IN EXHIBITION : Before it became a densely populated traffic conduit, Sydney's harbourside "Wooloomooloo Hill" was a sought-after address. In the 1820s Governor Darling allowed cronies to build a series of mansions in what is now Potts Point / Kings Cross. Designs were personally vetted by Darling for less than altruistic reasons. About five of these houses remain. Drawings and paintings will be on view at the State Library of New South Wales until June 23.
SMH 26.01.02 (INCLUDES LINK TO MAP)
STATE LIBRARY OF NSW (OFFLINE 28.01.02)

    In a move somewhat at odds with the Victorian Government's efforts to get us to stop watering the garden, the RAIA consumer arm, Archicentre, has said that watering your plot may prevent cracks from worsening in your house. Due to the severe drought in Melbourne, houses are shifting and cracking in record numbers as the land beneath dries out. Up to 65% of housing in North Fitzroy is affected. Read the full article here. [Age 18.01.02]

    Le Corbusier's La Tourette monastery in Beaujolais, France, is deteriorating with cracking concrete and water damage, according to Jonathan Glancey writing in the Guardian. Five million pounds sterling is needed to fix the building. Read the Guardian article here. Visit the La Tourette monastery site here.

    Tokyo Architect Tadao Ando, in an interview this month with The Japan Times, attacked the state of the Japanese city, laying the blame with greed and a lack of the right kind of education. Of his own students he says,"forty out of 50 students are merely there because they did well in the entrance exams. They are superficial elites." Read the article here.

    Sydney's architectural walking tours [SAW], run by archinut eoghan lewis and two other devotees, now has a website so you know when to turn up for the walks. "What began as a rambling, join-the-dots stroll between eoghan's favourite buildings, has since blossomed into 3 BIG WALKS.

   IN EXHIBITION : Halfway through its Sydney run at the City Exhibition Space is an exhibition examining the history of Sydney's transport networks and their effects on the city. The exhibition runs till February 24, 2002, and includes tours of disused railway tunnels on February10.

   IN CONSTRUCTION : Ed Lippmann won the Andrew Boy Charlton Pool redevelopment in Sydney in late 1998. The structure is starting to take shape, perched over the waters at the western end of the bay. Site photos and basic design information are available at the pool's website, and see the architect's website for more photos.

   The revised programme for the Adelaide Festival 2002 was released today, with no mention of Frank O. Gehry's previously stated attendance. The festival recently suffered the departure of its artistic director which has caused a few changes.
   The Symposia series of forums is to continue, with guests ranging from "Charles Jencks to David Suzuki".

   The New South Wales conflagration is exhibiting fire behaviours never seen before. Firefronts of up to 25 metres in height have leapt rivers as they are fanned by wind. Fires are also coming back on land a second time to properly finish it off.
  Building at the edge of bushland seems more reckless than ever. The Australian [05.02.01] quoted the CSIRO as saying, "If you are 200m from the fire edge you probably have a 2% chance of your house being caught alight... If you are right on it your chances probably go to 100%." Your chances of getting burnt out increase the steeper the slope is, with houses that overhang bushland creating, "a situation that is almost impossible for firefighters to defend."
   The CSIRO bush-fire prone building recommendations include sensible advice on landscape and garden design (ie the use of fire-resistant trees); and advice on house design and location. This advice generally takes into account the fact that most house fires result from embers, not the firefront itself.
   House form design is more important than material selection. Complex walls and rooves are frowned upon as tehy can allow nooks for fires to develop, while the influence of roof pitch depends on local circumstances.
RELATED LINKS
Dr Malcolm Gill : House versus Bushfire.