Indesign 47 Preview Mag

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Perth Special Ecosciences Precinct The Herbarium Kizuki + LIM Louise Campbell Les Mills Britomart

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welcomeindesign

letter from the editor issue 47, 2011

In this issue of Indesign we turn our attention to Perth which, driven by the current resources boom, is undergoing an impressive transformation. Perth is evolving as a city and, handled properly, it could prove to be the most liveable city in Australia.

For many years I toured around the country as visual and performing arts critic for the Australian Financial Review.

This included regular visits to Perth. But, much as I enjoyed the various editors I worked for, invariably when I mentioned Perth their eyes would glaze over. It was a case of out of sight, out of mind.

Now, though, as the seemingly unstoppable resources boom helps prop up the Australian economy – as well as causing all kinds of less welcome distortions – eyes are not so much glazing over as popping out of their sockets.

This is not the first boom, of course. Back in the 1890s it was certainly a case of “Go West, young man, and grow up with the country”. This was the Gold Rush and it was only the immigrant prospectors who later stopped W.A. seceding from the nascent commonwealth.

Then, when the Menzies government lifted restrictions on iron ore exports in the 1960s, another boom took off and the city of Perth responded with some unfortunate high-rise buildings along the previously gracious St George’s Terrace. Then it was a case of take the money and run and Perth was diminished by the boom rather than enhanced.

This time, though, many people are here to stay, with companies like BHP Billiton and Woodside setting up their national headquarters in Perth. As a result, there is a new texture beginning to emerge in the city with more residential development and expanded amenity which will receive a further boost when the railway is sunk and Northbridge becomes linked directly to the CBD. And the slow development of the city until now has brought the unexpected benefit of a pleasing mix of scale with many of the CBD’s low-scale buildings protected as heritage, thus protecting the city from becoming a high-rise jungle.

Hopefully, it will also protect the city from becoming over-developed – because this is the big danger. In the mania for development, a city can become too big and lose the appeal which drew people to it in the first place. Sydney has probably passed the point of no return and Melbourne and Brisbane are at risk.

Anyway, we thought it timely to take a snapshot of what is happening in Perth – in fact, two snapshots, because this is just Part 1. Watch this space for Part 2 in Indesign #48. paul mcgillick – editor Above Editor, Paul McGillick with Deputy Editor, Mandi Keighran

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SPIRA BY LAMMHULTS DESIGN JOHANNES FOERSOM & PETER HIORT-LORENZEN

PHOTOGRAPHER: CEMAL EMDEN

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contentindesign

DEC, 2011–FEB, 2012

Issue 47 regulars

portfolio

027 EVOLVE Bite-sized portions from the latest people, places, products, events

Perth Special

054 INDESIGN LUMINARY Industrial designer Helen Kontouris is a rising star of the design world who has set her own path to success 062 ART An artwork by Robert Owen is integrated into the façade of Triptych, a Melbourne apartment building designed by Nettleton Tribe 189 PULSE Danish design star Louise Campbell talks about changing direction at the height of her career New Zealand-born designer Leonhard Pfeifer on finding success in the UK 2011 AIA Gold Medal winner, Graeme Gunn, on his career so far 199 ZONE Stephen Crafti looks at how the Di Stasio Ideas Competition initiated a call for a new Venice Pavilion at the Giardini Rebecca Eggleston asks three industry experts what the future holds for the world’s energy cities 209 SUSTAIN Peter Stronach’s Mittagong Farmhouse is a study in rural sustainability Bauwerk lime paints have a focus on tradition and healthy interiors 216 PS Trent Jansen’s work for the inaugural Broached Commissions collection

067 ONE40WILLIAM, Perth, by HASSELL 080 Venn, Perth, by Matthews Architecture and Geyer 088 Wesfarmers, Perth, by Woods Bagot 096 Hope Street addition, Perth, by vittinoAshe COMMERCIAL 104 Ecosciences Precinct, Brisbane, by HASSELL 114 Whybin\TBWA\Tequila, Sydney, by Bates Smart 120 Upper One Shelley Street, Sydney, by Woods Bagot Retail 130 Kizuki + LIM, Singapore, by Teruhiro Yanagihara 136 Les Mills Britomart, Auckland, by Warren and Mahoney Hospitality 142 Lost, Melbourne, by Wayne Finschi Concept Design 144 W Hollywood Hotel & Residences, Los Angeles, by HKS 150 The Cut, Sydney, by Luchetti Krelle Studio 152 Donovan Hill studio, Brisbane, by Donovan Hill Residential 158 The Hive, Melbourne, by ITN Architects 162 Diazawa residence, Tokyo, by Riccardo Tossani, Architecture Civic 168 Puckapunyal Military Area Memorial Chapel, Victoria, by BVN Architecture 176 The Herbarium, London, by Edward Cullinan Architects Education 182 Brownless Biomedical Library, Melbourne, by McBride Charles Ryan

Cover A close-up of the custom matt black crucifix screen behind the bar area at Whybin\ TBWA\Tequila by Bates Smart (see pp.114–117) Photo: Richard Glover indesignlive.com

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people places PRODUCTS events Busy bees It’s been a hive of activity recently at KORBAN/FLAUBERT’s Alexandria studio and workshop. Architect, Stefanie Flaubert, and metal specialist, Janos Korban, have been hard at work on three new screens – ‘Hive’ (pictured), ‘Crystal’, and ‘Crystal Corten’. The design duo, who were previous Indesign Luminaries, use their practice to explore motion, sequence and volume. The new freestanding decorative pieces take KORBAN/FLAUBERT’s previous work with screens – which are based on pattern, repetition and sequence – a step further, exploring the folded structures at a more graphic scale. ‘Hive’ takes the geometry of the bee hive into three-dimensions, creating a densely layered screen. The ‘Crystal’ screens work on the same principle with a simpler geometry, creating a crystalline structure of diamonds and triangles. Both patterns engage as dynamic pieces that seemingly shift with the viewer’s position. Light and shadow add depth and complexity to the works. The new screens are welded and polished

by Korban and Niall McConnachie, giving them a hand-crafted, luxurious aesthetic. [Text: Mandi Keighran] KORBAN/FLAUBERT (61 2) 9557 6136 korbanflaubert.com.au

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Creative Sydney Held in Sydney, With over 90 exhibitors and 31 Project entries, there was almost too much to see in one day. we bring you a snapshot of saturday in design 2011.

CORPORATE CULTURE Corporate Culture invited Rolf Hay, of Danish design studio HAY (whose ‘S&B Dot Carpet’ is pictured above), to Australia to launch the ‘About a Chair’ range.

Corporate Culture (61 2) 9690 0077

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SCHIAVELLO As part of The Project, Schiavello teamed up with HASSELL to transform their showroom into a village that celebrated diversity. Visitors were invited to interact with Schiavello’s products in a relaxed way throughout the Saturday.

Schiavello (61 2) 9211 3311

schiavello.com.au

Precision Flooring’s newly renovated showroom was a beautiful, faceted landscape of timber flooring from Tongue n Groove, a new addition to the Precision Flooring group of brands. Tongue n Groove offer a range of solid European Oak floorboards with the highest levels of craftsmanship.

Distributed in Australia by Precision Flooring (61 2) 9690 0991

precisionflooring.com.au

InterfaceFlor InterfaceFLOR presented ‘Rebirth’, an exhibition that included installations by HASSELL, Geyer, Futurespace, Matt Woods (pictured above), and Cloth Fabric as part of The Project.

InterfaceFLOR (61 2) 8332 2400

interfaceflor.com.au

photography by john doughty, spy photography

Tongue n groove

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Café Culture, light Culture & warwick fabrics Teaming up with @ qubed design, Café Culture, Light Culture and Warwick Fabrics transformed the Café Culture showroom into a pop-up bar and DJ lounge, including an upcycling design competition.

Café Culture / Light Culture / Warwick Fabrics (61 2) 9699 8577 / 1300 300 904 / (61 2) 9518 8688

cafeculture.com.au / lightculture.com.au / warwick.com.au

Tappeti HASSELL and UNSW Interior Architecture students finally found a use for phone books as part of The Project. They created a twisting vine – with yellow leaves made from the pages of eight phone books – that gracefully climbed over the three floors of Tappeti and Viabizzuno’s Chippendale showroom that they shared with Envoy Furniture.

Coco Republic, Cadrys & Smeg At Coco Republic, David Hicks created a nomadic installation using rugs from Cadrys, Smeg appliances and pieces from the Coco Republic collection.

Coco Republic / Cadrys / Smeg (61 2) 9318 1442 / (61 2) 9328 6144 / (61 2) 8667 4888

cocorepublic.com.au / cadrys.com.au / smeg.com.au

Tappeti (61 2) 9698 2735

tappeti.com.au

Great dane Furniture The theme at Great Dane this year was ‘Materiality: Make, Create, Play’. On the day, UK designer Benjamin Hubert launched two new products and talked about his process.

Great Dane Furniture (61 2) 9699 7677

greatdanefurniture.com

Zenith Keith Melbourne launched ‘The Glass Collection’ – a range of furniture based on different glassware that is available in 49 different colours and optional upholstery.

Zenith (61 2) 9211 4744

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helen kontouris One of Australia’s most successful product designers internationally, Helen Kontouris is a rising star whose career has taken off at a stellar trajectory

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words Jan Howlin pORTRAIT Anthony Browell

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new frontier In this first instalment of our two-part Perth special, we look at some of the best commercial, retail and residential projects in this booming city

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ONE40WILLIAM venn wesfarmers HOPE STREET ADDITION

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one another and step down from the 21-storey northfacing tower, through 15 storeys, to seven storeys on the Murray Street Mall elevation. By breaking down the building’s mass, HASSELL has ensured that it responds to the scale of its context and avoids being the ‘bully boy’ on the block without sacrificing available floor space – 35,900m2 of commercial space and 7,600m2 of retail.

The building is also anchored to everyday street life by its porosity – links on four sides with a major entry off Murray Street Mall, drawing people into the station, retail outlets, a food court, and a stunningly situated terrace bar overlooking the intersection of Murray and William Streets. In this way, HASSELL has blurred the distinction between public and private space and advanced an agenda already seen with their ANZ Centre in Melbourne’s Docklands.

The success of this project, says Lee, was very much determined by the procurement process – one that we hope might act as a model for future developments.

At the time the railway station was being built, the then Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Alannah McTiernan, talked to then Government Architect, Geoffrey London, about the best use for the site. “For once,” says Lee, “rather than just going to market and selling the rest of the site off, they came up with the concept of the government taking some space – 24,000m2 at a very competitive rate, a fantastic deal for the government – and then running a design competition saying that if the government does that, what sort of building will they get. It concentrated more on the design outcomes than just the cost.”

The government was selling the land, but to whoever had the best design. In the end, the government took all the commercial space. “But,” says Lee, “it was to be design-driven and Geoff London led

that charge.” Three organisations were shortlisted – Grocon, Cbus Property and Multiplex – Cbus Property won, forming a partnership with Probuild, and retaining HASSELL for what turned out to be a fully integrated project, with HASSELL also doing the fitout, town planning and landscape architecture.

If ONE40WILLIAM is an object lesson in social and urban sustainability, it is equally a model in other sustainable respects too.

Lee points out that rather than simply aiming to be 5-Star Green Star As Built and ticking the boxes, HASSELL and the developer aimed for a building that responded very specifically to the local climate. The staggered height of the component volumes was a crucial strategy in this respect – basically getting the building to shade itself and keeping the heat out.

The expressed form of the building communicates what HASSELL refers to as an ‘inside-out’ approach.

Not only does it make for a ‘polite’ building in a very specific urban context, but it also reveals a building which is very much about the process of living in the city – all the related transactions, interactions and connections which go to make up a 24-hour city.

Paul McGillick is Editorial Director of Indesign.

ONE40WILLIAM won the George Temple Poole Award for most outstanding building overall, the Ross Chisholm Award for Commercial Architecture and the John Septimus Roe Award for Urban Design at the 2011 Western Australia Chapter AIA Awards.

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mixed company

words ANNA FLANDERS photography JOEL BARBITTA (DMAX PHOTOGRAPHY) architect MATTHEWS ARCHITECTURE (BASE BUILDING), GEYER (INTERIOR DESIGN) location PERTH | AUS PROJECT VENN

A renovated two-storey building in Perth’s CBD signals a new concept for mixed-use experiences in Perth and beyond

n a national level, Venn is believed to be Australia’s first mixed-used experience that incorporates a gallery, retail shop, café-cumbar and artist-in-residence studios. On a local level, it’s an exciting development for Perth’s push to get more activity into the city and adapt its remaining heritage buildings.

Venn is situated on Queen Street, which is located alongside the problem-plagued Raine Square re-development precinct (projected to finish within the next 18 months). It’s an exciting, emerging locale where highend brands and a laneway experience – where Venn will spill its chairs and tables outside – are set to morph the area into a buzzing CBD centre.

Western Australian practice, Matthews Architecture, is behind the gentrification of the two-storey, turn-of-the-century Venn building, headed by director, Andrea Veccia-Scavalli. The practice was brought on board in late-2008 to steer the reinvigoration, and, due to complications associated with bringing the building up to safety and liveability standards, was involved until its completion in late-February, 2010.

“There was a lot of consultation going on with a number of service authorities, the City of Perth, and the Department of Liquor and Gaming – as well as trying to oversee the construction of the building,” says Veccia-Scavalli. “However, it was a dream brief from an architectural point of view… the idea of a mixed-use building gives you the opportunity for so many activities to happen at once. And, the building gave back so much – it had a voice.”

The project required a gutting of the building and the demolition of a rear 1960s skillion-roofed addition with mezzanine. The clients – Desi Litis and Jade Rubino – had already started a de-fit when Matthews Architecture came on board and had uncovered original pressed tin ceilings, now painted white, in what is currently the retail space, and old beams in the gallery ceiling, which are left raw and exposed.

Veccia-Scavalli says it was important to uncover and retain as much of the original heritage building as possible, leaving nuances of the building’s past, such

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left Venn has adapted one of Perth’s

heritage buildings into a vibrant, multi-use space above The ground floor retail space

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words JENNA REED BURNS photography CHRISTOPHER FREDERICK JONES architect HASSELL location BRISBANE | AUS PROJECT ECOSCIENCES PRECINCT

Colour Block A collaborative consultation approach was key to the success of this diverse laboratory building oggo Road – the colloquial name given to a boggy part of Annerley Road – is associated with violence, fear and brutality. It was on a 9.5 hectare site on this road, just seven kilometres south of Brisbane’s CBD, that the city’s main, and later notorious, jail was built in the late-19th Century. The site of hangings, prison riots and protests, the jail operated for one year shy of a century, with the last division closing in 1992.

Now the site is being given a new, more positive complexion as it is re-developed into a mixed-use area, with residential, retail, commercial and research facilities. The first of these new buildings was opened officially in April – the $270 million Ecosciences Precinct, which houses close to 1,000 environmental scientists and support staff. At over 50,000m 2 , it is the biggest laboratory building in Australia.

It is hard being the new kid on the block, especially when that ‘block’ is (with the exception of the old jail buildings) vacant and windswept. However, the newly opened research facility, designed by HASSELL, cuts an attention-grabbing silhouette. Large sections of the building’s façade – articulated and broken down into a number of planes according to townplanning guidelines – are covered in a fragmented

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WORKPLACE RE levels 8 and 9 at Macquarie Group’s iconic 1 shelley street headquarters

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words PATRICIA NELSON photography SHANNON MCGRATH Interior design WOODS BAGOT location SYDNEY | AUS PROJECT Upper One Shelley Street

E REVOLUTION were based on post occupancy studies of the iconic building’s radical interiors indesignlive.com

FIT FOR PURPOSE Through simple means and clarity of function, this new gym is raw, energetic, and accented by moments of luxury

s highly transient and fast-moving environments, gyms pose a tough brief. They must cater for a variety of activities that are intense on services; often have conflicting needs; and are hard on surfaces and equipment. “Gyms are a bit like train stations due to their level of noise and level of physical activity,” says Warren and Mahoney (WAM) design director, Andrew Barclay. “You must design for maximum efficiency of effort for your clients’ effort.

The architectural cues have to be very clear and very direct and aligned to the activities within.”

The clientele at Les Mills Britomart are some of the busiest people in the city. Located on an arterial route in downtown Auckland, the gym is used by office workers and commuters coming in on the public transport hubs. The gym has to match this pace, and works hard to make visits as smooth and enjoyable as possible.

The site is on the ground floor of the new Britomart car park. The obvious benefits – good visibility, a hardwearing concrete shell and no neighbours – came with a set of challenges. The large deep space “gave us some concern initially in how we could accommodate our different types of exercises visually and acoustically, without cutting off natural light and views,” says Les Mills’ property and facilities manager, Blair Wolfgram.

Due to the split-level car-parking floor above, the back of the space is 2.5 metres lower than the front.

And so, there was a danger that the interior would feel

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above Entry and reception right The Group Fitness

area

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words ANDREA STEVENS photography SIMON DEVITT architect WARREN AND MAHONEY location AUCKLAND | NZ PROJECT LES MILLS BRITOMART

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L.A. luxe A new Hollywood hotel with old Hollywood glamour marks the revitalisation of an iconic district in Los Angeles

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words Nicky LObo photography Mark Silverstein architect HKS location Los angeles | USa PROJECT W Hollywood Hotel and Residences

he intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood has a rich history.

Following settlement in the early 1900s, it became the epicentre of the radio and movie business district in the 1920s. And, in 1958, this intersection became the site for the then-new Hollywood Walk of Fame. Since then – arguably along with the golden era of movie making – the eastern end of Hollywood Boulevard has declined.

It is still steeped in culture though. The iconic Pantages Theatre, which opened in 1930, is still operating, and the Frolic Room bar across the road is still a favourite for both locals and in-the-know visitors (including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who were there a few weeks before us, so the bar owner says).

And now, a process of urban revitalisation has begun, starting with a cluster of designer restaurants and retail outlets. The beacon, however, for this vision of a re-energised precinct is the W Hollywood Hotel and Residences.

Following the W Hotels approach, this US$350 million complex epitomises Hollywood glamour. Developers, Gatehouse Capital, saw the cultural and logistical potential of the site – it’s connected to a metro rail and bus system – and devised a range of experiences including hotel, residences, retail, food and beverage, rooftop bar, pool, nightclub, gym and spa.

The design, led by Eddie Abeyta, Principal at HKS, uses a considerate approach, taking inspiration from the site’s historical context and celebrating urban integration. This occurs through “responding to the historic buildings that neighbour the site through scale, proportion and rhythm,” says Abeyta.

The design masses and organises the public space to front onto Hollywood Boulevard, which Abeyta describes as “a thread that stitches together a history of the film industry”. Through a series of overlapping planes and volumes, the architectural façade gives the building a sense of energy and motion towards the Boulevard, while enveloping the public spaces.

As the site is owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, access and integration of the transit features were a major consideration. A subway portal and large bus exchange are crucial to businesses and

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words MARK SCRUBY photography JOHN GOLLINGS architect BVN ARCHITECTURE location VICTORIA | AUS PROJECT PUCKAPUNYAL MILITARY AREA MEMORIAL CHAPEL

quiet tribute The Puckapunyal military area memorial chapel by BVN provides a quiet space for reflection and remembrance he residential and administrative township at Puckapunyal Military Area is a vaguely anachronistic collation of cream-brick houses and pragmatic office buildings, more like an outer-fringe suburb than a country town. Kids turn lazy BMX circles in cul-de-sacs, gum leaves float on the breeze and litter expansive front lawns, and fat magpies gargle contentedly while keeping sentry on TV antennas. For many years, the population had been served by three traditional old chapels but, a decade into the 21st Century, the buildings had become architecturally and culturally obsolete. The town did need a place of worship, but one that would also accommodate quiet reflection by people who didn’t identify with a particular faith; it needed a focal point for ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day; a dignified space for memorials for fallen soldiers and other services. Not an easy brief to fulfill with a single, relatively small building.

A team of architects from BVN Architecture, led by principal Jane Williams, was given the job and, with an approach tending to simplicity at all times, has comprehensively resolved these competing imperatives and given the army base a brand new, multifunctional community hub.

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Left Light floods the covered entry

courtyard through three large portholes

Above A screen depicting poppies creates

privacy for visitors of non-Christian faiths

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21st Century THE university OF MELBOURNE’s Brownless Biomedical Library has undergone

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words STEPHEN CRAFTI photography JOHN GOLLINGS architect MCBRIDE CHARLES RYAN location MELBOURNE | AUS PROJECT BROWNLESS BIOMEDICAL LIBRARY

he University of Melbourne is currently re-designing a number of spaces to meet the demands of today’s students. As part of this plan, McBride Charles Ryan (MCR) has recently re-worked two levels within the four-storey Brownless Biomedical Library. “Our brief was to transform a traditional library into a hub of student interaction,” says architect and Director at MCR, Rob McBride. “We had to provide spaces that would cater for a variety of study methods, from the individual student to group meetings.” The view that libraries are more than simply depositories for books is one with which Dr Peter Jamieson – a specialist in educational spaces who oversaw the project – agrees.

Originally built in the 1960s by John F. D. Scarborough and Partners, the box-like building followed a grid system, with perfectly aligned shelves. While this approach suited students in the 1960s, who used the library between nine and five, the requirement for today’s students is now 24/7 access. “It was anticipated that during exams and end of semester, students would use the library through the night,” says Debbie Ryan, co-owner of MCR. To cater for round-the-clock service, as well as changes in technology, the internal lay-out is much more fluid. Features include four sealed rooms with whiteboards and glass walls (referred to as ‘book-out’ rooms), numerous study niches for private study, ‘canteen-style’ break-outs, and long trestle-style seating arrangements. “The colours capture the mood of the spaces,” says Ryan. “The more active spaces are lighter in palette compared to the individual study nooks.”

According to MCR, the alterations were not only a result of new technology, but respond to the housing of today’s students. “Many students are living in student housing which has little living space,” says Ryan. “The library has become a sort of living room where groups and individuals can come together and learn.” Thus, MCR utilised a vibrant colour palette, with sheer pink curtains demarking spaces and enlivening the interior.

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Learning a dynamic re-design for contemporary learning indesignlive.com

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profiling the life and work of creators around the globe 189 louise campbell 194 Leonhard Pfeifer 196 Graeme Gunn

One of Denmark’s leading designers, Louise Campbell, talks about changing direction at the height of her career

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t is rare that a star in the über glamourous business of furniture and object design changes direction at the height of her rise in order to honour her soul. Louise Campbell, one of Denmark’s leading designers, known from the onset of her arrival on the design scene for her provocative sashays into unconventional materials (polycarbonate, felt and gelatin), poetic aesthetics (organic collage patterns), and rigorous mindsets (“anything is possible unless proven otherwise”), is doing just that. The creator of such pieces as the lyrical ‘Prince’ chair, designed for Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, the starkly heroic ‘Spiderwoman’ chair, and a revamped ceramics line for Royal Copenhagen – among an oeuvre that has garnered accolades ranging from the Finn Juhl Architectural Award to Wallpaper* magazine’s Interior Maverick award – has embarked, mid-career, on her most courageous invention yet: a re-casting of her role in design as one informed uncompromisingly from the heart. Caia Hagel for Indesign sat with Campbell in her hotel room on a recent trip through New York and again in her home in Copenhagen, to speak to her about her thoughtful take on the zeitgeist of her industry, and the turbulent beginnings of her bold new direction.

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Caia Hagel (CH): Your mid-career transformation is an anti-commercial, anti-trends move in a scene that is based on quick and trendy turnover. What prompted you to abandon the fast lane in favour of something different?

Louise Campbell (LC): The pace dictated by the market today is in such contrast to the essence of the way I (and many colleagues) work, and the

purpose of the work, that the two worlds no longer seem to fit together.

I have insisted on keeping my studio small in order to really be a part of all the work done here, and have limited its efforts to a handful of carefully chosen projects per year. These have been developed through nurture with all I had to give, often more, and often for many years per project. For each object I have produced, I have hoped that strong character, good genes and the best possible starting ground would provide good chances of long lives for all our objects, big and small.

But, the consumer, the media and the manufacturers are addicted to news; increasingly at the cost of thorough product development. If I stay with the banal metaphor for a moment: we are expected to produce these babies in less than half the time of the natural order and in very modern families, where the designer sits in one country, the client in another, and the factory in a third. This makes far weaker babies and worried, frustrated mummies.

Today, if you visit my website, you will soon discover that it has been a while since news has been posted. It’s an odd feeling, and it still makes me a little nervous. No one questions a writer who occasionally takes a few years’ time-out to find substance for their next move, but this is almost unheard of in the design field. Because in contrast to the other arts, design is considered a business. The thing is, mine isn’t.

CH: How will you move forward into this next chapter of your career?

LC: My personal mission is simply to take part in quietly demonstrating that there are usually quite a number of alternatives to the norm, no matter

what the issue at hand may be. For me, one question usually raises another question. The types of questions that I deal with in my work are very basic.

They all circle around the topic of daily routines. The small details in life.

How we choose to eat, drink, sit, rest, see, and feel. Which objects, tools, and materials we choose to surround ourselves with and use in all these daily tasks, and what they can each do for us. This is not rocket science, but it is the backbone of all our lives, and deserves to be taken seriously. The main question for me is still: why are we all so alike in the way we conduct these routines?

CH: It has been remarked that the new generation of Danish designers, of which you are a leader, has triumphantly emerged from under the shadows of the Danish masters – and that this has been facilitated not just by time but by the largely female contenders in the field. How do you feel that feminine principles play a role in your own work and define it as contemporary Danish design?

LC: Women never abandon the small or the meticulous, not even when the pace gets really hectic. This gives the end results a different nerve than that provided by our male counterparts.

Softer, perhaps, or more sensitive.

There is also, I think, the willingness towards adding less rational – or more poetic – tools to the toolbox. Having said this, I have to say that women are not alone with this feminine approach to design today. Men, the interesting ones at least, do it too. Also, femininity in design is not new at all. It just got lost somewhere in the ‘80s, and is now reappearing, because it turned out to be sorely missed.

Previous Page Portrait of

Louise Campbell

Top Left ‘Retreat’ funnel

chair (1998)

Above ‘Blah, Blah, Blah’ site

specific installation (2008) Right ‘Cammeo’ bone china storage for Kähler (2008) Far Right ‘Folda’ (2001)

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words CAIA HAGEL Portrait Tim Georgeson

“ I have begun by throwing functional rationality violently overboard�

Louise Campbell

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Previous Page and above The winning

pre-professional scheme, by Melbourne team SPF15+ Right The winning professional scheme by Davide Marchetti – an Italian architect based in Rome Below Right McBride Charles Ryan’s scheme was a finalist Below A catalogue featuring all 56 shortlisted entries was published Left Carr Architecture’s scheme was another finalist Opposite Barrie Marshall’s sketch for Denton Corker Marshall’s finalist submission

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words Stephen Crafti

A new Australian Pavilion?

The dream of a new Australian pavilion in the Giardini for the Venice Biennale is one shared by many. Restaurateur and arts patron, Ronnie di Stasio of Café Di Stasio fame; architect and writer Norman Day and his partner, architect Kirsten Day; Professor of Architecture at RMIT University, Leon van Schaik; photographer John Gollings; and gallery director Jason Smith are just a few. Recently, the Australia Council finally responded to this call, announcing on 1 June 2011, at the 54th Venice Art Biennale, that a new pavilion would be designed “by invitation from a small, hand-selected group of Australian architects”.

But it was di Stasio, in particular, who long ago realised the shortcomings of the temporary pavilion designed by architect Philip Cox in 1988, and the frustration it provided for many of the artists who have exhibited at the Venice Biennale. Some artists – including Bill Henson and Ricky Swallow – have simply blacked out the pavilion space in order to create a suitable backdrop for their work.

While the pavilion was appropriate at the time, it was built in little more than a month and was not intended as a permanent exhibition space. “Without Philip we wouldn’t have secured this extraordinary site,” says Norman Day. “But, after all this time, Australia deserves a new pavilion that will showcase Australian talent.”

“We thought the best way to start things moving was to run an ideas competition,” says di Stasio, who, with his

colleagues, began the quest to create a new Australian Pavilion in the Giardini.

“It’s not dissimilar to running a restaurant. It’s about generating ideas and surrounding yourself with enthusiastic and committed people.”

In 2007, the seeds of a new pavilion started to sprout, with Café Di Stasio providing the forum to take the idea to the next level.

“The year 2008 marked the restaurant’s 20-year anniversary,” says di Stasio. “I thought my energies could be best directed into this venture rather than simply opening up another restaurant.” So, di Stasio started a campaign in The Age newspaper’s Epicure section.

Each week, along with fare from his menu, there was a photo of one of the entries for a new Australian Pavilion.

The consortium expected to receive ideas from just a few architects. Instead, they received 450 submissions from leading architects, both locally and internationally. “We were staggered with the response,” says di Stasio. “It wasn’t just the number of submissions, it was the quality.” He recalls one beautiful hand-drawn submission from architect, Barrie Marshall from Denton Corker Marshall: “I was overwhelmed. It’s a simple black box, with these ingenious shutters.” As stated by Marshall in his submission, “the building is simply a canvas and container, on which new ideas can be explored”.

Other architects who answered the call for a new pavilion included Allan Powell, Lyons, McBride Charles Ryan (MCR), Architects EAT, Chris Connell Design, Edwin Fang (USA), Victor Garcia (Mexico), Guenoun & Simon Architecture (France), and Akio Kawasaki (Japan). “We could have awarded 10 architects in both categories (practising professionals and pre-professional entries),” says Day. The presentation of the entries was varied, ranging from hand-drawn to digital images, and everything in between. Carr Architecture presented an elegantly mirrored slim-line pavilion, reflecting an avenue of trees. MCR used the Möbius strip (after the 19th Century mathematician) to generate an endless pavilion and gallery space. Lyons designed a graphic

black and white pavilion, with a folding annex to suit the cultural seasons.

Although the eventual winner of the Di Stasio ideas competition, Italian architect Davide Marchetti, hasn’t been commissioned to build his concrete pavilion, his design, along with other high-calibre entries, ignited the quest for a new Australian Pavilion.

The submissions were catalogued at the end of 2008 in a book, Venice Biennale New Australian Pavilion: Di Stasio Ideas Competition.

Marchetti’s design for the Australian Pavilion beautifully combines the monumentality of concrete against the fragility of the elements, inserting diamond-shaped coffered apertures to reveal the sky. “It’s a massive object that becomes ‘corroded’ little by little, obtaining a complex and articulated shape,” explains Marchetti. “The original tool comes from a single image of a Venetian gothic marble decoration, whose composition and pattern generates a geometrical method to design the architecture.” His pavilion provides an extraordinary backdrop to showcase Australian art to the world.

It seems that the hopes of everyone involved in di Stasio’s quest for a new Australian Pavilion – that the competition would generate a reality – look to be realised in the near future. “The entire process has been like throwing a pebble into the water and seeing how far the ripples go,” says Kirsten Day.

Stephen Crafti is Indesign’s Melbourne correspondent.

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when there are guests or visitors present: this room is where the couple’s grandchildren congregate and watch television, while the adults tend to converse in the kitchen-living space, or the adjacent ‘glass room’.

Just like at Stronach’s own house, the ‘glass room’ is an impressive structure that appears to be an almost separate pavilion hovering in the landscape.

With glazing on three sides, to promote enjoyment of the panoramic views, and its greenhouse-type warmth, it’s a perfect place for solitary pursuits such as reading, or more social activities such as playing games and entertaining.

Because the two houses were conceived with different uses in mind – Stronach’s Kangaloon retreat is used primarily as a weekender for two people, while the Reidys’ Mittagong Farmhouse was always intended as a year-round home for the couple with room for their extended family to visit – the rooms at Mittagong are larger and more numerous than at the architect’s home. But, the layout and functionality of Mittagong has its antecedents in Kangaloon, where Stronach aimed to provide rooms for all seasons and for use at different times of day.

The careful arrangement of these different types of spaces means that various zones are simultaneously separated and linked – both vertically and laterally – thanks to devices such as the open gallery upstairs with its steel balustrade; the louvres that act like oldfashioned fanlights above internal and external doors; and the sliding shutter that can be opened to connect the master bedroom to the living area below.

When he built his own retreat, Stronach had no idea it would become the first in a succession of sustainable dwellings in the Southern Highlands, but a series of serendipitous meetings with like-minded clients means that his weekend bolt-hole and the 10 design principles that underpin it are now seen as the blueprint for a growing sustainable design movement.

Rachael Bernstone is a Sydney-based freelance writer on architecture and design.

MITTAGONG FARMHOUSE DESIGN ARCHITECT Peter Stronach PROJECT ARCHITECT Tom Dash DELIVERY ARCHITECT Tina Tziallas STRUCTURAL, CIVIL, HYDRAULIC & GEOTECHNICAL CONSULTANT John Tiernan LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT Catherine Lewis BUILDER Robert Leso FOREMAN Roy Woods TIME TO COMPLETE 18 months TOTAL FLOOR AREA 450m2

ALLEN JACK + COTTIER (61 2) 9311 8222 architectsajc.com FURNITURE Eames classic lounge and ottoman, 3-seater sofa, lounge chair, moulded plywood table, and Walnut stools, all from Living Edge. Other furniture throughout, existing from clients.

LIGHTING Generally throughout, Erco ‘Starpoint’ pendants, Kreon ‘Diapason’ fittings from dedece, and bunkerlights from Crompton Lighting.

FINISHES Flooring is Northern Rivers hardwood timber. Exposed structural roof beams and external panels are recycled Jarrah timber. In Living, ceiling is polished Hoop Pine plywood. In Bedrooms, ceilings are plasterboard. Generally throughout, ceramic tiles from Pazotti, and Artedomus.

FIXED & FITTED Generally throughout, joinery cupboards are polished Hoop Pine timber veneer. In Bathrooms, WCs and basins are from Duravit, and tapware is from Grohe.

Artedomus (61 2) 9557 5060 artedomus.com Crompton Lighting 1300 799 300 crompton.com.au Duravit (61 2) 8070 1889 duravit.com/au Erco (61 2) 9004 8801 erco.com Grohe (61 2) 8394 5800 grohe.com.au dedece (61 2) 9360 2722 dedece.com Living Edge (61 2) 9640 5600 livingedge.com.au Pazotti (61 2) 9387 4500 indesignlive.com

Top There are three 25,000 litre above-ground tanks installed and a 100,000 litre overflow tank below ground Above The L-shaped plan is divided into a main tw0storey space and a northsouth single storey section

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words ANNA FLANDERS photography MICHELLE TAYLOR

Slow Paint Heard of slow food? Meet slow paint. Bauwerk lime paints are steeped in building tradition and reinterpreted in modern palettes for today’s contemporary, health-focused interiors here are cases in the United States where building professionals have been successfully sued for the paint they have specified.

True. In a climate of increasingly strict green-building regulation, experts such as Australia’s ecospecifier say more work is needed in regard to the broad interior-paint industry. Yes, we have low-VOC this and water-based that, but health and environment professionals still warn of hazardous vapours from these formulas. Formaldehyde, ethylene glycol, benzene, and more toxins can be still found in many modern paints or surface treatments.

Couple the above with the acknowledgement of Painter’s Syndrome (brain and central nervous system damage), plus lung diseases, reproductive disorders, and more, in professional painters, and it would make sense to assume the spotlight may soon turn to this specialist industry. Could it be that if we don’t take paint and its health effects ­seriously, we will see our own builders and architects being taken to task for something as humble as a colour choice?

Certainly in America there are murmurs from the law fraternity that green-building claims will be the next big thing in litigation.

One company at the forefront of Australia’s, and increasingly the Middle East’s, natural paint movement is Western Australian, Fremantle-based, lime-

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paint specialist, Bauwerk Colour. While co-founder/ co-owner Bronwyn Riedel speaks of mainstream paints as having a purpose – “There is a place for them, but you shouldn’t put them on everything, perhaps.” (diplomatically put) – she points to traditional lime-based paints’ inherent health and environmental properties as stepping into the future with the strength of the past.

“Traditionally, paint was never just a colour. It was part of the structure of a building and it kept it healthy,” explains Bronwyn. “Buildings are like human bodies: to perform at their best, they must be kept alkaline and they must be able to breath. Traditionally, paints were always used for that. That is something people once knew, and that wisdom was lost.”

Natural paints also have thermal and antibacterial benefits. “Our paint can keep buildings cooler by up to 12 degrees,” Bronwyn says. “It has a crystalline structure [due to the lime], so there is a light refraction quality and it refracts UV also.”

Traditionally, lime-based paints were the number one choice in hospitals, used for their inherent natural antibacterial properties. “Now, we put in all these properties that it already had naturally to make new paints work better, but in a chemical cocktail way,” Bronwyn explains. “Nature provides us with everything we need.”

Above Bauwerk has an

extensive catalogue of earthen, mineral and synthetic pigments (pictured in bottles), which can be added to a variety of mediums including oils, lime, mortars, glass and plastics indesignlive.com

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