Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 166 i Architectural Review Asia Pacific

Andra Matin’s conviction that architecture isn’t finished at the mastery of beauty, is emblematic of this issue of AR. The minutiae and chaos on the long road to topping out is often concealed by the gleam and glint of a sleek final structure. In this issue, we bring the grit to the foreground. Warwick Mihaly explores the ins and outs of working pro bono in a year when an architect’s altruism has never been more in demand. In the first instalment of our new regular feature, Connecting Country, Wilson Architects talks about designing a college for Indigenous students at the University of Western Australia. Ray Brown explores the peculiar relationship between architects and builders and how to avoid it all falling apart. In our lead interview we get to see…

Unlike the visually distinct language of the late 1990s, digital architecture that became synonymous with the term ‘parametricism’, today’s digital tools and computational design methods are working their magic in less visually and stylistically obvious ways. Parametric design is typically understood as the use of advanced computation, namely algorithms, to generate associative geometries and often complex forms. Used in conjunction with digital fabrication machines, parametric techniques have been instrumental in realising the design and construction of otherwise impossible to build architectural projects. With increased computing power and greater software options available to architectural practices, modelling and constructing complex forms has become technically and economically feasible. But parametric techniques are one part of a larger suite of computational tools that can powerfully direct design problem solving. So, while an architectural expression…

On the rooftop of the University of Western Australia’s newest Indigenous student accommodation, phones are banned, and students discuss issues and ideas, fears and hopes in small gendered groups with appropriate mentors. By design, it’s a very private space. Circular seating around a deeply symbolic fire and smoking pit sits within a garden that is open to the sky, emphasising the relationship First Nations people have with the land and nature, and the importance of birds and animals to their songs, dances and belief systems. But in other moments, this area is a relaxed social space, a place for quiet reflection or a community meeting ground where students from the country’s largest tertiary residential program for Indigenous Australians can mix with the university’s non-Indigenous community in the spirit of the…

Published by Thames & Hudson and curated by Cameron Bruhn, dean and head of the School of Architecture at the University of Queensland, MMXX is a sleek national survey of the past 20 years of Australian architecture. Featuring 59 projects, work by more than 100 of the country’s foremost practices and 10 essays by leading architecture practitioners and critics, it’s an essential resource for comprehending Australia’s contemporary architecture. The book journeys across the country and the scales of our built environment. Ambitious city centrepieces are adjacent to elegant country sheds. In design, floorplans overlap with sweeping glossy photographs as if stacked on a drafting desk. Projects are creatively organised, assigned a number germane to that building’s use that tells a story about how residents, workers and visitors engage with each…

Earlier this year, before the coronavirus, there was another crisis that drew the attention of the world. During the Australian ‘Black Summer’, our worst ever bushfire season on record, 12 million hectares of land were burned, one billion animals were killed and 434 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere. Though the last fire was only extinguished in March, the smoke that blanketed much of the east coast feels like it was a lifetime ago. We wore masks for a different reason then. Among the political controversy and relentless news cycles, then as now we also found it within ourselves to help one another with unprecedented generosity. Sources around the world donated $500 million, destined to support country fire-fighting organisations, communities and victims. Many in the architecture…

Located in Ubud, Indonesia, Titik Dua is a creative hub and hospitality venue, a hybrid of public and private spaces. Ubud’s vibrant arts, film, architecture, graphic design and music community finds a home on the ground floor, and hotel guests stay in 22 rooms located on the upper levels. “I WANTED THE PROJECT TO REPRESENT THE CLASSIC BALINESE CHARACTER AND MODERNITY AT THE SAME TIME.” – ANDRA MATIN The site’s compact floor plate presented the project’s greatest challenge for Jakarta-based architecture firm andramatin, tasked with distributing Titik Dua’s dual functionality. Studio founder and head, Andra Matin describes a “squeeze in” approach to the design, evocative of the intimacy of Ubud. To optimise space, andramatin created an extendable common space on the ground floor and nestled the hotel’s restaurant in the…

As we emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns, it is timely to reflect on how the design of our neighbourhoods and the ways we interact with them affect our lived experience. A clear lesson from the many conversations across fencelines, waves from porches, teddy bears in windows and chalk art on footpaths is the need for our cities to better embrace edge spaces between private property and the public realm. These edge spaces, such as porches, balconies, front boundaries and footpaths, have been key to maintaining social connectedness amid physical distancing around the world. Australian cities and neighbourhoods have rarely embraced edge spaces well. This neglect is to all our detriment: many housing developments lack porches, front yards often seem like an afterthought, and most nature strips fail to live up to…

It’s easy to slip into thinking the habits of pay and working conditions that you may have experienced as a graduate or employee are normal. It’s up to each employer to make a conscious decision to do things differently. Just because something is an accepted part of a professional culture does not make it right or even legal. THE PAY INEQUITY BEAST The habit of many businesses – not just architectural ones – is to wait to give pay rises until they are pushed for or demanded by staff. As a workplace practice this is a sure way to feed the pay inequity beast, because there are many examples where confidence can come without competence. It’s also possible to be unconsciously convinced that confidence is competence. You also need to…

EFM Logistics in Moorabbin was built out of the bones of the old Philip Morris cigarette-rolling factory. “We wanted it to feel very much that it was still an industrial building. Sometimes that’s a bit of a cop out for designers, where they say it’s ‘industrial’ when really it’s unfinished,” says Made For’s creative director, Mitchell Jones. “They’re too far along with the business for it to feel that way; it still needed to feel like it was really polished.” The Made For team faced a unique challenge in taking on the project while it was still in the stages of demolition, as an ever-evolving work canvas. “Taking a space that was still active… we were finding beams and ceiling heights and columns that weren’t structurally sound anymore as we…

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged everyone to rethink home as a multifunctional space. Our lives are now cramped into a single space, including work, school and care. It is very fascinating to see how everyone adapts to this new normal. I had made some impromptu changes in my house to accommodate everyone’s needs. We added a new desk and digital devices into our bedroom for quiet learning and working. Our open plan living room, dining and kitchen has transformed into multifunctional space for loud activities. Although we have the flexibility to separate the quiet and loud zones in our house, it is still hard to define these spaces with young children at home. Sometimes we just have to attend a video conference call with my children doing silly faces in…