Smart cities, digital cities, virtual cities, connected cities. Are these just trendy buzzwords? Christine Steinmetz takes a look. These types of cities are supported by infrastructure that is more than bricks and mortar. These cities are smart (thoughtful, people-centric), digital (driven by data acquisition, measured, analysed and sometimes exchanged) and virtual (experiential). And, as a […]
Can buildings become a part of nature? Martyn Dade-Robertson, co-director of the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Newcastle University, lists five ways buildings of the future might become living, breathing things. What if our homes were alive? I don’t mean smart homes with the disembodied voice of Alexa deciding the setting for your living room […]
Internationally-renowned architect, Glenn Murcutt, has been commissioned by Australian charity Royal Far West (RFW) to design its new beachfront headquarters at Manly. Murcutt will work closely with architect and designer Angelo Candalepas of Candalepas Associates, to create a “compelling and beautiful” campus for Royal Far West, to allow the 95-year-old charity to grow its work […]
The Design Institute of Australia (DIA) and Dulux Australia have announced the winners of their international design tour scholarship, the Dulux DIAlogue Tour. First awarded in 2016 and now in its fourth year, the tour will see five design professionals sent to Singapore and Portugal where they will have unique access to a variety of design projects, galleries, […]
The modular construction trend continues to gain pace, with hotel chain Marriot set to build the ‘world’s tallest modular hotel’ in only 90 days. Designed by Danny Forster & Architecture, the 168-room, 26-storey hotel will be built in New York City’s Sixth Avenue with prefabricated guestrooms arriving at the hotel site fully constructed, inside and out. […]
The Australian government has allocated $50 million for the Smarter Cities and Suburbs Program to encourage projects that “improve the livability, productivity and sustainability of cities and towns across Australia”. Mark Sawyer, lecturer in Architecture, University of Western Australia, takes a look at the environmental costs of smart cities. One project funded under the program […]
Dubbed ‘the concrete bunker’ for its deliberate use of rendered finishes and rejection of ornamentation, this project’s brief called for the redesign of an inner-city warehouse conversion in Camperdown, for a couple seeking a minimalist lifestyle and an interior to match. The clients, who work in design-related disciplines, sought to shed from their home unimportant […]
Fender Katsalidis’ design for Liverpool’s tallest commercial tower and its surrounding redevelopment has been given the green light. Called Liverpool Quarter, the project will feature a 23-storey curved tower which is to be the focal point of the new Liverpool gateway. Situated on the corner of Scott and Bigge streets, the mixed-use project features 25,000 square metres of […]
Jessica de Rome of de Rome Architects takes AR on the design journey for Carwoola house, a reinvention and relocation of an original dwelling that was destroyed in a 2017 bushfire. Architect’s statement The Carwoola house is located on a 13.37-hectare block in a rural bush setting. The previous dwelling on the site was destroyed […]
Last month hundreds of UK-based architecture firms signed a pledge to address climate change and now Australia is following suit with its own commitment to change. Bates Smart, Woods Bagot, Breathe Architecture and Kerstin Thompson Architects are among the 33 founding signatories on Architects Declare Australia, which is a declaration of “a climate and biodiversity emergency.” As in the UK, […]
Looking to refresh the look of its retail stores, Optus engaged Collectivus as a design partner to deliver the brand’s first-ever experiential flagship store in Sydney’s George Street. The dual-level store has been specially designed for user integrated experiences to allow customers to touch, feel and try the latest in Optus technology. The interactive store […]
