Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2015-March 2016 i Architectural Review Asia Pacific

Culture is a big idea and there is no doubt the practice of architecture is a cultural act – but does it direct culture? Can or should it? In this edition of AR, we turn the focus to this broad theme with a series of diverse projects. Sometimes our buildings are for cultural institutions, such as galleries and opera houses – clearly cultural in program – but culture can mean a bigger societal idea than working in ‘arts and culture’. Definitions of culture here can help, but we have opted to respond to the idea of culture and architecture with a discussion. This seems fitting as the three of us hosted a radio show for 10 years (The Architects on Melbourne radio station, 3RRR) dedicated to talking about architecture in…

The paradox of cultural centres in architecture is their resistance to models of centralisation and containment, despite a proclivity for spectacle and the iconic. These institutions have become global points of note, for the condensation of activity and approximations of identity, harnessing architecture’s role in cultural transformations. But could the discipline move beyond interventions and representation of culture that deposits itself at the behest of political ambition, in favour of one that is as radical as the complex terrain it occupies? The King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture is conditioned by these contesting vector fields – a territory it appears is the stomping ground for Snøhetta. The Norwegian practice positions itself across the landscape, architectural and interior scales of design, intensifying the interdisciplinary relationships through its projects. Through Snøhetta’s process…

Penny Craswell How did the idea for the exhibition come about? Chris Wilkinson The point of the exhibition is that I’ve been using drawing as a part of my design process for a long time. There are two aspects of drawing: there’s the sketching, which could be just working through ideas, and proper, finely worked drawings. There is no real need for these freehand presentation drawings anymore, but sketching is still important. Over the years I’ve accumulated 25 sketchbooks and I started to think about these books piling up and thought I might publish them. I’m an academician and the Royal Academy of Arts said they’d like to publish my book and that they could give me an exhibition as well. PC It’s a nice way of showing your work…

SH This is a conversation around six projects that we think are interesting in relation to the topic of architecture and culture – which one informs the other? We thought we would start by talking about the Adelaide Oval redevelopment project by Cox Architecture in association with Walter Brooke and Hames Sharley and the idea of sport as a key driver of culture. SK What does sport have to do with culture? SH I think for Australia, sport is central to culture. CP It’s part of our ethos. We see ourselves as great lovers of sport, whether we participate in it or not. You can’t really steer away from the fact that it’s a pretty important part of Australian culture. SH It’s certainly essential to our national identity and it’s…

Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Location: Darlinghurst, Australia Photography: Brett Boardman Architecture can be both a creator and a mirror of culture – the two, over time, are indivisible. As a part of the culture of Sydney for over 100 years, the former Burton Street Tabernacle grew as its community developed and saw, probably at its zenith, the inspiration of Arthur Stace to write in copperplate across the streets of Sydney, the word ‘Eternity’ that he had heard ‘ringing in his ears’ at a sermon in the church. As the population of Darlinghurst changed, the church fell into disuse and disrepair. Marking this cultural shift, the site was acquired by the City of Sydney for a renewed community-focused purpose. The city’s cultural and strategic teams worked with local arts providers to determine…

About 10 years ago in Australia, two surveys were conducted questioning architects about their experiences of the profession.1 In a subsequent report, the authors noted that there was a common theme experienced by those surveyed of feeling ‘out of step with the profession’. The report wondered: “then ‘who is the profession’ if it is not the men and women of whom it is comprised?”2 This dislocation is a symptom of the curious culture of architecture. Although, at its simplest, culture is the meanings and practices formed by individuals interacting in any group, there also exists a more abstract cultural ideal in architecture that details what an architect and the profession should be like. This cultural ideal is comprised of the rites of passage, stories, heroes and ideals that form the…

Reviewing an issue of a journal after the fact is a novel request. I’ve been asked to contribute a counterpoint to a themed issue of AD to be published in that issue and that task made sense to me. This task is more complex. I suppose that this AR142 – Residential issue is a themed issue in the way that other issues are not and evident in the issue are ideas about houses and about housing. One might think that these are linked, even nested topics, housing being special and possibly, as Karen McCartney the guest editor puts it, ‘super’ cases of housing? Maybe, maybe not. Like any reader of a magazine, if indeed magazines are ‘read’ rather than ‘browsed’, I bring my current preoccupations to bear on what I…

Often the most effective working partnerships spring from stimulating collaborations, as is the case for Melbourne-based architectural practice, Studio Osk. Longtime friends Ben Waters, Will Loft and Tom Pendergast collaborated in 2012 for their first art exhibition, which proved such a successful and fulfilling creative experience the trio formed their practice in the same year. Entitled Fundamental Landscapes, the immersive project of photographic works and living green installations converted Fitzroy’s Dear Patti Smith Gallery into a restrained, minimalist jungle, contrasting the organic with the geometric, exploring and altering perceptions of space and nature. As Waters recalls, their first project “initiated our interest in the interactions between art and architecture… setting the trajectory for our practice”. Studio Osk celebrates the varied contributions of each of its three principals, Waters and Loft,…

Over eight years in the making, the Fondazione Prada’s permanent home in Milan opened in mid-2015. The complex was designed by OMA and is the result of a long-standing relationship between OMA and AMO (the research studio subset of OMA) and the fashion house, Prada. This privately owned gallery cum cultural institution occupies the walled compound of a former distillery. It is located south of Milan’s historical centre at Largo Isarco in a former industrial zone that is sparsely populated, with low-rise housing and corporate headquarters. It is a rather rough and unloved part of the city – ripe for art-based gentrification. Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, owners of the fashion brands Prada and Miu Miu, established Fondazione Prada in 1993. Since its inception, the Fondazione has been an active…

Elevation Window Control System – Ultimate Control is only a touch away! Lockwood’s new Elevation is an easy way to control the opening and closing of windows through a simple touch screen. The Elevation Window Control System can be configured to reflect the unique layout of any home and is the perfect solution for hard-to-reach windows and wide windows. Lockwood’s Elevation Electric Window Actuator product is exceeding demand expectations since its launch almost a year ago. Home-owners and facilities managers alike are spreading the word after experiencing the potential of a window system that has made their lives easier and reduced energy costs. The ability to close hard, or even impossible, to reach windows at the touch of a button is really appealing to homeowners looking for greater convenience. Architects…

In recent years we have all become increasingly aware of the complexity of ‘multicultural Australia’ as a greater diversity of migrants from different countries and faiths strive to make our big island their home. As pre-war Chinese, Italian and Greek migrants were joined by Vietnamese, who in turn were followed by Lebanese and Indian migrants and, most recently, refugees from conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa and of course now Syria, the breadth of our population continues to swell. Alongside welcoming our new citizens, the trajectory into the ‘Asian century’ further cements Australia’s prosperity through dependence in trade on our neighbours to the near north. Both these facts require an increased awareness of language, custom and culture of our friends who do not share our 69 percent and declining Anglo-Celtic…