UNSW Built Environment: Professor Peter Singer to present “Building Values”

The next instalment of the 2011 UNSW Built Environment Utzon Lecture Series will be held on Wednesday the 13th of July in the Faculty of Law Lecture Theatre G04 at 7pm. The lecture is titled “Building Values” and will be given by world renowned philosopher Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics, University Centre for Human Values, Princeton University, USA.

Date: Wednesday 13 July, 2011

Refreshments: 6.15pm – 6.45pm Red Centre, West Wing, Gallery

Lecture: 7.00pm – 8.00pm

Venue: Faculty of Law Lecture Theatre G04, UNSW Kensington Campus

Cost: Free

Download a UNSW campus map here.

This lecture will discuss the way in which our decisions about the kind of built environment we choose to create, and to live in, should take into account the interests of others, whether present or future, human or nonhuman.

Please note RSVP to this event is essential as places are limited and can be made through fbeevents@unsw.edu.au

UNSW Built Environment: Saturday In Design

Saturday in Design is an annual trade event for the design community, which began in Sydney in 2003, and now alternates each year between Sydney and Melbourne. This year will see Sydney showcased on 19 – 20 August 2011.

This event is an opportunity to see what Sydney has to offer in the field of furniture and design. It involves Australia’s premier designer furniture, finishes, fixtures and lighting showrooms opening their doors on a Saturday to allow architects, designers, students and design-savvy members of the public to enjoy these companies’ products in an ‘open house’ environment.

Saturday in Design has traditionally been an opportunity for local and international products from hundreds of reputable brands to be launched to thousands of members of the design community in one day.

To enable hassle-free travel in between showroom venues around the city, a number of complimentary shuttle buses run on pre-arranged routes for the entire day.

Click here to find out more about Saturday in Design.

UNSW Built Environment: Utzon Lecture “Sustainable use of Public Space: Cities for Walking, Cycling and Transit” now on UNSWTV

The third instalment of the 2011 Utzon Lecture Series “Sustainable use of Public Space: Cities for Walking, Cycling and Transit” by Lars Gemzøe, Associate Partner, Architect MAA, Gehl Architects, Copenhagen, Denmark is now available for viewing on UNSWTV.

The lecture can be viewed by clicking the icon below.

UNSW Built Environment: NSW Architects Registration Board 2011 Awards and Scholarships

The NSW Architects Registration Board is offering a variety of awards and scholarships to students and graduates of NSW universities.

The Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship offers recipients the chance to undertake a course of study, research, or other activity which has been approved by the Board. Recent graduates and current students enrolled in an architecture program at a NSW university are invited to apply. There are three scholarships in the student category ranging in value between $10,000 and $15,000, and three available in the graduate category ranging from $15,000 to $20,000.
In 2011, to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of these scholarships the Board have added an extra three scholarships available to emerging Architects and graduates who wish to participate in an exchange program offered by The Architecture Foundation in London. This program aims to promote the best architects and practitioners from each country through developing networks, dialogue and cultural exchange that allow for the sharing of ideas and new practices

Applications close on 29 July 2011.

The 2011 Architects Medallion will be awarded to a Master of Architecture graduate who has achieved a variety of distinction throughout the final two years of their course.  This award will comprise of a medallion, certificate and $5,000. Each school of Architecture in NSW nominates one candidate, and final selection is made by a committee.

This year the Board will also be offering each NSW university architectural school up to $5,000 support for their end of year graduation exhibitions. To be eligible for this support, each school must provide the Board with a statement of benefits to the Board linked to the Board’s objectives and information regarding the event details.

Please click here for more information on any of the aforementioned awards and scholarships.

UNSW Built Environment: Electrolux Design Lab 2011 Semi-Finalists Announced

Modern day living means that time constraints and changing lifestyles are altering consumers needs for household products. Innovative designs are required to cater to these changing needs. This year the Electrolux Design Lab has asked industrial design students and recent graduates worldwide to create home appliances that consider intelligent mobility; their designs need to show a combination of lateral thinking and ingenuity.

There were 1300 entrants and from that 25 semi-finalists have been chosen from all over the world. Three of the semi finalists are from Australia and of those three, two are Industrial Design students from UNSW!

We would like to congratulate Alfred Ching and Saba Zara on their creative and innovative designs. Alfred Ching’s design ‘Honeycomb Modular Induction Tiles’ (pictured above) looks at creating different sized and shaped movable heating surfaces which can be stacked for easy storage. Saba Zara’s design ‘Mywash’ is a communal washing machine with individual barrels which can be controlled via a smart phone.

The 25 semi-finalists will be whittled down to a final eight. The finalists will present their designs to a jury who will consider the entries based on intuitive design, innovation and consumer insight. The winning designer will receive €5,000 ($6,786AUD) and a 6 month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre.

Click here to visit the website and checkout all the semi-finalists designs.

UNSW Built Environment: Awards Ceremony

On Friday 3 June the UNSW Built Environment Awards Ceremony celebrated and acknowledged the faculty’s highest achievers. Over 200 family, friends, benefactors and faculty staff were present to celebrate the academic excellence of these talented students.

The night was officially opened by the Faculty Dean, Professor Alec Tzannes, and was hosted by Professor Alan Peters, Head of Discipline for Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, Construction Management and Property, who noted that “the ceremony was a wonderful opportunity for our students to have their hard work recognised, and to meet the beneficiaries whose generous donations are assisting them with their education at UNSW.”

This year the faculty awarded 49 prizes to 56 students for their outstanding academic accomplishments. This year The Dean’s Award, which honours students who received the highest mark this semester was shared by two Architecture students, Matthew O’Brien and Yun Fu.

Other awards were: The Program Director Awards (acknowledging students who achieve the highest marks within a specific degree or subject) and a variety of other awards and prizes which were funded and presented by a wide variety of Built Environment benefactors.

The awards ceremony provides an opportunity for benefactors to meet the students they are supporting and to foster better relationships between industry members, students and built environment professionals.

Santiago Villa Moreno (Master of Construction Project Management) received two awards at Friday’s ceremony and noted in a thank you letter to Professor Alec Tzannes “My journey at UNSW would not have been possible without the support provided by your organisation.”

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the award recipients for the dedication and determination and to encourage them to keep up the good work.

2010 Built Environment Prizes

Image: Faculty Dean, Professor Alec Tzannes with students Lillian Chung and Santiago Villa Moreno.

UNSW Built Environment: Utzon Lecture Series ‘Vertical Density’

The next instalment of the 2011 UNSW Built Environment Utzon Lecture Series is being held tomorrow (Wednesday) night. The lecture is titled “Vertical Density” and will be given by Carol Willis, Adjunct Associate Professor of Urban Studies at Columbia University and Director, The Skyscraper Museum, New York City.

Date: Wednesday 15 June, 2011

Refreshments: 6.15pm – 6.45pm Red Centre, West Wing, Gallery

Lecture: 7.00pm – 8.00pm

Venue: Keith Burrows Lecture Theatre, UNSW Kensington Campus

Cost: Free

Download a UNSW campus map here.

The lecture will explore the different ways to conceptualize urban density: in the ground plane and in the skyline. The world’s densest major cities are Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Dhaka which are wildly disparate models of urban development in the vertical and horizontal dimensions. New York’s density concentrates in Manhattan, where residents number 71,000 per square mile. Using the historical model of New York City and its high-rise zoning regulation, the talk will examine how development pressures, public policy, and urban cultures shape buildings and cities. Further, the talk will consider the correlations of density with affluence–as in Manhattan and Hong Kong–and with poverty. Preferring the density of affluence, the talk asks: Is vertical density a product of rampant capitalist markets, of particular cultures, or can it be planned? Is it a positive goal for cities old and new?

Please register for the event between 6.15 and 6.45 tomorrow night.

 

UNSW Built Environment: Scholars Program

A new initiative called the Built Environment Scholars Program has been created to acknowledge the faculty’s highest achieving students.

The Built Environment Undergraduate Scholars Program is comprised of a group of 20 students who are identified as the BE’s top performing students based solely on their annual academic performance.

For a one year period the BE Scholars will receive recognition from their peers, the faculty and industry professionals. The benefits given to these talented and driven students include a $500 scholarship and vouchers to the UNSW book shop, mentoring and support, special invitations to BE events, a certificate of achievement and more.

The 2010 BE Scholars were formally congratulated at a morning tea on 18 May where they were presented with a certificate of recognition, their $500 scholarship and a $100 voucher for the UNWS bookstore.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all the BE Scholars for 2010.

BIA – Catherine Allington, Tara Christina Gunasekera, Yoshimi Iwaya

B Arch Studies – Mathew O’Brian, Pouwel Frederik Wind, Yun Fu, Cissy Miao Kang, Sean Thien Tran

B Arch Comp – Chor Yan Lau

BCMP – Thomas David Bitmead, Shane Christopher Bleyer, Shane Saba Rouhani, Gary Yaghlejian

B Plan – Ellie-Mae Simpson, Rachelle Ariane Newman, Katherine Louise Tudehope

B Land Arch – Jason Kenneth Cuffe, James Hargrave

B Ind Des – Aryetta Pazpinis, Jason Jian Hao Khiang

UNSW Built Environment: BE Student Andrea Wechsler Wins Best Paper

UNSW Built Environment Master of Research student Andrea Wechsler recently presented a paper at The First International Postgraduate Conference on Engineering, Designing and Developing the Built Environment for Sustainable Wellbeing, which was held in April at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.

This is a peer reviewed conference and Andrea’s paper titled Sustainable Furniture panel composites from forestry and food industry by-products in Australia, presented in the theme Energy, Environment and Sustainability, won the best paper in the theme.

Andrea’s paper was based on part of her research which compared polypropylene based materials and different fillers: macadamia shells, pine cones and eucalyptus capsules with traditional wood plastic composites with pine wood fillers.

We would like to congratulate Andrea on this achievement

Click here for more information on the eddBE 2011 Conference.

UNSW Built Environment: The Good Design Q & A Session

The 2011 Australian International Design Awards are currently underway. For a rare opportunity to meet this year’s judges and view more than 200 innovative products vying for an Australian International Design Award, register to attend The Good Design Q & A session.

The session will be held at the UNSW Roundhouse on Thursday 19 May from 6 to 9pm. Tickets are $50 for corporate and $25 for students.

The evening will be hosted by Michele Elliot, Co Founder of What If! and Director of Inspirate. It will feature a thought provoking and stimulating Q & A session with select members of this year’s Judging Panel including design experts from Mercedes-Benz, Samsung, Designworks USA and more.

Click here to register for this event.