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: Bike Rack as Art design competition

Toby McInnes and Chris Smith's award winning Bike Rack as Art design "Quale"

 

Former UNSW industrial design student Toby McInnes has been awarded both the Highly Commended and People’s Choice award in the recent national Powerhouse Museum “Bike Rack as Art” design competition.

The Bike Rack as Art competition is part of the NSW government initiative “BikePlan” and was launched by the Powerhouse Museum and the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW (RTA) during Sydney Design 2010. The competition invited participants to design a cutting edge public bike rack that is both a beautiful item of street art as well as a long-lasting, easy-to-use, functional device.

Toby worked in collaboration with fellow designer, Chris Smith, to create their award winning concept “Quale”, which will now be installed at six locations throughout the Parramatta, Liverpool and Penrith areas. Their winning design can be viewed below.

In Toby’s final year of his industrial design degree he won the John O’Brien Scholarship and Breville Young Designer Award for his Breville Fruit Bowl concept. He was also shortlisted in the 2008 Australian Design Awards for his design “Bedu”, an emergency rapid response product, which was exhibited at the graduate Sustainable Design Exhibition ’08 and at the Powerhouse 12^th International Design Festival. He is currently working on the Green Houses project for the Department of Housing.

To view other winning design entries, click here.

UNSW Built Environment: SRD Change 11 Graduate Sustainable Design Exhibition

Entries for SRD Change 11 Graduate Sustainable Design Exhibition are now open.

SRD Change is a unique exhibition of graduate sustainable design that directly challenges conventional expectations. Exhibits are selected from a diverse range of design areas from all of Sydney’s top Universities. They feature innovative visual and 3D works, multimedia and even high fashion garments. The exhibition started in 2004 and continues annually. It aims to promote fresh ideas and solutions, through which society can be more sustainability aware and responsible.

The exhibition will feature as part of Sydney Design 11 presented by the Powerhouse Museum.

Entries close at 5pm on April 15, 2011.

For information on the exhibition and how to apply, click here.

UNSW Built Environment: Clover Moore MP, Lord Mayor City of Sydney presents Utzon Lecture “Sydney 2030 Vision”

The second installment of the UNSW Built Environment Utzon Lecture Series is being held tomorrow night. The lecture, titled “Sydney 2030 Vision” will be given by Clover Moore MP, Lord Mayor City of Sydney.

Date: Wednesday 6^th April, 2011

Refreshments: 6.15pm – 6.45pm, Foyer area, AGSM Building, UNSW Kensington campus

Lecture: 7.00pm – 8.00pm

Venue: John B Reid Theatre, AGSM Building

Cost: Free

Download a UNSW campus map here.

Clover Moore MP has been an Independent Member of the New South Wales Parliament since 1988 and Lord Mayor of Sydney since 2004. The first popularly elected female Lord Mayor of Sydney, she was re-elected in 2008 with an increased majority.

Throughout her public life, Clover Moore has pursued appropriate sustainable development, better residential and urban amenity, increased open space, improved public transport, action to protect our environment and address climate change, open and accountable government and social justice.

As Lord Mayor she leads Sydney’s City Council to implement Sustainable Sydney 2030, the City’s strategic plan to secure Sydney’s future as a competitive global city and one of the world’s leading green liveable cities.

Please RSVP for this event today to fbeevents@unsw.edu.au

UNSW Built Environment: Resilience in Urban Design

4th International Urban Design Conference 2011

Would you like to contribute to the debate on resilient cities? The 4th International Urban Design Conference is calling for abstract submissions from those who are interested in presenting at the 2011 conference. This year’s theme is Resilience in Urban Design through measures such as supported interconnectivity, appropriate densification within urban footprints, multiple transit modes and walkability, socially inclusive design, economic resilience, and adaptive built environments.

Resilience in Urban Design is a chance to reinforce and highlight these resilient solutions for our citywide planning, design & infrastructure – to be able to successfully address emerging challenges brought about by climate change, peak oil crisis, population growth, social disengagement, technological disparity, rising pollution and waste, demands on food production, rising carbon emissions, and diminishing habitat and biodiversity.

Authors or organisations interested in submitting a paper or presenting a workshop are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 250 words outlining the aims, contents and conclusions of their paper or presentation; or about their intended role in a workshop.

Abstracts close at the end of April, however due to the long Easter break you may want to submit yours soon.

For more information on submission details, please visit the International Urban Design Conference website.

 

UNSW Built Environment: Professor Robert Freestone wins Planning award

UNSW Built Environment would like to congratulate Planning Professor Robert Freestone for winning the Planning Scholarship for Research or Teaching at the 2011 National Awards for Planning Excellence.

The award was for outstanding contribution to issues relating to rural and/or urban planning in Australia contained in a report, book, thesis, article or research piece. Professor Freestone won the award for his book “Urban Nation: Australia’s Planning Heritage”, which addresses the topic of the heritage value of urban planning in Australia.

The book was described by judges as “…an excellent summary of urban planning history. Richly illustrated, and well researched, the book will become a valuable resource for students and general readers alike.”

For more information on the 2011 National Awards for Planning Excellence, please click here.

Professor Freestone has been employed by UNSW Built Environment since 1991. He has held various appointments including Head of Planning Program from 2001 -2004 and Acting Associate Dean (Research) in 2007. His full profile can be found on the UNSW Built Environment website.

UNSW Built Environment: Utzon Lecture Series returns in 2011

On the 23^rd March 2011, UNSW Built Environment will be launching the 2011 Utzon Lecture Series at 7.00pm. This year the Faculty will be host to a series of national and international speakers that include Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, Clover Moore MP, Lord Mayor of Sydney, Carol Willis, Professor of Urban Studies at Columbia University and Director of The Skyscraper Museum; and many other experts who will address local and global built environment concerns, issues and perspectives.

The series will commence with a lecture by Peter Mould, NSW Government Architect and Visiting Professor  at UNSW Built Environment, titled “Islamic Architecture”.

Date: Wednesday 23 March, 2011

Refreshments: 6.15pm-6.45pm Red Centre West Wing Gallery, UNSW Kensington campus

Lecture: 7.00pm – 8.00pm

Venue: Keith Burrows Lecture Theatre, UNSW Kensington Campus

Cost: Free

 

Peter Mould, NSW Government Architect and Visiting Professor at UNSW BE

Peter Mould is a graduate of the University of New South Wales. He is a practising architect and worked in the private sector in Australia and overseas before joining the NSW Government Architect’s Office. His work in the public sector has included the design of schools, court houses, colleges and urban projects at Circular Quay, Taronga Zoo and St Mary’s Cathedral.

He has received numerous awards for architecture, urban design and adaptive reuse. Peter is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and past Vice President of the NSW Chapter. He sits on the Central Sydney Planning Committee, the Heritage Council and the NSW Architects Registration Board and many Design Review Panels. He has recently established and now chairs the Eminent Architects Panel to advise the Sydney Opera House.

His lecture will look at regional styles in Islamic Architecture by examining the traditional mosque and tomb. It will examine the way the plan form reflects regional influences and the relationship between functions, form, structure and decoration. It further investigates the way functional elements became symbols and structural responses evolved to become decoration.

 

Please click here to see the 2011 Utzon Lecture Series program in detail. Or for  more information please visit our events page on the Built Environment website.

UNSW Built Environment Event: Where will Planning be after 26 March?

Free Event – “Where will Planning be after 26 March”

David Broyd, Group Manager, Sustainable Planning Port Stephens Council

Date: Wednesday 16 March

Time: 6.00m – 8.00pm

Venue: Hugh Dixon Theatre (GO3), Ground Floor, AGSM Building, Gate 11, Botany Street, University of NSW

A FREE Planning seminar hosted by UNSW Built Environment City Futures Research Centre will be held on Wednesday the 16th of March. The Lecture will be given by David Broyd, Group Manager, Sustainable Planning Port Stephens Council.

In this special seminar, one of New South Wales’s most experienced planners, David Broyd, presents his thoughts about the future of the planning system in NSW.

Based on his recent paper “Where to Planning?”, David will outline a set of key reforms that might rekindle the public’s trust in and the effectiveness of the NSW planning system.

He will be joined on the platform by a guest panel of senior planners and commentators, including:

Malcolm Ryan – Director of Planning and Development Services at Warringah Council

Tony MacNamara – Director of Planning at Canada Bay Council and NSW President of the Planning Institute of Australia

John McInerney – Councillor, City of Sydney

Ken Morrison – Chief Operating Officer, Property Council of Australia

David’s view is that planning in NSW needs a comprehensive re-think and that the NSW Planning system has been subject to excessive, piecemeal, ad-hoc and politically expedient changes that have made it a system in need of comprehensive reform and new directions. He therefore proposes a range of proposals for the incoming State Government to achieve that comprehensive reform of planning in NSW.

David will present his ideas for change and the seminar will invite engagement from the guest panel and the audience to raise the debate on the ideas that David will present. The outcome of the seminar will be to make further submissions to the NSW Labour Party, NSW Coalition and NSW Greens to advocate change for those ideas and proposals from David that have total or majority support from the audience.

David’s paper is available to download here

Please RSVP by Monday the 14th of March to Maria Schwensen

Phone: 02 9382 7777

Email: m.schwensen@unsw.edu.au

UNSW Built Environment: Has the public lost faith in the Sydney planning system?

UNSW Built Environment Professor Bill Randolph has recently written an article for the Sydney Morning Herald about loss of public faith in the Sydney planning system. Professor Randolph, Director of the UNSW City Futures Research Centre, and Associate Dean for UNSW Built Environment Research argues that the free market will continue to fail people looking for affordable housing in Sydney unless the state government takes action.

Read more about Professor Randolph’s opinion piece on the UNSW News page, or the full article at SMH online.

UNSW Built Environment: Simon Chan Graduation Project 2010

Staging the Public: Reconception of a Train Station

As part of their final year studio, students from the graduating year of UNSW Master of Architecture 2010 explored different aspects of architectural investigation. Simon Chan was part of a group that worked on visualising infrastructure as architecture through the re-conception of a train station. He reflects below on his project titled “The University of Sydney Station – a proposal to resolve the congestion problem at the existing Redfern Train station”.

Written by Simon Chan:

The location of the existing Redfern Station is a traffic knot, caused by the conflagration of pedestrian, vehicle, commuters and cyclists traffic, this troublesome situation is compelling for a major change, with the consideration of both Sydney University expansion into North Eveleigh in 2020 and the future development of Australian Technology Park. A new station is proposed to resolve these flows.

The new station is inserted at the heart of the future university site and ATP,aligning with Codrington Street which belongs to the university, with the other end pointing directly to the Channel 7 office, an office which house up to 2000 staff members. As the result McDonalds Town Station is demolished allowing a more even coverage of station that currently does not exist. 

The project consists of two bridge buildings linked by an open pedestrian bridge; each bridge contains its own program. The first bridge contains the train station and an accessible roof, with gallery space and a nightclub, access via a ramp that is open before and after the train operates. The choice of program is a protest against the current timetable system of train operation, and the mixing of activities that have previously been perceived as incompatible. The second bridge is the University Learning hub, containing small collections of books and digital media, reading rooms, classrooms and lecture theatre, allowing both individual and collective uses. 

The new University of Sydney Station becomes a place to stop, to contemplate, to listen and  see, to rest and refresh, to talk and exchange, with the presence of movements and unpredictable events. 

For a full explanation of Simon’s project including images, please click here.