Australian Architecture

“You know, if we set out to design an architecture that's Australian we're in trouble ... The important thing is that we address the issues, we address the landscape, we address the brief, we address the place. If we address those things and do them rationally and poetically at the same time, we must be getting somewhere.” (Murcutt).

   To look at where we have been in the past with traditional and significant Australian Architecture is an important step when delving into the future issues of Australia. To create a new and unique form or architecture, we must first look at strategies attempted in the past when trying to create buildings that represent Australia. The following information discusses traditional buildings, public spaces and modern architecture. All of these are interesting and valid view points on Australia Architecture, which will be handy when trying to find ways of representing Australian culture in the coming weeks.

   Ideas I gained from the reading included the concept of 'The projects’ , where ‘submissions were made from Australia to the Venice Biennale to  highlight eight different aspects of our contemporary urban landscape and demonstrate creative architectural responses to Australian conditions.' Could a government building be flexible enough to highlight eight different aspects of our contemporary urban landscape and demonstrate creative architectural responses to Australian conditions? Whether being a flexible, mobile, distributed or virtual form of architecture, could it be our landscape that is enhanced not the buildings themselves? Would this be a true way of creating a built form that represents Australian identity? Could government agencies be placed in important, climatically-different areas of Australia to represent each environment of Australia, not just different cultures?

   The other idea that interested me was talk about the current public transport interchanges. Could this new form of Architecture- particularly mobile or distributed, somehow make up a transport network in itself while still serving the public and workers of parliament? Could there be interchanges where parliamentary agencies are positioned so everyone can access this new form of government? And the ‘travelling government’ can travel freely around Australia with little interruption to focus solely on the job?

   The following information was taken from the Australian Government website (http://australia.gov.au/),with information that I found relevant to our project really  highlighted in bold…

• Structuring an Australian architecture?   

"The desire for people to express their identity through a building is very powerful but understanding and describing who we are is never easy. Mainstream Australia has this problem of its own identity ... what, who are we? They desperately hold on to the English model of housing for example, and this fascination that they have, or obsession with this Federation. (Dillon Kombumerri, architect) Gregory Burgess, architect for the Kata Tjuta cultural centre at Uluru, described his design process as both listening and collecting stories from different Anangu people who each carried a different fragment of the same story and also 'listening to the wind in the casuarinas and ... the desert oaks'. This process continued until one of the elder men said, 'you've got all our stories now, we've rounded them up, got them in the yard for you, you're inside, now do it, draw it.'
Burgess responded by building massive walls that linked the project parts and making all the walls from the sand at the site. ' The columns are small ephemeral shade structures, often made with an upturned desert oak trunk with the roots above.'

You know, if we set out to design an architecture that's Australian we're in trouble ... The important thing is that we address the issues, we address the landscape, we address the brief, we address the place. If we address those things and do them rationally and poetically at the same time, we must be getting somewhere. (Murcutt)

The history and scope of Australian identity can be seen in the range of its buildings - from both the austere and also grand regent style colonial architecture through the practical minimalism of Australian modernism to a post-colonial world which incorporates the Indigenous experience of country.
This is reflected in the 2006 submissions from Australia to the Venice Biennale. These buildings range from 'industrial woolsheds to shipwreck lookouts, from riverside apartments to rural art spaces' - of different scales, types and uses. 'The projects were selected to highlight eight different aspects of our contemporary urban landscape and demonstrate creative architectural responses to Australian conditions.'

·         Modern Australian architecture

In Australia in the 1900s, the use of new materials and technology coincided with a flood of utopian ideas about what it meant to be modern. While physical function was seen as important, it also needed to be balanced by an emotional, spiritual and social sense, often influenced by the ideals of the Australian Arts and Crafts movement to reflect on something that was uniquely Australian.
Modern Australian architecture reflects both new ways of thinking and new forms of expression as well as the fact that in the twentieth century buildings did not need to be made of stone any more. Buildings could be made of steel and glass which opened up endless possibilities for space and light, and moving between the outside and the inside.
It was a conviction that what man's eye seeks in our era, in our time, is not the ponderous solidity of traditional architecture where everything was built to four walls around a room and spaces that were finite. But rather our eyes seek transparency, lightness... being able to look through things.
The use of new materials and technology coincided with a flood of utopian ideas. For much of the 20th century, architects fought over what it meant to be modern. Some argued that while the early modern architecture was dominated by physical function, it also needed to be balanced by an emotional, spiritual and social sense. Recent debate centres around how our relationship with the built environment contributes to our sense of wellbeing.
Today, one of the most significant areas of change in architecture is in the choice of materials and designs which will make use of passive energy. This is reflected in the development of an alternative model for public spaces and urban living based on social architecture and the 'green' apartment. using new environmental materials and producing designs that address social needs.

·         Public transport interchanges

The freeway or public transport interchanges are the gateways to the modern city, leading to the city civic squares. The Melbourne freeway is a modern public infrastructure, built with private money, and decorated by an architect - 'a piece of art to be absorbed at the speed at which we live our lives' (ABC).
Another example of architecture designed public spaces experienced on the move is Parramatta rail station and bus interchange in Sydney. The interchange is linked by a 70 metre long art wall designed by McGregor Westlake Architecture. The result has been described as 'a rare example of urban coherence' (Paul McGillick, Indesign). The wall is seen as both intriguing as an artistic form as well as serving a number of utilitarian functions including acting as a retaining wall, platform edge and as a mask for other services.

·         Federal Court

The federal court was seen as a perfect opportunity for a modern architect, as it was a chance to use modern building materials as well as reflect upon modern ideas.
It was seen as 'a chance to reflect the big ideas of Australian law and democracy ... These law courts see decisions from Mabo and land rights¹⁷, to the daily dramas of broken lives. It was 'a building that was to be full of light and the light [and] ... also to have the symbolic reflection of access to justice, openness and transparency'.  Michael Black, Chief Justice

·         Social and regionally-based architecture

Social architecture is concerned with creating precincts that respond to social needs rather than individual buildings, as well as meeting sustainability goals such as 'green' and 'blue' rules. Social architecture attempts to address the balance between city and landscape, and creating precincts that respond to social needs which are 'the public zone to the city ... the seed bed of the community spirit' (Richard Leplastrier).

·         Going green

Architects and builders are challenged to make new and old buildings environmentally friendly and sustainable. The OECD reports that the construction industry consumes 32% of the world's resources with builders consuming 12% of fresh water, and the sector overall accounting for 40% of total energy consumption. The blue rule is an attempt to account for the use of water in a sustainable way in new projects. This means buildings and sites will need to collect rainwater, store it and re-use it. Buildings of the future dominate NSW Architecture Awards. In 2007 the IDEA Awards introduced sustainability into every category of their design awards.

Australia now has a green ratings system based on five different ratings established by NSW and Victorian state government building codes, the Green Building Council of Australia, the National Australian Built Environment Rating Tool (NABERS) and the Australian Building Greenhouse Ratings (ABGR). While each is different, all work towards a rating of 1 to 6, with 6 being world's best practice. To be assessed or rated as a green building, buildings may feature wind turbines, vertical planting, shading and lighting, exhaust systems, chilled ceilings, rooftop energy and healthy air. In 2006, the Australian Government mandated that it would not occupy space which was not rated at least 4.5 stars.
At Green Square, the South Sydney Development Corporation (SSDC) is working hand in hand with South Sydney Council to change a low-lying swampland covered in industrial sheds into a new, high-tech town centre based on the green and blue rules. In Victoria, all new houses and apartments must have a rating of 4.5 stars, and since July 2005, all new houses must have a rainwater tank and solar hot water system installed. In Melbourne, the National Australia Bank has grown 300 plants to help the air at its headquarters.
The new Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, is designed by Sydney-based firm Architectus. The building is regional in its influence, characterised by an inventiveness with modest materials, transparency, modulation of strong subtropical light and engagement with the outside on a bank of the Brisbane River. A broad and cantilevered roof unites the façade. The materials in the gallery are polished concrete floors and white walls. The insertion of zinc panelling at gallery thresholds, timber and stainless steel nosing to concrete stairs contribute to a more sensitive design. ( Art & Australia, Autumn 2007.)"