A bridge too far

Took this photo (not sure if it that’s clear) just after last night’s match between SydneyFC and Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium and noticed that the remaining part of Wood Marsh’s Bourke Street footbridge is slowly starting to disappear. A bit of a shame really.

Listing from one list to another

The team behind Australian pavilion’s 2010 Venice Biennale today come up with a shortlist of teams for inclusion in their NOW + WHEN exhibition. The list below features no real surprises but at twenty-four it can hardly be called a shortlist.

• Richard Goodwin, Art/Architecture, TERRIOR, Andrew Benjamin, Ingo Kumic, Dan Hill, Sydney 2050: Fraying Ground
• Steve Whitford, University of Melbourne, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning + James Brearley BAU Brearley Architects and Urbanists, Adjunct Professor RMIT, Symbiotic City
• Justyna Karakiewicz, Thomas Kvan and Steve Hatzellis, Urban Life Without Fear
• Edmond & Corrigan, A Future Australian City
• Colony Architects, Mould City
• Brit Andresen and Mara Francis, Sedimentary City
• NH Architecture with Andrew Mackenzie, Not all Arrows hit the Target
• John Wardle Architects & Stefano Boscutti, Multiple Cities
• Alanna Howe, Alexander Hespe (ARUP), biomimetic city
• PDJ Architects, Fiona Dunin, Alex Peck, Martina Johnson, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Woodhead, Dr. Doris McIIwain, Ross Honeywill, Greer Honeywill, Love and Movement
• A collaboration between BKK Architects, Village Well, Charter Keck Kramer, Survival vs Resilience
• HASSELL, Professor Mike Young (University of Adelaide) & Holopoint, Food for Thought: e-agora 2059.
• Michael Lewarne + Tom Rivard in association with house of Laudanum, Dr Lian Loke & Dr Anne Arquit Neiderberger
• ARUP, Cities of Resilience in the wake of Climate Change
• Room 11 + Scott Lloyd and Katrina Stoll, Island Proposition 2100
• Lacoste + Stevenson Architects, Six Degrees Architects, FROST Design
• Harrison and White with Nano Langenheim, Implementing the Rhetoric
• Ben Statkys (Statkus Architecture), Daniel Agdag, Melanie Etchell, William Golding, Anna Nguyen, Joel Ng, How Does it Make Your Feel?
• McGauran Giannini Soon (MGS), Bild + Dyskors, Material Thinking
• Billard Leece Partnership, A Tale of Two Cities 2100
• Innovarchi, The Mangrove occupying the Now and WHEN of the waters edge
• Design Research Institute RMIT (CRI) + Minifie Nixon Architects MNA, Cloudnets
• Dr. Beth George, A. Professor Jon Tarry, A. Professor Rene Van Meeuwen, Speciation City

Speaking of lists, The Guardian has come up with its list of what it considers to be the top ten buildings of the decade. It’s a very British-centric list and is rather uninspiring although my favourite of this list is the European Southern Observatory Hotel by Auer and Weber, partly because I am an unashamed latinophile.

• Millennium Dome, London by the Richard Rogers Partnership and engineers Buro Happold
• Blur, Expo 02, Yverdon-les-Bains, 2002 by Diller + Scofidio
• Serpentine Pavilion, London, 2002 by Toyo Ito
• 30 St Mary Axe, London, 2003 by Norman Foster (aka The Gherkin)
• European Southern Observatory Hotel, Cerro Paranal, Chile, 2003 by Auer and Weber
• Beijing National Stadium, Beijing, 2008 by Herzog and de Meuron
• St Pancras Station, London, 2007 by Alastair Lansley
• Le Viaduc de Millau, Aveyron, 2004 by Michel Virlogeux and Norman Foster
• Neues Museum, Berlin, 2009 by David Chipperfield
• Burj Dubai by SOM

It must be the season for the lists as The Age’s (melbourne) magazine compiled its list of Melbourne’s most influential people. Nik Karalis, Hamish Lyon and Denton Corker Marshall all made the list under the Society category under innovation.

Combined train of thought

You would have to say that in recent years Cox Architects’ Melbourne office sure has stepped it up a notch in terms of design and have or in the process of putting some serious landmarks on the city’s landscape. I am a massive fan of the under construction Rectangular Stadium (partly because I am a football nut), but their recently completed redevelopment of North Melbourne railway station is also worthy of mention. Since I have moved to Yarraville I get to experience the station on a daily basis and I have say that I am very impressed. It is an excellent blending of the old and the new which I hope my poor photography skills illustrate. If not, go have a look yourself. This successful upgrading of a tired station surely puts pressure on the State Government to seriously consider upgrading Melbourne’s other “gateway” station, Richmond, which now is definitely the poorer cousin.

Home is where the architecture is

Almost a year ago, my girlfriend Caroline and I purchased our first home, a 1940s Californian bungalow in the western suburbs of Melbourne. However, due to it being under lease we didn’t get to move in until early November this year so we only been in it for just over a month. At the moment the house along with the garden requires a bit of work here and there plus I want to add my (if I’m allowed) architectural touch. So as what I hope will be one of my most exciting and challenging architectural projects progresses I’ll keep you all updated on how it’s going.

So far, we have had the house re-stumped and some free insulation installed before we moved in and we are currently looking to get the ceiling replaced in the master bedroom as apparently it is only being held up by the cornices. After that our next projects will be the creation of raised vegetable patch in our backyard and a repaint of the interior of the houses.

Extra/ordinary appeal

A teaser for next year’s National Architecture Conference extra/ordinary was released this week with some of the key speakers announced. I was very excited to see that one of my favourite architects, Alejandro Aravena is listed to be one of them. I’ll be sure to make by way to Sydney to see and hear him in person. To learn a little more about him, check out this Arch Daily interview from last year.

Bankin on a sale – update #1

Have been away from the internet for a while, but just noticed that Robin Boyd’s house is now up for auction of the 21 November 2009 at 1pm, instead of the 07 November 2009 that was previously advertised. It’s also your last chance to have a gander before it goes under the hammer.

Two state award domination

It was interesting to note that all but one of the award winners at last night’s Australian Institute of Awards came from either New South Wales or Victoria. The exception being the VS1/SA Water Head Office by Hassell which took out the National Award for Sustainable Architecture. To the surprise of many, the night’s host, the Melbourne Recital Centre, was pipped for the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture by the National Portrait Gallery by Johnson Pilton Walker in what many consider the major prize of the night. I haven’t visited either of them so I can’t really compare them. Although the Recital Centre did take out the Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture. In what I would class as a surprise, the Letterbox House by McBride Charles Ryan didn’t get a guernsey with the Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture going to Chenchow Little Architects for their Freshwater House, with the National Awards for Residential Architecture went to Neeson Murcutt Architecture for the Whale Beach House in Sydney and Zac’s House at Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. Also good to see some different names pick up awards this year, hopefully it continues next time around.

For a full list of winners, visit the AIA website.

Bankin on a sale

Another Robin Boyd designed house is up for sale with the Bankin House, up for auction on 07 November 2009 at 12:30pm. The Bankin House was completed in 1964, with the Robin Boyd Foundation describing it as:

A sublime house located on an awesome site. Simply planned then constructed and detailed with a simplicity and elegance reminiscent of traditional Japanese construction. The two owners (the original and current) have been fiercely protective of their privacy and the houses location. It has never been open to the public and few know of its location. The house is in excellent condition, restored with minor additions a few years ago by Boyd’s colleague and friend Peter McIntyre.

For more details, you check out the real estate agent that it selling the property here, noting that there is an open for inspection on 31 October 2009 at 12:30pm and yes I know it’s short notice.

Brutal treatment

A Facebook page and petition have been set up as opposition to the proposed demolition of the Brutalist classic at 10 Murray Street, Hobart, otherwise known as the State Government Offices building.

Butterpaper has been following this issue quite closely since word first got out that there was a proposal to demolish the Hartley Wilson & Partners designed building. They also managed to track down the original architect, Dirk Bolt for his opinion on the whole matter.

On an interesting note, Professor Rob Adams, a major force behind the rebirth of Melbourne’s CBD,  toured Hobart’s CBD recently and advocated the re-use of 10 Murray Street stating that:

He said the Government’s CBD office block was a prime catalyst to stimulate the change — though he feared it was too late.

With a number of architecturally significant buildings under threat in recent times I wonder if we harking back to the thinking of the eighties where are a number of important buildings bit the dust, particularly in Melbourne, in the name of development. One can only wonder.

For more information, you can also visit the Save 10 Murray website.

Edited: 29th October 2009, 9:45pm

Advertising architecture – update #2

The People’s Choice Award for the recent Advertisements for Architecture exhibition has been announced with Marcus White’s ‘Architecture – It’s not just for Wankers’ (which I’m pretty sure I voted for) taking out first prize.

Marcus was followed, in second place, by Rebecca Daff’s ‘Your Architect’ and, in third and fourth places respectively, by Matt Ross Goodman’s ‘Three’ and Adrian Lo’s ‘A Vision for Tomorrow’.