Architecture Australia, July 2021
Architecture AustraliaProvocative, informative and engaging discussion of the best built works and the issues and events that matter.
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AA July/August 2021 preview
The suburbs: As they are, and could be
Projects
A neighbourly disposition: Twin Houses
Just south of Brisbane, Twin Houses offers a new response to its low-density postwar context, providing amenity beyond the individual dwelling and contributing generously to the suburban microclimate.
Revisited
Revisited: Vermont Park
In the1960s and ’70s, Merchant Builders used the suburbs to experiment with innovative, affordable housing models. Today, Vermont Park remains an exemplar for how we might rethink residential development.
More articles
Indigenizing practice: Decolonizing our approach to design
Acknowledging, respecting and valuing Indigenous agency and knowledge of Country is an active part of decolonizing our approach to design, says Yuin Budawang woman, landscape architect and artist Kaylie Salvatori.
Between, beneath, beyond and before: Individual houses and suburban conflict
In their work, David Neustein and Grace Mortlock have become increasingly aware of a conflict between the growing boundaries of our cities and the living systems on which our existence depends, and as such, architects need to expand their remit.
The suburbs as they are, and could be
It’s time to radically re-imagine suburban Australia, argues Dan Hill, by using new technology to reinforce the idea of the suburb as a shared condition and nature as something of which we are part.
Testing new ground in housing: WGV
A collaborative experiment in medium-density housing led by Western Australia’s land development agency seeks to subvert traditional suburban development.
A virtue of modesty: Lilydale High School, Zoology and Administration
In executing stage one of a masterplan for Lilydale High School, Harrison and White dignifies the suburban and the modest while also alluding to Melbourne’s broader architectural culture.
Necessary work: Reorganizing space for equality
US-based urban historian and poet Dolores Hayden talks to Rory Hyde about how architects can respond to the complex economic, social, gender and demographic needs of the urban population.
Recalibrating new suburbia
In his quest to uncover the new suburbia, post-pandemic and possibly post-car, Simon Sellars is inspired by John Gollings’s surreal images of Melbourne’s suburbs in the 1980s.
Social condenser: Springvale Community Hub
In one of Australia’s most culturally diverse locations, Lyons has designed a multipurpose community facility with the kind of attention more often reserved for central-city projects.
Public aspiration: Metro North West Line
Eight new stations across Sydney’s north-western suburbs have been executed with admirable public aspiration and conviction – and under the assumption that the other infrastructure required for the burgeoning suburbs is forthcoming.
Rethinking the suburbs and what the home is for
Renowned designer Mary Featherston believes that a well-designed house is one that can morph and change according to need – a quality she feels is often missing from today’s new suburban houses.