the last decade. One third of all building work in Australia is taking place in Victoria at the moment. The only building type not experiencing rapid growth is domestic work, and this may partly be due to the stalling of works by the HIH insurance collapse. Architects are busy and advertising for staff in Saturday's Age in high numbers (30 today). All about town architects can be seen with bigger than usual bags under their eyes. It's all a welcome relief after some precarious post-GST moments, but the worry is, as an unnamed architect recently said, "it's like the eighties, people are having long lunches again."

RELATED
BUILDING CONTROL COMMISION PRESS RELEASE (PDF)

december 2001

Architect rethinks moat plan
Re: Christchurch, Cathedral Square, Ian Athfield's ideas.
(STUFF 31.12.01)

Surprise as gallery approves entrance plans
Re: Canberra, NGA approves revised design by Tonkin, Zulaikha, Greer.. original architect Colin Madigan left in the dark.
(SMH 31.12.01)

Doom and gloom: pollution levels hit all-time high
Re: Sydney. Bushfire emergency sends air quality monitors off the scale.
(SMH 31.12.01)

The edifice complex
Re: Empire State Building. New book by Mitchell Pacelle. Review by Darren Farrant.
(The Age 30.12.01)

Leaping From One Void Into Others
Re: Twin Towers, that and other voids. By Herbert Muschamp (NYTimes 23.12.01)
registration required.

Falling short of 'dangerous whimsy'
Re: Sydney. Elizabeth Farrelly is not impressed with Lord Foster's Sydney design.
(SMH 18.12.01)

The time to let go of the quarter-acre block is now
Re: Sydney. Pressure on to allow higher density living for baby boomers about to retire.
(SMH 18.12.01)

Scramble for terror cover as insurers quit
Re: Australia, insurers hide under the bed.
(SMH 18.12.01)

Estate aims for classless living
Re: Melbourne, Kensington towers to be mixed public/private housing.
(The Age 17.12.01)

A straighter Tower of Pisa reopens
Re: Open again after over ten years sans tourists.
(The Age 17.12.01)

Trade Centre levelled at last
Re: Twin Towers, the remnant facades have been removed for a possible memorial.
(The Age 17.12.01)

Wright's modern masterpiece comes back to life
Re: Myonichikan School in Tokyo has been restored (no pics).
(Japan Times 19.12.01)

Rustbelt gets heart transplant in $300m town centre for Green Square
Re: Sydney, massive new Green square development to include work by Wiel Arets.
(SMH 13.12.01)

The Gehry effect
Re: Another Gehry profile.
(The Age 13.12.01)

Gallery site clash off limits to commission
Re: Melbourne, vandalism, theft and violence at the NGV site.
(SMH 13.12.01)

The city meets the docks
Re: Melbourne Docklands update, John Wardle residential tower, photo.
(The Age 13.12.01)

Architect's anger over blankety wall
Re: Australia, moral rights law, architect ponders defacement of award-winner.
(SMH 13.12.01)

Faulty Fireproofing Is Reviewed as Factor in Trade Center Collapse
Re: Twin Towers, problems identified with fireproofing, used to fall off in high winds (NYTimes 13.12.01)
registration required.

The world according to Bucky
Re: Fuller exhibition opens in Tokyo, brief bio.
(Japan Times 12.12.01)

Architect still healthy, going to work at 100
Re: at it for 85 years.
(Miami Herald 11.12.01)

The city's hidden delights
Re: Melbourne's architecture behind walls, including ARM's Amcor Lounge (with pic).
(The Age 11.12.01)

A Scientific Mystery Stalks Stockholm's Ailing Modern Museum
Re: Mould closes Moneo's new Museum (NYTimes 11.12.01)
registration required.

Waverley Park to live again
Re: Melbourne, Mirvac wins $1B development rights at Waverley Park.
(The Age 11.12.01)

Location, location, location
Re: Sydney, harder to find film locations as city gets more generic, new film "On Location" showing at Museum of Sydney".
(SMH 08.12.01)

Rational revitalisation
Re: Melbourne,Interview with Mario Bellini about the half finished alterations to the National Gallery of Victoria.
(The Age 07.12.01)

Alsop slams building contractors
Re: Will Alsop speaks to builders and project managers about how bad they are.
(AJ 06.12.01)

Hammer horrors
Re: Melbourne, muso/ writer Red Symons considers hiring an architect.
(The Age 04.12.01)

Denton Corker Marshall wins Australia’s top accolade
Re: UK report on DCM's recent win.
(AJ 04.12.01)

Shoddy building faces MPs' scrutiny
Re: Sydney, illegal building work follows HIH Insurance collapse.
(SMH 04.12.01)

Building basics get back to nature
Re: Auckland, Architecture Award - winners announced.
(NZH 03.12.01)

The Big Apple: How Architects Use the Macintosh in Practice
Re: Macintoshes: should they stay or should they go? In depth article.
(Arch. Record 12.01)

Faulty buildings may lead to legislative changes
Re: Sydney, private building certifiers under threat due to large number of shonky buildings.
(SMH 02.12.01)

Generation gap opens in battle for Spitalfields
Re: London, Spitalfields Market, Will Alsop sneaks in with community-approved design alternative to Foster's design. But they're still friends.
(Guardian UK 02.12.01)

november 2001

Osama's fortress
Re: Afganistan, description of the Tora Bora cave fortress.
(New Paper 30.11.01)

Trees, landmarks to go in St Kilda redevelopment
Re: Melbourne, changes for St Kilda.
(The Age 28.11.01)

Suburbanites flood to the city
Re: Melbourne, increasing urban population.
(The Age 26.11.01)

The green life
Re: Auckland, new cohousing development in Ranui, global eco-housing, web links.
(NZH 24.11.01)

Having designs on the best has its price
Re: Sydney, what an architect can do for you.
(SMH 24.11.01)

An expensive lesson in town planning
Re: Melbourne, VCAT orders Middle Park extension demolished within 90 days.
(Port Philip Council 21.11.01)

State Library sees the light with old technology called the window
Re: Melbourne, renovations to the State Library Reading Room.
(The Age 20.11.01)

The architect of small things
Re: Melbourne, Peter Elliot's work at RMIT University. "Maybe it's only painting the toenails of the elephant."
(The Age 16.11.01)

A city's heart surgery
Re: Melbourne, Queen Victoria Village, new laneways, John Wardle, Rob McBride, Daniel Grollo.
(The Age 15.11.01)

Fears Carr's design war will push up prices
Re: Sydney, Developers say new design panels will shut out low cost housing.
(SMH 13.11.01)

The giant follies that spanned a new nation
Re: Federation Arches, a potted history.
(The Australian 11.11.01)

The Commemorative Beauty of Tragic Wreckage
Re: New York, holding onto the fragments.
(NYTimes 11.11.01)
May require registration

Refurbished art gallery to be opened tomorrow
Re: Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Andrew Andersens, Peddle Thorp.
(Courier 09.11.01)

A Stylish Sustainability
Re: R.M.Schindler and recent followers. "Schindler's buildings exploited nature's riches without causing her much damage".
(Arch week 07.11.01)

Town reflects on the benefits of a solar system
Re: Australia, world's first commercial solar power stations seen as viable.
(The Age 09.11.01)

The Architect Who Speared His Own Nazi Demon
Re: Nuremberg, Günther Domenig spears Speer's building with a new museum.
(NYTimes 08.11.01)
Requires registration

Royal commission seeks secret papers
Re: Australia, commision seeks contracts for recent major projects in Melbourne.
(The Age 08.11.01)

Construction activity tipped to pick up
Re: Growth in infrastructure projects forecast.
(SMH 07.11.01)

Near invisible, with a whopping presence
Re: Canberra, DCM's Anzac Hall, addition to the War Memorial.
(SMH 06.11.01)

And quality for all: Carr wants good flats everywhere
Re: Sydney, Premier Bob Carr's pattern book seeks rise in design standards in working class areas.
(SMH 06.11.01)

Housing surge approaches ceiling
Re: Australia, record new housing demand may taper off 2002-2003.
(The Age 05.11.01)

Bob Carr's vision splendid of a proper block of flats
Re: Sydney, Premier Bob Carr releases a pattern book for multi-residential design.
(SMH 05.11.01)

Beyond the tin shed
Re: Elizabeth Farrelly on Australian-ness in australian architecture. Robin Boyd, Donovan Hill, RM Schindler.
(SMH 03.11.01)

Restoring an island's paradise
Re: Nauru, rehabilitating the moonscape.
(AGE 03.11.01)

october 2001

Tower a pawn in development row
Re: Auckland, historic Mt Eden shot tower under threat from developer.
(NZH 31.10.01)

Bridge Designed by Da Vinci Opens
Re: Norway, timber version of da Vinci bridge design built. Photos.
(Yahoo/AP 31.10.01)
PHOTOS

A city learns to live with an unbearable absence
Re: New York, twin towers, dealing with the absence.
(AGE 29.10.01)

Mr. Ando's museum
Re: Tadao ando's new Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis, Missouri.
(Japan Times 28.10.01)

Power, Imagination and New York's Future
Re: New York, problems in the architecture world as redevelopment beckons.
(NYTimes 28.10.01)
May require registration

Art of Ando in St. Louis
Re: Tadao ando's new Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis, Missouri.
(Arch. Week 24.10.01)

Locked doors stopped rooftop rescue in towers
Re: New York, twin towers, doors locked at the top after 1993 "publicity stunts".
(SMH 24.10.01)

Workers vote not to cooperate
Re: Victoria, construction unions pissed off with Royal Commission into building industry corruption: "It's a stunt".
(AGE 24.10.01)

A city's new lease on life
Re: Ballarat, new fine art gallery by Peddle Thorp.
(AGE 22.10.01)

An Elegant Marriage of Inside and Outside
Re: New York, Diller and Scofidio make the shortlist for the Eyebeam Atelier. Photos at EYEBEAM.
(NYTimes 21.10.01)
May require registration

Bluestone Store: a potted history
Re: Auckland, bluestone store in Durham Lane.
(NZH 20.10.01)

Web seen as make or break for larger designers
Re: Autodesk view on the future of online project collaboration.
(NZH 16.10.01)

Punters gets boot from new Fitzroy gentry
Re: Melbourne, Fitzroy loses colour as coffee and rent take prime place .
(AGE 15.10.01)

Slouching Toward Bilbao
Re: Hal Foster writes about the Gehry effect, his history, and discusses spectacle and capital.
(LA Times 14.10.01)

Drama up on cathedral ridge
Re: Auckland, proposal for tall apartments next to the churches in Parnell gives worry.
(NZH 16.10.01)

The Bowl is back
Re: Melbourne, Xanana Gusmao to open the new bowl, and the festival.
(AGE 09.10.01)

St Kilda Road ... more like Naked Parade
Re: Melbourne, stripping down on Princes Bridge.
(AGE 08.10.01)

The housing development hangover that won't go away
Re: Auckland, Mt Eden apartments by Richard Priest. Site contamination and illegal balconies.
(NZH 08.10.01)

The Guggenheim Goes West
Re: Koolhaas' GuggenVegas opens, no good pictures here though.
(LA Times 06.10.01)

Tall Dreams and Premiums
Re: Rising premiums and lower rents for tall buildings.
(IHT 05.10.01)

It's furniture - weird, wonderful and whimsical
Re: Melbourne, Fringe Furniture Exhibition in Fitzroy.
(AGE 05.10.01)

Modern palace fit for an emperor of fashion
Re: Milan, Armani by Tadao Ando (no pics).
(SMH 03.10.01)

Phone tower plan killed in cross fire
Re: Melbourne, plans to install phone tower cross stalled.
(AGE 03.10.01)

Wealthy bin Laden Clan Finds Itself on Both Sides of the Terror War
Re: Saudi Arabia, bin Laden clan makes its money in construction.
(IHT 01.10.01)

september

A passion parade of Smart thinking
Re: Melbourne, Artist Jeffrey Smart smarts at sight of Federation Square.
(AGE 29.09.01)

$100m revamp for Melbourne Central
Re: Melbourne, Daimaru's exit, ARM involvement??.
(AGE 26.09.01)

Cyber funky
Re: Melbourne, Robot City, a new Japanese bar buried in a laneway.
(AGE 25.09.01)

A City Transformed: Designing 'Defensible Space'
Re: New York, Anthony Vidler writes about making buildings safe through the past century.
(NYTimes 23.09.01)
May require registration

Tower of strength in Kiwi designs
Re: Craig Craig Moller Architects at work on a sky tower in Macau.
(NZH 22.09.01)

Engineers Say Buildings Near Trade Center Held Up Well
Re: New York, adjacent buildings report.
(NYTimes 20.09.01)
May require registration

Planned to perfection
Re: The Age grapples with the concept that employing an architect can be an economically sensible thing to do.
(AGE 19.09.01)

Homage to a hero
Re: Melbourne, Queens Road, Frederick Romberg apartments 1939.
(AGE 19.09.01)

Engineers Tackle Havoc Beneath Trade Center
Re: New York, twin towers, the dangers of excavation, the 'bath tub'.
(NYTimes 18.09.01)
May require registration

It's a mod, mod, mod, mod world
Re: Lightweight article wonders how modernism has become so... mainstream.
(AGE 17.09.01)

Arthur Miller among winners of Praemium Imperiale award
Re: Jean Nouvel, winner of Japan's 2001 Praemium Imperiale award. (Japan Times 15.09.01)

The "nice" townplanner who killed thousands
Re: Twin towers, suspect was a planning and urban development in Hamburg and may have studied architecture in Cairo. (SMH 16.09.01)

New Zealand Design Awards
Re: New Zealand Architecture Awards, profile and pictures.
(Architecture Week 12.09.01)

Reaching for the Sky
Re: New York, twin towers, Minuro Yamasaki Architect - detailed profile. Comments on the skyscraper from Sir Norman Foster.
(Guardian 15.09.01)

Architects wonder if towers too tempting a target
Re: New York, twin towers, impact on urban space. "If we try to fortify ourselves against this, we're going to have to live underground,''
(Boston Globe 14.09.01)

Watching a Creation From Infancy to Rubble
Re: New York, twin towers, Minuro Yamaski Architects talk, Robert Stern also.
(NYTimes 14.09.01)
May require registration

Fewer Skyscrapers Likely to Be Built in Shadow of Attack
Re: New York, twin towers, architects including Thom Mayne comment on the future of the US skyscraper.
(LATimes 13.09.01)
May require registration

Goodbye to convention
Re: Melbourne, Kennedy Nolan Architects, Northcote renovation.
(AGE 12.09.01)

Twin Towers Couldn't Sustain Attack
Re: New York, twin towers, experts discuss why they fell.
(AP 12.09.01)

Restore fire-damaged GPO first, Trust urges
Re: Melbourne, General Post Office fire, what to do next? Williams and Boag Architects.
(AGE 11.09.01)

Face to face with city's historic hay
Re: Auckland, Andrew Patterson's new apartment blocks at the old city stables.
(NZH 10.09.01)

GPO wrecked in fire
Re: Melbourne, General Post Office, historic atrium burns out... along with backpacker mail.
(AGE 10.09.01)

Hamburger Hilton
Re: Melbourne, Peddle Thorp's Tullamarine Hilton gets SAVAGED by Norman Day.
(AGE 10.09.01)

Please don't sit on the art
Re: Chairs making a big noise in galleries, specifically the Powerhouse and the Fringe Furniture Exhibition.
(AGE 10.09.01)

Designed to suit your lifestyle
Re: Designer's Institute awards, Noel Lane's airport lounges, Martin Hughes Architecture.
(NZH 08.09.01)

Old Police block gets new life
Re: Melbourne, apartments for Russell Street, no architect mentioned.
(AGE 06.09.01)

Those who destroy history - are doomed to forget it
Re: Auckland, historic places demolition, 'the tendency to forget'.
(NZH 05.09.01)

Rescuing a World-Famous but Fragile House
Re: Fallingwater beams to be repaired at a cost of US$11.5M.
(NYTimes 02.09.01)
requires registration

'Smart' building for technology centre
Re: Melbourne, Docklands, Digital Harbour technology park, ARM + Bates Smart.
(AGE 01.09.01)

A charmer given to sock shocks
Re: Sydney, Neil Hanson dies aged 42, obituary by Elizabeth Farrelly.
(SMH 01.09.01)

august

Space Rangers
Re: Wearable computers and dance, CO3, playing at the Capitol Theatre Melbourne.
(AGE 31.08.01)

You've insulted our profession, rejected architects tell Sartor
Re: Sydney architects fume as City takes Ultimo ideas and runs.
(SMH 31.08.01)

Gallery's glass design in shards
Re: Canberra, National Gallery of Australia, Tonkin's design is out.
(SMH 30.08.01)

The essential Newson
Re: Marc Newson at the Sydney Powerhouse.
(AGE 29.08.01)


designing from the inside out - NZ design institute profiles the winners and finalists of the 2001 awards.
BEST AWARDS

The new rules
Re: Victoria, Rescode now enforced, bouquets and brickbats.
(AGE 29.08.01)

It's a new wave: save up on a rainy day
Re: Sydney, Strathfield. Council makes PVC water tanks mandatory.
(SMH 29.08.01)

The working harbour fights back
Re: Sydney, Pyrmont wharves and residential encroachment.
(SMH 28.08.01)

Modernism has made fools of us
Re: Modernism as mainstream in Sydney architecture - apparently not a good thing.
(SMH 23.08.01)

$2b Games village plan
Re: Melbourne, plan to build Commonwealth Games village over rail yards.
(The Age 22.08.01)

Highways to hell: is the Amazon rainforest finished?
Re: Brazil, superhighways set to denude the world's biggest rainforest.
(The Age 20.08.01)

Group to build sharing village in a city
Re: Melbourne, cohousing development at Ceres, Brunswick. Alternative technologies. Architect Greg Burgess.
(The Age 20.08.01)

Built to Last?
Re: Los Angeles. New buildings by Siza, Gehry, Mayne and other stars.
(LA Times 19.08.01) registration required

Tower Power
Re: London. Ugly 60s buildings gain new respect. Eric Bedford's Post Office Tower, Southbank. Renzo's glass shard. Its conclusion: "We need architectural affronts". Eric Bedford obituary.
(The Independent 14.08.01)

Industry push to kill off 'ugly-duckling' blocks
Re: Melbourne residential development.
(The Age 12.08.01)

Plans for urban heart surgery
Re: South Melbourne. Council plans with Deakin students to make connections with the city user-friendly.
(The Age 12.08.01)

Forget Big Brother; this is reality TV
Re: Victoria, unfettered increase in public space surveillance, legal definition of privacy.
(The Age 12.08.01)

John's Place
Re: Melbourne, the census, squats, counting the homeless.
(The Age 11.08.01)

Romanov Style at Peasant Prices
Re: St Petersburg, foreigners buying huge apartments.
(NYT 09.08.01 registration required)

Golden site for transport terminal
Re: Auckland, Britomart (again) - excavation to start by Christmas (really).
(NZH 08.08.01)

Jean-Marie Lustiger: Megalopolis is image of world to come
Re: Archbishop of Paris speaks about the evils of the megacity in Melbourne.
(Australian 07.08.01)

Paper Tiger
Re: Sydney Design Week, Shigeru Ban interview.
(SMH 08.01)

Building strike worries industry
Re: Deaths on Victorian building sites, walk offs by builders.
(The Age 06.08.01)

$45m kickstarts Britomart
Re: Auckland, Britomart waterfront scheme is GO (again).
(NZH 06.08.01)

Star-chitects on Campus
Re: Institutions paying up to have name architecture, with many recent examples.
(NYT 05.08.01 registration required)

Builders reaching for the skies
Re: Auckland, New residential towers, population projections.
(NZH 04.08.01)

212-unit tower for Parliament St
Re: Auckland, New apartment block.
(NZH 04.08.01)

Architect can rest on his aurals
Re: Sydney Conservatory of Music, Larry Kirke-gaard.
(SMH 03.08.01)

Footbridge will link City to the South Bank - without a hint of a wobble
Re: London gets a safety-first new footbridge across the Thames.
(Independent 02.08.01)

july

Full speed backwards on road to Britomart
Re: Auckland, even more procrastination over the Britomart project, Auckland transportation blueprint.
(NZH 30.07.01)

A matter of size
Re: Sydney, growth of the city, lack of a plan.
(SMH 28.07.01)

High priest of the people's cathedral
Re: Frank Gehry, museums, Guggenheim retrospective, Alexis de Tocqueville.
(SMH 28.07.01)

Shattered glass a problem for new museum Re: Melbourne Museum, DCM, shattering toughened glass balustrades.
(The Age 27.07.01)

How low can the beige city go?
Re: Sydney, its planning history, mediocre apartment blocks, the real estate mindset, the new SEPP code giving architects a new influence.
(SMH 21.07.01)

Hold back the cash says Britomart study
Re: Auckland, big development hits deep water (again).
(NZH 18.07.01)

Imports threaten local furniture
Re: Victoria, furniture from Asia.
(The Age 16.07.01)

The next wave: Designs for a better Auckland
Re: Auckland, Perfect Worlds competition, listing of winners.
(NZH 06.07.01)

Roll out the barrels
Re: Yering Station winery, Robert Conti, Shadowfax winery, Wood Marsh.
(The Age 05.07.01)

MCA survival remains a matter of dollars and sense
Re: Sydney, MCA competition, architecture competitions, opinion by Elizabeth Farrelly.
(SMH 05.07.01)

Danes to hear Opera House score
Re: Sydney Opera House: The Opera, on tour in Utzon's homeland.
(SMH 04.07.01)

The art world's great custody case
Re: Canberra, NGA renovations, Moral Rights law, criticism by Elizabeth Farrelly.
(SMH 04.07.01)

Australians return to their cities
Re: Urban population drift in Australian inner cities.
(The Age 04.07.01)

$4 billion facelift for Yarra
Re: Melbourne, new developments and alterations along the Yarra.
(The Age 04.07.01)

Don't let the architectusaurus out
Re: Sydney, architecture in the media, opinion from a brazillian architect.
(SMH 03.07.01)

Your mission, should you accept it, is to build a future...
Re: What is design excellence? By Richard Francis-Jones.
(SMH 02.07.01)

Skateboarding, Space and the City: by Ian Borden
Re: Skateboarders redefining urban space.
(Independent 01.07.01)

+ NEWS : CURRENT
+ NEWS : JAN - JUNE 2001
+ NEWS ARCHIVE 2000

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