Driven 0807

driven

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Bridges :: Bridging art and architecture : design meets engineering Design :: Innovation nation : Australian Design Awards Destination :: Mountain magic : head for the hills in a 207 GTi

In a world where so much is recycled, copied or derivative, original ideas and innovation breathe life

into our simple existence

driven

is a magazine about innovation As an owner or potential owner of a Peugeot car, we understand that you are a person that seeks out places, people and products that are beyond the mainstream – that highlight an intelligent and unique approach to design and technology where ordinary is not an option.

In recognition of this Peugeot Automobiles Australia produce this quality magazine three times a year that covers the ideas, inspiration and creations that drive our society forward.

With a focus on the areas of design, art, food, wine, technology and travel, Driven tells the stories of the individuals and companies who continually strive to push the boundaries to create outstanding places, products or works of art.

Peugeot is one such example but there are passionate talented people from across the spectrum of society whose names are set to, or have already, become synonymous with innovative ideas, cutting-edge design and groundbreaking technology.

Discovering what drives these people, is what drives us. [ ]

WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN A LEADER IN PERFORMANCE DIESEL TECHNOLOGY. THINGS DON’T LOOK LIKE CHANGING.

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peugeot.com.au How do you build a diesel engine with genuine motorsport credentials?

By testing it on the ultimate racetrack. The same proven technology that goes into the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Le Mans racer can be felt behind the wheel of the 407 Coupé HDi. The sleek and aggressive lines of the 407 Coupé are perfectly complemented by its 2.7-litre V6 twin turbo HDi diesel engine, unleashing an imposing 440Nm of torque. And Peugeot’s pioneering FAP particle filter system, found in both the 908 and 407 Coupé HDi, reduces hazardous particle emissions to barely measurable levels. A diesel engine with race winning credentials that cares for the environment. Who would have thought?

Driven is published three times a year by Walrus Media for Peugeot Automobiles Australia Publisher Walrus Media PO Box 663 Elsternwick Victoria 3185 Sime Darby Automobiles Australia Pty Ltd t/as Peugeot Automobiles Australia 1 Hill Road Homebush Bay NSW 2140 www.peugeot.com.au Editorial Russell Williamson Walrus Media T 03 9503 5525 E walrusmedia@optusnet.com.au

PEU6246/DRIVEN

Advertising Walrus Media T 03 9503 5525 E walrusmedia@optusnet.com.au Design Ping Creative E info@pingcreative.com.au Print Ajith Gomes Offset Alpine Printing T 03 9533 7077 E ajith.gomes@offsetalpine.com.au

Subscription Subscriptions are available for $33 inc GST for three issues. Email subscriptions@peugeot.com.au or log onto www.peugeot.com.au, print the form and fax it back to 02 8737 7950

Distribution Driven is distributed free to Peugeot owners whilst their car is under warranty and through boutique hotels and exclusive B&Bs selected from Beautiful Accommodation guides. www.beautifulaccommodation.com

All material in Driven is copyright and cannot be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content, the Publisher and Sime Darby Automobiles Australia accept no liability for any errors.

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cover sea cliff bridge image : peter bateman

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The Driver ::

Ignition ::

Design ::

Bridges ::

Karinna Gobbo : Designer

Innovations from Peugeot and other cutting edge companies and organisations

Cool convertible, cosy coupe : from 401 Eclipse to 207 CC

Bridging art and architecture : design, engineering and technology

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Fashion ::

Design ::

Destination ::

Wine ::

Girls on film : beyond the catwalk

Innovation Nation : Australian Design Awards

Mountain magic : The Buckland Studio Retreat

Winter warmers : after dinner dessert

contents ::

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Travel ::

Technology ::

In-gear ::

The Navigator ::

France beyond the field : Rugby World Cup 2007

The Good Oil : the truth about diesel

Hottest new products

Professor Leon van Schaik : Senior Professor of Architecture RMIT

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IT’S NOT A PEUGEOT WITHOUT PEUGEOT GENUINE PARTS.

image : jenny guerra

peugeot.com.au Some parts should never be seen on a Peugeot. With Peugeot Genuine Parts, the original integrity of your car is guaranteed. Whether it’s replacement parts, service parts or wear parts, the car will comply with Peugeot factory specifications and perform to the rigorous safety standards set. Ensure your parts fit right the first time, every time with Peugeot Genuine Parts.

PEU6138DRIVEN

Since launching my business – a hand-crafted rug company – a few years ago, I have to stop and look back at where it all began. Life has been such a whirlwind with so much packed into a day but it’s this excitement and variety which really drives me and keeps me motivated.

I’m obsessed with all things beautiful and unique, particularly textiles, and many of my days are spent visiting beautiful homes and commercial interiors. A rug can have such a huge impact on an environment and there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing an idea or concept come to life and the pleasure it brings.

I’m constantly on the look out for new and emerging trends for my rug company both in Australia and overseas, and this obsession sees me traveling to many corners of the world every year. I have a fascination with different cultures and one of the conditions of starting my own business was that it had to involve travel, which I find invigorating and inspiring.

My travels have also given me a renewed appreciation and passion for my Italian heritage – even my company name, Tappeti, is Italian for rugs. I hold a dual Italian and Australian passport and I try to visit Italy as often as I can.

I was raised in a large Italian home with my three siblings and have always had my extended family close at hand and I think this has a lot to do with my love of being surrounded by people.

I really value the work ethics of patience, commitment and hard work that my parents instilled in me from an early age.

I get a lot of enjoyment and self-fulfillment out of watching my business grow and flourish, but I’m also conscious that we all need to give something back to our community and I maintain an active role with the Design Institute of Australia (NSW). I also participate in a volunteer mentoring program for young people, which is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.

When I’m not working I like to train for an occasional running event, share a meal and a red with friends, or try to cook like my two Nonna’s – a feat I am yet to master and probably never will! [ ] www.tapetti.com.au When not designing contemporary rugs, Karinna drives a Peugeot 307.

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inspiration :: ideas :: insight

Karinna Gobbo Designer With a background in design and colour and a passion for textures, it is no surprise that Karinna Gobbo’s latest venture is all about rugs. But these are not just simple floor coverings but rather hand crafted artworks that combine textiles, fabrics and materials to form spectacular and practical contemporary rugs. Referencing her passion for her Italian heritage, Karinna has called her company Tappeti and it is, she says, the culmination of 12 years experience in designing interior and exterior environments and a lifelong ambition to run her own company.

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: show stopper ‘This year’s program presents artists who have by definition changed the possibilities of their artform for all time and whose individual legacies continue to expand, astound and inspire,’ says Kristy Edmunds, artistic director of the Festival.

In theatre, Peter Brook directs Sizwe Banzi is Dead, an insight into South Africa under apartheid

by Athol Fugard while Barrie Kosky and Austrian actor and singer Martin Niedermair bring horror master Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart to life in a gripping theatrical and musical monologue.

Laurie Anderson, whose innovation and experimentation is seemingly boundless, brings to Melbourne a live performance of music, poetry and images, a film and an opportunity to participate in a discussion. Poetry will also be showcased through Voiceprints presented by La Mama Poetica as the iconic Melbourne theatre celebrates 40 years.

Throw in DiVino, a circus performance inspired by the films of Fellini by the National Institute of Circus Arts; a contemporary reading of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus by Dutch theatre collective Dood Paard; and the glam cabaret of Meow Meow as just one of the acts set to explode in the Famous Spiegeltent and again, Melbourne’s premier arts festival should offer something for just about everyone. [ ] www.melbournefestival.com.au

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: merce cunningham dance company

original :: new :: fresh :: novel :: innovative :: original :: new ::

: sankai juku

: arts alive!

etica : la mama po

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One of the world’s greatest contemporary dance choreographers Merce Cunningham is set to play a central role in this year’s Melbourne International Arts Festival that kicks off on October 11.

Celebrating 50 years of remarkable innovation and achievement in dance, the US-based choreographer will take up a residency in Melbourne that will showcase his and his company’s pioneering vision through dance and music performances, visual art exhibitions, a film retrospective and discussion series. During the final week of the festival, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will perform six works including a free site-specific outdoor piece at Federation Square.

Continuing the dance theme, local internationally acclaimed company Chunky Move will also perform its latest work Glow while Japan’s Sankai Juku company presents its enigmatic Butoh stylings with Kagemi: Beyond the metaphors of mirrors. These artists are all part of more than 700 that will perform, exhibit and screen their work in 19 venues across the city over 17 days.

After two hugely successful years since the inaugural Rendezvous Adelaide was held in 2005, this year will see the annual tour get together in Victoria when RV2007 hits the road from October 16-18.

Peugeot Automobiles Australia has again got behind this owner-organised event that will this year be hosted by the Peugeot Car Club of Victoria. But unlike previous years where entry was open only to 206 GTi owners, this year, owners of any 07 model from 207 to 607 are welcome to join the tour.

And with Victoria being home to some of the best driving roads in the country, it is sure to be an enthusiasts’ dream.

Setting off from Melbourne, the drive heads southwest along the inland route through to Cape Otway before heading back towards Ocean Grove along the Great Ocean Road. The next morning there is a quick trip across The Rip on the ferry to Sorrento before continuing up the Mornington Peninsula to the famed Arthurs Seat then east across to Mirboo North before heading south to enjoy some of Gippsland’s finest roads – and scenery. The following day takes in more of Gippsland with the evening’s presentation dinner at the historic Walhalla Star Hotel.

Numbers are limited and if last year’s Snowy Mountains Rendezvous is any indication, demand for places is likely to be high. [ ] http://rv2007.206gti.net

:p eugeots

venture into Victoria

Peugeot has never been shy when it comes to putting innovative styling ideas into production and many of the cars we see on the road today started life as show concepts. So with the forthcoming Frankfurt motor show in September being one of the world’s biggest, it is no surprise that the French carmaker has developed a stunning concept to star on its stand.

Dubbed the 308 RC Z, this compact 2+2 coupe combines futuristic design elements with developments of existing technology to produce a car that evokes passion and excitement with an underlying practicality and potential viability.

From the front, there is no denying its strong Peugeot heritage with the prominent lion badge proudly displayed on the nose. From here, the lines flow upwards back over the bonnet and into the two polished aluminium roll-over protections bars. This flowing ‘V’ profile gives the vehicle its shape and creates an impression of movement in all positions.

From the side, the 308 RC Z offers a strong profile with its big 19-inch alloys filling the prominent front and rear wings while the deeply sculpted sides give it a purposeful solid stance.

But the RC Z is about more than just good looks and under the bonnet is a development of the 207 GTi’s 1.6-litre turbocharged four cylinder engine. In the 308 RC Z the engine is mated to a new six-speed manual gearbox while power and torque have been boosted to 160kW and 280Nm – an increase of 32kW and 40Nm over the GTi. The driveline has been developed for both performance and efficiency and while its 7.0 second 0-100kmh sprint time and top speed of 235kmh are impressive, so too is the combined fuel consumption of just 6.7l/100km.

The 308 RC Z may just be a concept for a motor show but if Peugeot’s past record is any indication, it may well form the inspiration for a production car in the not too distant future. [ ] www.peugeot.com.au

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events : exhibitions : performances

Join the visual feast as Tasmania celebrates its diverse artistic community during the biennial Living Artists Week from August 24 – September 2. With more than 1000 artists participating in some 400 events across the island state, the week offers exhibitions, forums, workshops and gallery crawls. [ ] www.artsatwork.com.au

francine smith : telopea speciosissima

: hobart .

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every decade, including Mark Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock, Gilbert & George, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman as well as many significant artists whose work has never been seen before in Australia,’ says NGV director Dr Gerard Vaughan.

figuration and abstract expressionism, through minimalism and pop art, to the most recent developments in international contemporary art. Masterworks from the early years include Alberto Giacometti’s unsettling sculpture from 1947 Nose, in which a suspended head with a long nose eerily resembles a gun, and Roy Lichtenstein’s Preparedness 1968 with its pop-art depiction of massive machinery and soldiers evoking both war (specifically the Vietnam War) and the modern industrial machine.

The Guggenheim exhibition runs until October 7. [ ] www.ngv.vic.gov.au

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Explore the world of nuclear science at the Powerhouse Museum through its interactive exhibition Nuclear Matters. With the current hot debate on Australia’s energy future, this exhibition offers a chance to delve into the world of nuclear science, medicine and power and gain a greater understanding of how these areas already play a role in our daily lives and the changes that have taken place in social attitudes towards nuclear issues over the past century. Nuclear Matters opens on August 21 and will be on permanent display in the Experimentations gallery. [ ] www.powerhousemuseum.com

Indulge your tastebuds at one of Australia’s biggest food and wine festivals as Tasting Australia takes over South Australia for eight delectable days from October 13-20. This biennial festival, now in its 10th year, offers far more than the chance to taste test some of the state’s best produce with national and international chefs – this year including Rick Stein and Antonio Carluccio – food writers and commentators all contributing to discussions, workshops, forums and cooking classes. [ ] www.tasting-australia.com.au

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image : sotha bourn

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: adelaide

debra howard : altered

gilbert & george : dream 1984

The exhibition charts the development of art from post-war

: sydney

: bjarke ingels group

: new york guggenheim

Ever since its establishment in 1939, New York’s Solomon R Guggenheim Museum has been one of the world’s greatest contemporary art museums.

Such has been the strength of its collection and the subsequent opening of sister museums around the world such as that in Bilbao, Spain, the Guggenheim brand has become synonymous with cutting edge contemporary art.

And while Geelong may have missed out on its chance to host a ‘Guggenheim’ a few years back, Victorians can now at least get a taste of the vast collection with the Guggenheim Collection: 1940s to Now currently showing at the NGV on St Kilda Road.

A joint collaboration by the NGV and the Guggenheim, the exhibition draws from the Guggenheim collections of New York, Venice, Bilbao and Berlin and includes more than 85 works by 68 artists representing 22 nationalities. It includes a variety of media from paintings and

works on paper to sculpture,

photographs and new media.

‘It is the art of our time. A who’s

who of acclaimed artists from

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: melbourne

View more than just Howard Arkley’s iconic airbrush images of suburbia in this retrospective of the artist’s work showing at the new Gallery of Modern Art until September 16. Arkley’s images were drawn from a range of inspirations from the punk and club culture of the 1970s and 80s through the art world itself to Melbourne’s suburban streets. This exhibition – organised by the NGV – comprehensively presents the evolution of Arkley’s oeuvre from the early 1970s to the final major works with which he was represented at the Venice Biennale in 1999, shortly before his death. [ ] www.qag.qld.gov.au

howard arkley : nick cave

roy lichtenstein : preparedness 1968

: brisbane

original :: new :: fresh :: novel ::

on tour

: perth Discover the vision for tomorrow’s cities by some of the world’s leading architects at the New Trends of Architecture in Europe and Asia-Pacific 2006-2007 exhibition that is on display at FORM until September 30. This international touring exhibition that opened in Greece in 2006 showcases Australian and international new-generation architects whose projects – including housing, public architecture, planning, landscape and installation – redefine ways of seeing the city and position architecture as an important contributor to a city’s liveability and future direction. [ ] www.form.net.au

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: simone leamon

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:p eugeot power

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: t wo-oh triumph

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While the number of design awards and competitions seems to be growing exponentially every year, one that has made its mark as a harbinger of tomorrow’s design stars has been the annual Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award.

Offering an overview of who those designers might be this year, Object Gallery in Sydney will showcase the 10 finalists in an exhibition that runs from September 8 until November 4, during which time the winner will be announced.

Now in its fifth year, the Bombay award offers designers a $30,000 grant and the opportunity to show their work at the annual Milan Salone del Mobile in Italy with the competition drawing more than 60 entrants this year.

As in previous years, the finalists’ works tend to represent strong aesthetic design with pieces such as John Smith’s Stingray fibreglass chair taking the concept of seating to an almost sculptural level. Simone LeAmon’s silver tealights add humour to the aesthetic with the holders seemingly melting away.

Among the other finalists that include Anthony Dann, Kelly Freeman & Rina Bernabei, Michael Hoppe, Nick Rennie, Elliat Rich, Stefan Lie, Berto Pandolfo, and Edward Wong are an array of groundbreaking contemporary functional designs in lighting, furniture, accessories and homewares. [ ] www.object.com.au

original :: new :: fresh :: novel :: innovative : : original :: new : : fresh :: novel ::

:d esign discoveries

Peugeot has taken out one of the world’s most prestigious automotive awards winning the 2007 International Engine of the Year Award for the 1.4 to 1.8-litre category with its 1.6-litre direct injection turbocharged four-cylinder powerplant.

The engine, which made its debut in the 207 GT earlier this year was co-developed with the BMW Group and is offered with outputs of 110kW in the GT and 128kW in the recently released GTi hot hatch.

With no fewer than 71 engines considered, the 1.4 to 1.8-litre category is a key battleground as the demand for small and medium sized cars continues to grow. The PSA-Peugeot /BMW engine came away a clear winner with a total of 273 points and was also awarded third place in the ‘Best New Engine’ category.

Judged by a panel of 62 renowned motoring journalists from across the globe, the International Engine of the Year Awards are some of the automotive industry’s most soughtafter accolades. Judges apply their impressions from driving the latest cars to identify the powerplants that offer the best driveability, performance, economy, and refinement.

The co-operation between PSA Peugeot Citroen and BMW Group has applied the strengths of each partner to successfully solve the conflict between advanced engine technologies and cost pressures in the small and compact car segment. [ ] www.peugeot.com.au

Visitors wandering along the waterside of Sydney’s Darling Harbour were treated to an historic display of Peugeot heritage in May with 15 examples of the 2-series models stretching back to the 1953 203 proudly displayed in front of the Sydney Exhibition Centre.

The display was organised by the Peugeot Car Club of NSW and was timed to coincide with the launch of the new 207.

The 2 series is Peugeot’s most popular model, with over 13.5 million models produced since the 201 was launched in 1921, and has introduced a vast array of automotive innovations.

The 201, for example, was the first massproduced car to feature automatic wipers and independent front suspension, and in 1953 the Peugeot 203 won acclaim for wining the first ever Redex Round Australia Reliability trial.

The 205 GTi will always be remembered as one of the world’s first and finest ‘hot hatches’ which took out two World Rally Championship titles and also twice captured wins in the famous Paris-Dakar Rally. The 205’s rally wins were subsequently bettered by the 206 which became Peugeot’s best selling model with over 5 million sales, and three World Rally Championship titles. [ ] www.peugeotclub.asn.au

:o ut of the box For most people the prospect of living in a cardboard box doesn’t hold much appeal but that is exactly what Melbourne-based architect Peter Ryan had in mind when he started developing his PER (Portable, Environmental, Recyclable) Hut back in 2003.

While not exactly a cardboard box, these small bungalows are constructed using cardboard cladding around a looped plywood frame making them light, easy to erect, affordable, environmentally sustainable and surprisingly durable.

Ryan first had the idea after realising that there was a growing need for affordable structures that could be delivered and erected easily and quickly to deal with temporary housing issues following natural disasters.

So a few years ago he approached the packaging giant Visy, which had been toying with the idea of cardboard structures but when Ryan delivered his designs, they decided to get behind the project.

The bungalows are of a modular design that can be extended lengthwise to accommodate a variety of rooms. The basic unit is about 3.5m wide and 3m high and with three plywood arches set 1.5m apart giving it a length of 4.5m, there is enough room for a small bathroom, toilet and space for a bed and a desk.

The plywood flooring sits on a frame of bearers that can be simply located on the site using metal spikes removing the need for concrete footings and on top of this, the frame is built. Screwed to the frame are the cardboard panels that comprise an outer layer of new board made from wood pulp and an inner layer made of recycled cardboard. The entire structure is 100 per cent recyclable and can be removed from the site without leaving a trace.

Although Ryan first envisaged the PER Hut’s main appeal as temporary housing – although he says the structure would easily have a lifespan of between 5 and 10 years – he has since found a growing need from charities and others that simply require affordable additional accommodation.

One of these, for whom he has built a prototype and now has an order for ten more bungalows, is the Victorian charity Kids under Cover which raises money to build homes and bungalows for homeless and at-risk children and young people.

For many of them, this is one cardboard box that they would be happy to call home. [ ] www.shed4media.com

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With its best of both worlds scenario, the Peugeot 206 CC has been the driving force behind the worldwide trend in convertibles that offer a folding metal hardtop. Now the

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206 CC has a successor in the form of the 207 CC with a clever roof design that continues the concept that Peugeot pioneered with the world’s first coupe convertible, the 1934 401 D Eclipse. Peter Brewer traces the history of this original and now much imitated design innovation

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The development of the motor car, like any other field of human endeavour, is punctuated by individual inspiration.

Sitting by his window as a sudden midsummer’s rain squall swept through Nice in 1925, little did young Frenchman Georges Paulin realise that his moment in history arrived when a family friend in the street below struggled to erect the awkward soft-top on his convertible car. The type of car which attracted Paulin’s scrutiny is lost to the annals of history but not so the significance of the incident.

At the time, Paulin was better known for his skills with porcelain than with the designer’s pen.

His father, Henri, was a sought-after dental technician and firmly believed the career of young Georges – apprenticed to the dental trade at the age of 14 – would be best-served through replacing the rotten teeth of the well-to-do.

Georges Paulin however, harboured dreams far removed from dentistry. He had a passion

for cars and a fascination for levers and contraptions, including such arcane details as aircraft wingflaps.

At night he would labour over detailed drawings of these contrivances, interspersed with sketches of cars with sleek aerodynamic bodies. In the nights following that seminal summer squall, he took up his pen to design a quicker and easier way of sealing a car from the elements.

Paulin’s simple idea would be copied, reinvented and refreshed over the decades to come but it was Peugeot, the company that first put his folding hardtop design – the world’s first coupe-cabriolet – into production.

However, Paulin didn’t rely on others to put his first folding hardtop to the test. Borrowing money from his father-in-law, he purchased a new Peugeot 301 and to the horror of his family, removed the existing roof and fitted his own design.

Peugeot was so impressed it purchased the rights to the system from Paulin and his socalled ‘Eclipse’ roof, named for the way in which the single-piece roof section swung up from its repository behind the passenger’s seats and shut out the sun.

The desire for car companies to have something innovative and interesting to offer customers hasn’t changed since the first turn of the steering wheel. While the French coachbuilder Pourtout had assembled a few prototypes using Paulin’s patented system on various Peugeot chassis, it was the 601 ‘Coupe Transformable’, with its sixcylinder engine and long beavertail, that wowed the crowds at the 1934 Paris Motor Show and cemented the concept as a viable production car.

By any standards, production volumes of these early ‘Transformables’ were tiny; between 1934 and 1935, Peugeot produced just 79 401 Eclipses, followed by 580 Peugeot 402 Eclipses from 1935 to 1940.

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: 206 CC

: 207 CC

16 d r i v e n ::

Five hydraulic jacks – two driving the roof action, two for the boot lid and one for the retractable rear shelf which ensures a snug fit – were fed from a single reservoir. From its lowered position, the roof is ‘pushed’ into place by the jacks, and manually locked against the windscreen.

If imitation is flattery, then the volume of coupe-cabriolet rivals – large and small, from marginally cheaper to extraordinarily more costly – rolled out as recognisable plaudits to Peugeot’s groundbreaking reinvention.

Every major manufacturer on the planet rushed to clamber on board the market Peugeot had created, opening product niches where none had existed previously.

Encouraged by its success, Peugeot next set its sights on growing its winning retractable hardtop formula in the family way. The company wanted to extend the concept to reach customers that needed genuine seating for four passengers but still sought that unmatched coupe-cabriolet security and versatility. The lessons learned from the 206 CC project were invaluable in the development of the bigger 307 CC. The bigger physical dimensions of the 307 yielded benefits beyond the cabin,

window glass by a few millimetres for ease of opening and optimum sealing.

While the rush to retractable steel roofs has gathered apace in the past seven years and shows no sign of abating, it’s worth remembering that it all started with one man’s clever idea. The steady march of technology through powerful and compact hydraulics, lightweight materials and smarter electronics has helped make the latest coupe-cabriolets all the more reliable and appealing.

But it’s also worth remembering that the company that first recognised the potential in Georges Paulin’s original design, had the confidence to build it. It’s proof that with a little fresh insight, everything old can be new again. [ ] www.peugeot.com.au

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too, with the larger car yielding 25 litres more of extra available boot space over the 206 CC when in cabriolet (roof down) mode. Built on the sedan platform, the 307 CC was given a longer rear overhang (by 14cm) to accommodate the retracted roof but in style terms, there’s little to compare the siblings.

There is an aesthetic balance inherent in the design so that the 307 CC looks dramatic roof up or down, its larger, more steeply raked windscreen rolling in an eye-pleasing arch to the compact rear bootlid.

Front seat passengers sink into sports-style seats that are 40mm lower than the sedan version. Sports styling cues abound, with lashings of alloy and metal – gear knob, sills, pedal pads, instrument panel, even the steering wheel inserts.

Raise the roof – at speeds of up to 10km/h – with the one-touch switch to seal the cabin and the 307 CC is whisper-quiet inside, testimony to its high-quality sealing. As usual, safety received the Peugeot engineers’ close attention, too, with telescopic rollover bars armed by electronic detection, multiple airbags and pyrotechnic seat belt tensioners.

After completely changing the dynamics of the cabriolet market with the 206 CC, Peugeot

: 207 CC

Compare that with the phenomenal success which followed the introduction of Peugeot’s marvellous little 206 CC 2+2. It was introduced first at the 1998 Geneva Motor Show as a concept car with a name which followed the customary Peugeot formula but ended with a symbol: the ‘Two-0h-Heart’, and created almost as much of a sensation as its forebear 64 years previously.

When the production 206 CC rolled out a little over two years later, demand quickly overwhelmed supply.

By the end of its production run, the 206 CC had become the world’s biggest-selling coupe-cabriolet, with more than 360,000 sold internationally, and dozens of awards burdening the Peugeot trophy cabinet.

Built off-line by specialist French cabrio maker Heuliez, the 206 CC offered open-and-shut advantages: it was stylish, had superior levels of vehicle security and safety compared to a softtop cabrio, went from fully open to closed in 20 seconds and most importantly, was affordable.

The boot was hinged two ways; from the front for normal loading, and pivoting from the rear to admit the two-piece roof. The whole roof, complete with its joints, arms and hydraulic mechanisms weighed in at 33kg.

has now introduced its successor: the 207 CC. This latest folding hardtop 2+2 is built entirely in-house, firstly on a special sub-assembly line at the Villaverde plant outside Madrid before transferring across to the factory’s main line. For the first time, too, the smaller of the Peugeot coupe-cabriolets receives a turbocharged engine tuned not for an outright sprint but for an even spread of torque across its rev range.

Where the 206 CC mechanism required locking the raised roof to the windscreen manually, the 207 CC’s alloy roof is a genuine one-touch operation and snugs up tight without clamps. There are six hydraulic actuators to work the new structure, and the pump sits under the rear floor to reduce operating noise. Like the 307 CC, a touch of the door handle drops the

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:: b r i d g e s

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: millau viaduct, france

Bridg es w ere o cons nce r truc egar t s bu ded socie ilt as as li ty th a ttle m a eans t is s more ident eemi to cr than ity, t n o g h s l engin y s e y hav alwa the r stre eerin y e i amli s sea v b e e r c g ning but i ome rchin n than much tran t g o f d or a spor not p ay’s more disti t. An lay t than artis nct d alt he m a ts ar mean houg ain g e get h en s of ame, of to ting g i i n n c day h e r i e n e r v a s mo olve sing ave t the f re of d to ly ar he po ensu utur ten c h t i e t e n e r c t . e t i A a s an the m l to ndre the w d beco egas w Ma orld me l truc ’s mo cKen conc a t n u s z d res ie ta t inn mark rete kes a ovati , des icon ve st l s ign a o o o f k at ruct nd te some ures chno of that logy meld meta l,

Bridgingart &architecture 18 d r i v e n ::

:: d r i v e n 19

: sea cliff bridge, NSW

many of his bridges it is supported by a single powerful soaring pylon, an array of shrouds (tensioned cables) strung between it and the deck. Like a massive futuristic harp, the scale of the pylon is all the more extraordinary in its absence of counter-stays. The weight of the bridge holds the pylon and its tensioned cables in place. A flawless white presence on the land, it expresses perfect balance, graceful geometry and a magical defiance of gravity. This cable stayed bridge and other Calatrava beauties like it, went on to inspire hundreds of bridges across the world including Sydney’s Anzac bridge. It remains for me, despite much bigger and more complex work, Calatrava’s most poetic expression of structural delight, and became an instant landmark of pride for the region. This is a bridge to silence the most quarrelsome NIMBY. More locally, the Sea Cliff Bridge in Illawarra

spain

and enmity. Not in my backyard is a common community response to the announcement of new infrastructure works.

We might want bridges and highways when we’re late for work or rushing to the airport, but we’re always first to protest if said infrastructure interrupts your walk to the park on Saturday morning. We’d rather bury it underground, and pretend it’s not there. What Calatrava declared, with the most dramatic of architectural expressions, was that infrastructure should be loved, admired and coveted by those it serves.

It should not hide in utility but should declare its status as a cultural landmark.

Alamillo Bridge in Seville, Spain, does this in spades. Built for the Seville Universal Expo and at the time of the Barcelona Olympics, the Alamillo Bridge expresses the poetry of movement with supreme economy and elegance of form. Like

illo br idge,

him build early landmarks buildings like Australia Square) was a master of the wide spanning concrete vault, put to use on grand arches, bridges and aerodromes. Other modernists like Buckminster Fuller, though never a bridgebuilder, saw the future of architecture as locked in step with the future of building technology and engineering. More recently, the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava has reinvented this hybrid profession of the architectural engineer through a two-decade career of bridge building that has brought poetry back into engineering, and the rational back into architecture.

Calatrava completed his architecture studies in 1968, but returned to college the next year, to the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich, to study engineering. From an early age Calatrava knew he was not destined for home alterations and boutique retail. He was aiming for bigger – city building, infrastructure, the built environment. So where better to learn about the technical challenges of designing big, complex and structurally demanding architecture, than in a land of alpine mountains and precipitous gorges.

At first, Calatrava’s bridge building attentions were entirely focused on the rational pursuit of optimal engineering; using the least materials and most economic structures to achieve the greatest strength. But he soon discovered that bridges were more than functionary bits of infrastructure, designed to bear the load of this much wind and that many trucks. Bridges are symbols that define landscapes. The more valued the landscape, the more critical it is that a bridge located there does more than simply ease traffic movement. Bridges have the capacity to express a range of other, less economically tangible outcomes; civic pride, social aspiration and urban confidence.

It sounds obvious. Yet for decades, and even today in many parts of Australia, the relationship between infrastructure and the landscape, or infrastructure and community, is one of distrust

: alam

June 28, 2000 was not a good day for Baron Foster of Thames Bank. He woke up that morning to a less honorific title splashed across the front page of the UK dailies ­– Lord Wobble. The public had been allowed onto the new Millennium Bridge for a few trial days before it was to be officially launched. Linking two key tourist sites on either side of the Thames, the Tate Modern and St Paul’s Cathedral, it was an immediate hit with 90,000 tourists pouring across its deck in the first day. Problem was, it wasn’t stable. The authorities called it ‘resonant structural response’. The rest of the world said it wobbled and so its architect was dubbed Lord Wobble.

We all know that bridges are designed to sway as part of their structural tolerance, but this was different. Children got seasick. The elderly gripped their canes that bit tighter. It couldn’t go on. With red faces all round, the bridge was closed pending further investigation. Already months late and £2 million over budget, the bridge was in trouble.

Norman Foster, celebrated architect of airports, vast banking monoliths and sprawling cultural complexes, took the full brunt of public outcry.

Little did the public know that Lord Wobble had little to do with the bridge’s problems, and even less to do with fixing them. That of course, was the job of the engineer, Arups.

As the world’s top engineering company and collaborators with the biggest and best architects, Arups are used to dealing with unique problems, fast, efficiently and usually behind the scenes. So on came the lab coats and out came the whizzbang gadgets. 52 mass dampers later, strategically placed and precisely calibrated, and all was well. The moral of the story: when it comes to bridges, architects might think they are in control, but really it’s the engineers who are in charge. Unless that is, the architect is also an engineer.

History has seen a few bi-polar geniuses, who have combined the aesthetic beauty of architecture with the scientific rigor of engineering.

The most heroic architect-engineer of France would have to be Gustave Eiffel, who, aside from etching his name forever onto the skyline of Paris, created some of that country’s finest bridges, such as the Garabit Viaduct and the Maria Pia Bridge.

The Italian genius Pier Luigi Nervi, who went on to inspire the young Harry Seidler (and helped

NSW has also received an uncommon level of community support and appreciation. Then again, it does literally bridge the gap between the villages of Coalcliff and Clifton, connecting them in turn, to nearby Wollongong. Before the bridge was built, the Lawrence Hargrave Drive was the only easy connection. Originally built over a hundred years ago to service the coalmines of the Illawarra region, the road, though scenically beautiful was structurally dangerous. After numerous rock-falls and near misses, the road was closed in 2003. For over two years the local communities were divided. Now complete, the Sea Cliff Bridge bends and tracks the rocky coast, just far enough offshore to avoid the tumbling rocks and land subsidence. Designed in-house by the construction company Laing O’Rourke, this long snaking bridge may not have quite the refinement of a Calatrava, but it makes up for this with the spectacular coastal landscape it opens up, once again for local tourism. More Monte Carlo than Wollongong it is no wonder it has quickly become a tourist mecca for NSW day-trippers.

Bridges take all shapes and forms, but recently, with technical advancements, they have been breaking all the records; highest, longest, heaviest, leanest, we’ve had all these records smashed in recent years. Returning to Lord Wobble, undeterred by his Millennium Bridge troubles, he recently completed a bridge of epic scale, the Millau Viaduct in southern France. It is, predictably enough, marketed to the world as the refined designs of Norman Foster. But here once again is a master engineer, lurking in the background, the unsung hero. On this occasion it wasn’t Arups but Michel Virlogeux; architect, engineer and creator of over 100 bridges over a 25-year career. :: d r i v e n 21

:

Like Concord and the Channel tunnel, the Millau Viaduct was a Franco-British endeavor.

For those at the pointy end of engineering, it broke three separate world records: at 270m above the Tarn River it is highest road bridge in the world; at 343m it has the highest masts in the world (just higher than the Eiffel Tower) and finally; at 244m it has the highest pylons in the world. The cable stayed deck stretches across seven piers, weighs 36,000 tons in total, extends for 2.5kms and took three years to build. The staggering scale of it may seem extravagant, but it does reduce travel time on the busy northsouth route through the Massif Central by over an hour, meaning the bridge owner and operator will have its tolls busy 24/7 for years to come.

As is often the case, the construction of the bridge was even more spectacular than the finished thing. Seven concrete pylons rose from the valley floor like improbably slender needles.

Once in place, sections of the 36m wide steel decking were launched horizontally from either side, using massive hydraulic launching machines capable of moving 4000 ton sections of steel at a time, at a crunch rate of 150mm per minute. Maybe it was French engineering, maybe it was American hydraulics, maybe it was just lady luck, but when Millau Viaduct opened on December 16 2004, nothing wobbled.

Technology is clearly improving matters and making previously unthinkable structures eminently possible. Innovations in ultra high-

exporting of files. This represents nothing short of a revolution for all building professionals and creates a more fluid communication in bridge construction in particular, between architectural aesthetics and engineering function.

Perhaps more important than technical innovations however, is the shift in architectural attitudes to the city. Architects today want to participate more fully in the bigger picture of the built environment. If we think of the modern age as a time when the architect fixated on the building as an immaculate object – independent, isolated and sculptural, today’s postmodern age is one in which architects want to play a more integrated part in the growth of our cities. Urban design, once construed as the dull business of where to put traffic lights and carparks, is the new black.

And you know how much architects love black.

So the bridge, today’s shining symbol of urban design par excellence has become every architect’s dream commission – almost as good as an art museum. In Rotterdam, the world’s second most beautiful cable stayed

bridge is the Eramus Bridge by UNStudio. In the UK there’s the award winning Gateshead Millennium Bridge, by talented architecture engineer duo Wilkinson Eyre. In Switzerland, following in Calatrava’s footsteps, there’s Jurg Conzett, with his improbably delicate footbridges that span great distances with the slightest of engineering. In Dubai, not to be outdone, the current queen of architecture Zaha Hadid has designed a swooping, flexing and torsioned form for the Sheikh Zayed Bridge.

Artists too have jumped on the bandwagon.

American artist Vito Acconci was invited to design a temporary building for Graz, Austria, while the city was the Cultural Capital of Europe. The result, Mur Island, half bridge half amphitheatre, was so successful it has become a permanent fixture on the River Mur. Here in Australia there are dozens of architect/artist/engineer collaborations heralding a new age of hybrid bridge design.

In Melbourne’s growing suburb of Craigieburn, a busy bypass road needed a pedestrian bridge, which became an iconic new part of the landscape; part building, part road, part art. The Sydney artist Richard Goodwin, who likes to describe his sculptures as ‘parasites’ on architecture recently completed one of his best works so far in his parasitic additions to the Bicentennial Park Bridge. Denton Corker Marshall meanwhile, known for some of Melbourne’s most impressive and enormous

architectural landmarks, collaborated with artist Robert Owen to create one of Melbourne’s most impressive pieces of public sculpture/ architecture, in the form of the Webb Bridge, in the dockland’s Yarra Edge.

Taking its form from the traditional shape of an Aboriginal woven eel catcher, Webb Bridge is now emblazoned on all of the city’s tourism brochures and posters, as a symbol of the stylish contemporary city.

As this trend continues towards a more integrated urban fabric, made hand in glove by architects and engineers, it could be that we are about to enter a new age of structural and architectural innovation – one filled with aspiration and ambition. A renaissance in city building, in which bridges, highways, railway networks, stadiums and stations, and all those other practical essentials for the growing city, are not the architectural lepers of social opinion, but instead embody all that is most innovative, most optimistic and most creative in our built environment. [ ]

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: : millenium bridge, london UK

: eramus bridge, netherlands

performance concrete such as Ductal (concrete impregnated with metal fibres) have created ever more compressive, flexible, durable and yet powerful forms, which are being used in exceptionally slender wide spanning bridges.

Beyond material technology, new software is also allowing architects back into the game.

Building Information Models (BIMs) are all the rage. With this software you don’t just design using dumb lines, but rather information-rich forms. A drawing file that contains a building’s architectural elevations, plans and sections, can also contain information on wind loading, structural stress points and material properties.

What this means for all highly engineered buildings, but especially bridges, is that architects, designers, engineers, builders, urban planners, surveyors and service engineers all use the same file. No more importing and

e urn lbo th a , me idge n mcgr o b br : web shann e imag

:: d r i v e n 23

For young fashion designers, getting a break onto the Australian or world stage is not an easy task with invites into the regular catwalk shows often being a bit of a lottery.

:: f a s h i o n

But a number of innovative young designers are looking in other directions to help get their collections noticed. Ruby Smallbone is an example of one of those designers having decided to showcase her collection on film. But other designers are also developing innovative ways of marketing themselves. Stephen Crafti investigates

girls on film Fashion parades have long been the traditional way of selling clothes. And given this method is endlessly repeated around the world, it’s not surprising that designers pull everything out of their bag of tricks to spice up the event. But even with the most radical hairdos, makeup and lighting, they are still just slight variations of the same formula and it takes more than just talent to get noticed. It is especially hard for younger, less established designers so a number of these have found alternative ways of getting their name out there.

Sydney based Ruby Smallbone is one and while she still uses traditional ways of marketing her clothes with each collection designed around a theme, it’s not necessarily played out on the catwalk. Since re-branding her label in 2005, from ‘Ruby Ruby’ to ‘Ruby Smallbone’, she’s moved into other mediums to promote her collections.

‘Before the switch I was attracting quite a young audience. I just felt I’d outgrown that market,’ says Smallbone, who has been

While the fashion magazines were a great support in establishing Smallbone’s label, she was keen to further develop the central themes in each collection. In Smallbone’s Winter 2007 collection, there were references to the character ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. For Spring/ Summer 2007, there’s a folk-like quality, with designs finding inspiration from Heidi as well as the archetypal Russian Doll.

‘This collection is a little more moodier than previous collections. There’s a lot more black,’ says Smallbone, who was also inspired by the waitresses serving in American diners during the 1950s. ‘Service uniforms with a twist,’ says Smallbone, picking up a black jersey dress inserted with a stripe panel.

To convey the darker, more moody side of Smallbone’s latest collection, she made a film.

Shown at the Dendy Cinema at Circular Quay in Sydney in July, the five-minute standalone film replaced the usual fashion shows. Directed

by Fiona McGee and Paul Bruce and produced

starting point. Set in a rambling house in Darling Point, Sydney, the pseudo horror film is shot through the eyes of the seeker.

Eight models who wear Smallbone’s designs are slowly discovered by an ‘intruder’. Antiques in the house helped to create the ambience of the film, as did the Peugeot cars used by the models to arrive at the house.

‘With a film you have more control over the detail. In parades, there’s usually one stylist who gives the models a more generic feel,’ says Smallbone, who was able to hone in on the fabrics and patterns used for her new collection.

‘Small details are often lost on the catwalk.

With the film, you can watch it several times.

And anyone in the media who misses it can be sent a copy,’ she adds. Smallbone also plans to use the film on her web site, My Space and You Tube.

‘Ruby’s clothes are quite cinematic. You really get a sense of movement in the clothes watching the film,’ says director Fiona McGee,

designing her clothes since graduating in fashion from East Sydney Tech in 2001.

by George MacKenzie of the company Open, the film takes the game ‘hide and seek’ as its

who feels that producing fashion films will become more prevalent. :: d r i v e n 25

: ess laboratory : material by product

‘Films are a great way of branding a product.

And it resonates with the audience well after they’ve left the cinema. It has an extended life

26 d r i v e n ::

with the Internet,’ says McGee. While Smallbone still intends to produce look books and feature in fashion parades, she’s keen to explore other forms of media to expose her collections. ‘My designs are concept driven, so film was an obvious choice,’ says Smallbone.

Melbourne based fashion designers Hoshika Oshimi and Tatsuyoshi Kawabata also explore other ways to showcase their work, in particular through collaborations with other artists and designers operating in different genres. Established in 2001, the couple now have two labels Ess Hoshika Laboratory and Ess Laboratory, the latter exclusive to the Melbourne boutique Eastern Market as well as stores overseas.

‘We’re always interested in collaborating with other people,’ says Oshimi, who has designed clothes for dance performances.

Oshimi and Kawabata’s most recent collaboration is with Eastern Market. Together, they staged an exhibition at the National Design Centre, as part of the recent Melbourne Design Festival. Brown paper, used for clothing patterns, was transformed into a showcase for their fashion concepts.

‘We washed and scrubbed the paper and stitched it together like fabric. We wanted to give it that leathery feel,’ says Oshimi.

Once the garments were complete, they were suspended from the ceiling by weighted springs. One garment, an evening dress, was given more volume with concealed chicken wire.

‘We could have used mannequins, but we wanted to create a more animated feel to our designs,’ says Oshimi, whose dresses, skirts, pants and jackets feature the signature layering of paper, whether in the form of collars or cuffs.

While there were some finished garments from Ess Hoshika Laboratory in the National Design

Centre’s store, it was the installation in the gallery space that drew in the audience.

Oshimi and Kawabata still participate in fashion shows. But they feel there are benefits in exploring other mediums to promote their labels. ‘This exhibition is on for longer than a fashion show and a broader audience, not just those who normally buy our clothes, will also see our designs. Even motorists driving along Flinders Street will take in the exhibition,’ says Kawabata while, ‘a story on the exhibition at the National Design Centre has also just been sent to a newspaper in Tokyo.’

The winners of this year’s Premier’s Design Award, Susan Dimasi and Chantal McDonald, regularly step outside the norms of the fashion parade. While they did show their Material By Product label at L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, they regularly stage other events to promote their designs.

In May Dimasi and McDonald teamed up with architect Robert Simeoni. Staged at Assin,

a boutique in Melbourne’s Little Collins Street which stocks Material By Product, their Spring Summer collection for 2007 centred on a freight box. One model was nailed into the rough container by one of Simeoni’s tradesmen.

The box was then dismantled and transformed into a catwalk, with models from behind walking through the ‘arbour’ surrounded by tissue paper that had been used to protect the initial garment.

‘Spaces are important to us. It’s not just the clothing. It’s about interacting with larger spaces,’ says Dimasi, who, with McDonald, trained in fashion at RMIT University. The tissue paper that spread along the ‘catwalk’ was the pattern paper, treated like blotting paper.

‘It’s a bit like the Japanese Chinoiserie seen in France in the 18th and 19th century as well as the wallpapers used in tea chests,’ says Dimasi, whose collection included viscose georgette skirts and dresses as well as tattooed kangaroo leather waistbands and shoes.

‘We’re interested in extending design beyond the clothing racks. Our work is about generating ideas. And fashion parades aren’t always the best way of achieving this,’ says Dimasi, who regularly holds ‘backyard shows’ to express her collections. Before she and McDonald set off for Paris with a collection, a local crowd of friends and family and those interested in design are invited to see it. As Dimasi says, ‘we put garments on the hills-hoist and models parade in the back garden. And there’s no front row seats’. [ ] www.rubysmallbone.com.au www.materialbyproduct.com www.ess-hoshika.com

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:: d r i v e n 27

:: d e s i g n

echo panel

innovation nation Mention design and people often think about exclusive products that have a very definable and appealing aesthetic. But good design is about far more than looks. In today’s society, good design must be functional, sustainable and visually appealing.

Tracey Clement takes a look at some of the innovative products that have been recognised for their excellence in this year’s annual Australian Design Awards

:: d r i v e n 29

the surface. But design isn’t just a slick veneer, applied to make a product sexy, streamlined and desirable; a clever trick with smoke and mirrors to bamboozle insatiable consumers into buying more, more, more. Good design starts from the inside out, it’s the nitty gritty, nuts and bolts stuff of making things work, and making them work well.

The Australian Design Awards (ADA) recognise that there is more to the design industry than good looks and glamour.

Every year a panel of prestigious industry professionals, including representatives of international corporations, judge Australian designs against a set of rigorous criteria, with innovation at the top of the list.

The recognition of good Australian design is not a new phenomenon. In 1958, the Industrial Design Council of Australia (IDCA) was formed to assess and promote the growing local industry.

Two years later, the IDCA introduced the Design Selection Label, later known as the Good Design Label. In 1977, the ADA took over and became the most respected Australian design accolade honouring such iconic Aussie products as the Victa lawnmower, the Dolphin torch and the first Holden ute, as well as recognising our world class scientific achievements in such innovative medical devices as the Bionic Ear and the VentrAssist Artificial Heart.

Since 1991, the ADA has been a division of Standards Australia, an organisation with a firm belief that excellence in design can benefit society and improve quality of life. Their highest accolade, The Australian Design Award of the Year, is reserved for a single product that has the potential to do just that. In 2001, the Australian Design Award-Dyson Student Award was introduced to identify and encourage fresh talent, and this year an Award for Excellence in Sustainable Design was added. In addition to 30 d r i v e n ::

these three individual categories, each year the judges recognise excellent and good design with multiple Australian Design Awards and Australian Design Marks.

In 2008, the ADA is going global. Stephanie Watson, Standards Australia’s manager of the ADA, sees this as an exciting new chapter and a positive step for the industry. By opening up the competition to all professionally designed products sold in Australia, regardless of where they were conceived, the ADA hope to achieve the type of recognition and prestige currently given to other international awards like Red Dot, iF and the Good Design Award. And even more importantly, Aussie designers will be competing on the world stage.

Watson believes this is where they belong and has confidence that our designers are up for the challenge.

‘They’ve always been ready to compete I think!

At least for the last ten years,’ she says.

When asked if Aussie designers will be competitive in the international arena, Hugo Davidson, director of Catalyst Design Group (who designed this year’s overall winner, the super bright Gator bike light) replies with an enthusiastic ‘Without a doubt!’

‘We win jobs in Europe and the USA over their local designers regularly’, he explains.

Citing Australia’s flexibility, alternative time zone and regional proximity to Asian manufacturers, Davidson says we have plenty of advantages.

‘Opening up to the world will allow them to see the benefits of what we have to offer.’

If the 2007 crop of ADA products is anything to go by, part of what Aussie designers have to offer is a seemingly endless capacity for innovation and problem solving. Just when you think something is already perfect, distilled to its most basic and efficient form, like the standard spring-loaded clothes peg, someone like Rimm Industries comes along and improves it with their double-ended Clever Peg. In the hands of these creative people even something as dire as Australia’s prolonged drought can become a source of inspiration, as seen in Caroma’s waterless H2Zero Cube Urinal, which took out the inaugural Award for Excellence in Sustainable Design. Most of us may operate day to day with an ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ attitude, but Aussie designers never stop looking for ways to make things better. These are the people who reinvent the wheel.

Award for Excellence in Sustainable Design Caroma H2Zero Cube Urinal by Caroma Dorf In a drought stricken continent like Australia, we need to think twice before flushing clean water down the toilet. Caroma have done just that.

The result is an innovative, completely waterless solution, the H2Zero Cube Urinal, which took out the inaugural Award for Excellence in Sustainable Design.

H2Zero Cube Urinal which uses a waterless cartridge with an integrated deodoriser, is the latest in a long line of forward thinking initiatives by Caroma, a company that has pioneered solutions to minimise water usage.

In 1982 they introduced the dual flush toilet, a world first. Their new Smart Flush saves an

Australian Design Award-Dyson Student Award: Gold Winner Powercleat by Paul Owen The ADA-Dyson Student Award is a chance for student designers to present their ideas and prototypes to a panel of industry professionals.

This year’s Gold Winner was University of NSW student, Paul Owen’s Powercleat, an innovative solution to yachting rope tangles.

Stephanie Watson, Manager of the Australian Design Awards, says of Owen’s winning design: ‘It is a representation of form and function working together to produce a market ready design.

With thorough research and a professional presentation, the Powercleat is an example of the potential within young Australian designers.’

light may seem trivial in this company, Catalyst’s director Hugo Davidson concedes that Gator’s win may reflect a growing realisation that small individual actions, like cycling as a primary source of transport, can be practical solutions to massive problems like climate change.

In fact Gator, like all Knog bike products designed by Catalyst, has impressive ecological credentials. The product’s entire life cycle is designed to minimise harm. As Davidson explains: ‘On every level we choose the environmental route.’ It’s a win/win philosophy, giving Knog a marketing edge, but more importantly allowing the customer to ‘feel good about the product when they get home.’

additional 70% more than the 1982 system.

As Dr Steve Cummings, manager of research and development at Caroma explains: ‘We are continually looking at ways to reduce bathroom water usage. We are pretty proud of that.’

And so they should be, for by using no water at all, the H2Zero Cube Urinal could save a typical CBD office tower 2.3 million litres of desperately needed clean water every year. This critical local issue was a source of inspiration for Cummings and his team as he says: ‘We’ve moved with the water crisis and taken an Australian approach to dealing with it.’ Once again necessity is the mother of invention.

Powercleat was born out of Owen’s own experiences sailing and he hopes to make it available soon to other enthusiasts by putting it into production.

H2Zero

:: d r i v e n 31

powercleat

gator In many ways design has become associated with a certain look, a sleek sort of styling that is smooth, sophisticated and very much on

Australian Design Award of the Year Gator by Catalyst Design Group and Knog Gator is a bike light with attitude. Its creators, Catalyst Design Group, describe it as ‘visually simple, compact and obnoxiously bright.’ It sounds like something only a mother could love, but actually Gator is clever, sexy and gets the job done. The ADA judges were completely won over. Together they agreed that Gator is: ‘an extremely exciting and innovative product and a stand-out example of what good design can do. Overall, a complete package.’

As winner of the Australian Design Award of the Year, Gator joins an exclusive list that includes a Cochlear implant and a cancer detection system. And while at first an LED bike

rode podcaster

Australian Design Award Echo Panel by Woven Image According to Tony Sutton, managing director of Woven Image, in 1997 when the company began investigating the use of recyclable materials like Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), they were well ahead of the ground swell in consumer demand for environmentally sustainable office solutions. But now, with their ADA winning Echo Panel (and other products in the Echo Textiles range), he says: ‘The market has come to us in a big way.’

Echo Panel has multiple applications, but it is used primarily as a vertical surface in offices.

As a 100% recyclable product, it reflects Woven Image’s environmental policy of ‘stewardship’.

As Sutton explains: ‘We will take back anything we’ve sold for recycling, as long as it is uncontaminated and we actively do that.’

With Echo Panel, it has been particularly easy to close this ‘cradle to cradle’ loop. Version three, due for release near the end of 2007,

will be made from recycled material, as well as remaining 100% recyclable.

On winning an ADA, Sutton was both thrilled and modestly surprised saying: ‘How can a flat surface win a design award?’ Yet there is no denying that Echo Panel is an attractive, innovative, functional and environmentally responsible product; a perfect example of design at its best.

Australian Design Award The Rode Podcaster by Rode Microphones It comes as no surprise that the Rode Podcaster has won an ADA, it’s a case of the right product at the right time. Rode Microphones have channelled their extensive professional industry experience into their Podcaster, the world’s first broadcast quality, USB output microphone with zero latency headphone monitoring, designed for recording at home. As the ADA judges put it, ‘This is a potentially revolutionary product for a booming market.’

As a market, domestic use of new media is more than booming, it’s on an exponentially expanding trajectory and Rode is keen to go along for the ride. Their Podcaster offers affordable, professional quality to novice audio technicians.

They even offer free microphone technique tutorials online, and host a free podcasting site.

And since the Rode Podcaster is both designed and manufactured in Australia; we can be proud that our homegrown technology is leading the charge in the personal media revolution. Let’s make some noise! [ ] www.designawards.com.au

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echo panel

candelabra

Australian Design Award Candelabra by Charles Wilson and MENU Charles Wilson’s Candelabra is the antitheses of disposable consumerism – it’s designed to last. As the Sydney based independent industrial designer says: ‘The sort of design I am interested in is creating artefacts…I like to design things that in all probability won’t be thrown out, to design objects that will become ambassadors of their own time, which is what happens when they are valued.’

Wilson’s Candelabra certainly has the potential to become a family heirloom or design icon. Its pared back, modernist lines have an elegant, almost timeless quality. The two parts of its sleek, three-dimensional form are cleverly held together by industrial strength magnets. Disassembled, it flat-packs for easy storage and transportation.

In this way, Candelabra unites the sometimes separate design concerns of the decorative and the functional, something Wilson aspires to. As he says: ‘It’s good to bridge that gap.’

MENU, the Scandinavian firm which manufacture and market Candelabra internationally, clearly think Wilson’s Australian design has universal appeal. The ADA judges concurred describing it as an ‘example of world class styling though superb detail resolution.’

:: d r i v e n 33

:: d e s t i n a t i o n

mountain magic

: Winter can be a hectic and busy time for the Victorian high country with the snowfields drawing plenty of crowds but the little Buckland Valley near Bright provides a respite of peace and tranquillity.

And as Russell Williamson discovers there could be

When you have spent your life travelling the world as part of corporate culture it might seem like a difficult task to stop and settle and be satisfied. But much of that depends upon where you settle and for Sabine Helsper and Eddie Dufrenne, the Buckland Valley in the heart of the high country of northwestern Victoria provided the perfect destination.

It’s a pretty little valley that is lined with huge granite cliff faces that draw ever closer together until the valley peters out and gives way to the mountains. Just the one road runs its length off the main highway near Bright but that too is eventually overcome by the surrounding environment and finishes up being swallowed in a dead end.

Being off the main road, the valley is incredibly quiet too with little other than the prolific birdlife and the gentle whisper of the wind that wafts through the natural forest to disturb the silence.

Peaceful is probably the most common word you would use to express what makes for life in the valley but for Sabine and Eddie, it was a life that they still wanted to share with others.

So having found their perfect hideaway, they set about creating a luxury studio retreat to enable others to enjoy the stunning setting and its solitude.

‘We wanted to do something different and both of us come from a corporate background in transport but we couldn’t do it where we were living before in St Andrews because of planning restrictions and also it was too close to Melbourne,’ Sabine says.

‘So we looked around and then came across this area. It is so appealing because it is so pretty, and you have the four seasons which we like and it is also an area that people come to all year round.’

Their philosophy in developing The Buckland was a simple one – to create a place that they themselves would like to stay and build it with as little impact on the natural environment as possible.

‘We had been travelling all over the world previously for business and had to stay in some really hideous places sometimes but also very nice ones and over the years something forms in your mind. So what we created was a place that we would really like to stay.’

And there is no doubt that Sabine and Eddie have very good taste.

The four studio villas and separate café that make up The Buckland could easily be missed driving along the road such is their design and the nature of the materials used.

Plantation timber, local stone, corrugated iron and rusted steel are combined to form contemporary structures with an aesthetic that melds seamlessly into the tree line of forest that borders the property.

few better places to spend a couple of days of R&R than The Buckland studio retreat where luxury and style meld perfectly with the local landscape in a small selection of villas that leave a very light environmental footprint

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:: d r i v e n 35

: And this vista was definitely no accident. For Sabine and Eddie were determined to ensure their retreat had a very light footprint.

As such, the four very separate studios sit at different elevations across the hillside with no excavation having been carried out. Should the time come, they could be dismantled and removed without leaving a trace while it also does wonders for ensuring your own private view across the valley.

They are also sited and designed specifically to take advantage of the winter sun while keeping the hotter summer radiation to a minimum to help reduce the need for heating and cooling. The windows are positioned to benefit from cross-breezes that flow along the valley and the entire studio – walls, ceiling and floors – is wrapped in insulation.

The buildings were designed by local architect Andrew McCoubrie, whose own Odd Frog studios near Bright are a highly regarded measure of sustainable architecture and eco-tourism. But as Sabine points out they also wanted a place that exuded luxury and style and as soon as you step inside The Buckland studios, the evidence is there before you.

Tastefully decorated in natural tones, there is little left wanting for a quiet relaxing weekend away. A small cooktop, discrete dishwasher, fridge, sink and a real coffee machine in the galley kitchen ensure that should you want to, you could easily cook a romantic dinner for two.

The lounge area is open plan with a wood heater for ambience and warmth and a flat-screen TV, DVD player – with a selection of movies – and CD player while the big king-size bed on the bush-side of the villa offers plenty of privacy if you don’t mind the odd bit of wildlife wandering by.

The bathroom too, with its ceiling to floor windows offers a chance to view the local wildlife as it meanders along but you won’t do it sitting in a large tub. For although spa baths are considered a luxury essential, Sabine was adamant they wouldn’t be part of The Buckland and instead guests are offered a large double shower to wash away the rigours of the day.

‘I am absolutely against spas. We made the conscious decision not to have spas because we have all these water and energy saving measures and then all that can be undone with a spa.’

36 d r i v e n ::

Not that you need a spa to relax here for just sitting on the balcony, enjoying a local wine and cheese, and letting the world drift by is enough to shake off the city stresses.

And there is no shortage of places in the area to find good wine and cheese, or any number of gourmet treats for that matter.

While Sabine and Eddie added a café to the retreat last year, it really only serves as a place for guests to enjoy breakfast or in the warmer months for locals and those in the know to sit down to a café style lunch.

For dinners, Sabine directs guests to the vast array of very good quality restaurants in the area, one of which, Villa Gusto, lies just about 500m away on the other side of the road.

With its faux Tuscan architecture and rich surrounds filled with art and tapestries, Villa Gusto offers an Italian-inspired degustation dinner that is crafted under the guiding hands of New Zealand born head chef Neal Gregory. It shares its Italian cuisine with another standout local restaurant the legendary Simones of Bright that like Villa Gusto is an Age Good Food Guide hat recipient.

In fact, it is the growing gourmet food producers and vast array of quality wineries that Sabine says are the biggest attractions that draw visitors to The Buckland.

Using the villas as a base, the region offers a tempting taste trail that apart from the quality restaurants includes such gems as the Bright Berry Farm and Plump Harvest Produce in nearby Myrtleford while you can wash down tasty snacks with MountainCrafted beer from the Bright Brewery or wines from the likes of Boyntons, Gapstead or Michelini.

Despite its close proximity to the ski resorts of Mount Hotham and Falls Creek, Sabine says that most people heading for the snow, tend to stay on the mountain but with the surrounding mountains comes some great driving roads – whatever the time of year. So for Driven’s weekend away at The Buckland, we chose a very appropriate vehicle.

The Peugeot 207 GTi is the latest model to join the new 207 range that was launched earlier this year and priced from $34,490, it sits at the top of the hatchback range.

Under the bonnet is a potent direct injection1.6-litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder engine that was developed in conjunction with BMW that generates a maximum output of 128kW of power at 6000rpm and 240Nm of torque, with the latter on tap from just 1600rpm. Fitted with an ‘overboost’ function, the engine can temporarily boost torque to 260Nm in the top three gears for very impressive acceleration while drive to the front wheels is via a five-speed manual gearbox.

From the outside, the GTi shares the same distinctive silhouette with its siblings with its bold front end, long cats eye headlights and solid squat stance but there are a number of highlights that point to the specific performance potential of the GTi. Sitting on big 17-inch alloys shod with low profile 205/45 rubber that fill the wheel arches, the car is also distinguished by its rear spoiler, twin chrome sports exhaust and chrome side mirrors.

Slipping inside into the body hugging Alcantara-lined seats, there is more sports appeal with a number of alloy and carbon-fibre look trim highlights and a sporty leather wrapped three-spoke steering wheel sitting in front of you.

The driver’s seat is adjustable in a multitude of directions ensuring you can achieve a perfect position and there is plenty of room for the front passenger. As a car that is primarily sports-focussed, the rear seats are also heavily sculpted with just two outboard positions but the GTi remains a practical hatch with the rear seatback split 60/40 to fold and expand the good sized boot.

But this a car that was designed to be driven and as we headed north out of Melbourne on the Hume Freeway it showed what it was made of.

Plant the right foot and the little turbo engine delivers with a very smooth and rapid progression in speed. From just off idle, you have the full force of the 240Nm pushing you gently into the seat back. At the same time, the engine will keep on pulling right through past 6000rpm before you need to upshift. The five-speed gearshift is slick and smooth making it very easy to quickly slip through the gears and before you know it, you are stretching the bounds of legality.

With our route taking in the Hume Highway and its notorious endless stream of speed cameras, the cruise control – which can be adjusted in single kilometre increments with a digital readout – was greatly appreciated.

With an excellent sound system and dash mounted five-disc CD changer, it was a simple case of locking on the cruise control and sitting back to enjoy the ride.

Heading off the Hume near Glenrowan, you first pass through the King Valley with Milawa as its centrepiece and again, if you enjoy gourmet delicacies and fine wines, then there are plenty to whet the appetite here.

Milawa cheese, mustards, olives and baked goodies are all on offer and the local wineries include the massive Brown Brothers complex and a number of smaller boutique producers including Chrismont, whose latest ventures into Italian varietals are superb, and John Gehrig Wines.

With Driven’s weekend away coinciding with one of the best snow seasons Victoria has seen for some years, we couldn’t resist the urge to spend a day up at Falls Creek and getting there was half the fun. From The Buckland we headed east over the Tawonga Gap Road towards Mt Beauty and if ever there was a car made for enjoying this high mountain pass, it was the GTi. With the gearbox locked down to second and third, you can simply use the vast breadth of torque to push along at a very rapid rate while the firm suspension proved itself with the car sitting flat and solid through the corners. There is an abundance of grip from the wide low profile rubber and the steering is responsive and direct with plenty of feedback to let you know what is happening at the road surface.

This really is a fun little car to drive enthusiastically rewarding the driver with very solid dynamics engendering a degree of confidence to push on even further.

Back at The Buckland, our time was spent somewhat more leisurely with a vast array of trails through the forest that abuts the property – of which about 25 hectares are leased by Sabine to ensure it remains in its natural state – just made for a quiet wander through the bush. If you are feeling more energetic, they would make perfect mountain bike trails and for those who like to live on the edge, the surrounding mountain ranges offer plenty of climbing and abseiling opportunities.

But for Driven, we were happy to simply sit on the balcony, with a fine local wine and cheese and take in the spectacular views and extraordinary peace and quiet.

For that is truly what this place excels at. Sabine and Eddie didn’t call it a retreat for nothing. [ ] www.thebuckland.com.au

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:: d r i v e n 37

:: w i n e

winter warmers

Sticky used to be a generic term for desert wine of which botrytised rieslings and semillons were about the extent of it. But take a look at a wine list today and the range of desert wines extends from fizzy moscatos through to iced rieslings with an ever-increasing number of Australian winemakers experimenting with obscure styles, varieties and processes. Jeni Port talks to the winemakers that are producing some of the more innovative desert wines being made around the country

In France, they lay ripe grapes out to dry on the ground on straw mats and call the concentrated finished wine, vin de paille or ‘straw wine.’

At Mitchelton in central Victoria, winemakers prefer black polythene plastic – the thick ugly kind that builders use – to dry their marsanne grapes in the sun. And the name for the honeyed wine? Vin de Poly.

Well, Vin de Poly is actually the winemakers’ little inside joke, but the Airstrip marsanne is a serious wine with a European-style underlying dryness to offset the concentrated golden honeysuckle flavours.

Straw mats, polythene plastic, string, plastic trays and freeze-drying – these are some of the traditional and not-so-traditional winemaking methods used by Aussie winemakers today to produce wines with a touch of sweetness about them.

In evolutionary wine terms, we’ve well and truly moved on from the spatlese (late-picked) period and the ‘sticky’ botrytis (mould-affected) period to find ourselves at the dawn of a new, creative ‘hell, let’s-give-ita-go’ expressionist era. The fact that it happens to apply to sweet wines is a bonus for the down-at-heel wine category. If any wine style needed a jump-start it’s sweet wines. And in the new world order, sweet wines are not just for dessert. No sir, they are an anytime kind of wine.

Take the inspired decision by Graeme ‘Charlie’ Melton of Charles Melton Wines to make a vin santo style wine, the kind of semi-sweet indulgence that can be taken anytime, perhaps as a chaser to a quick afternoon espresso or solo with an accompanying amaretto biscuit.

Beats a cup of tea and a Bex every time.

Melton, a Barossa Valley winemaker more accustomed to hearty Rhonestyle reds than sweet wines, was influenced by the vin santo made by his friend Paolo de Marchi of Tuscany’s Isole e Olena.

‘When you see a really good Italian vin santo they have this lovely nuttiness to them,’ he enthuses. ‘It’s not an aldehydic or oxidised nuttiness but it’s like great old oloroso sherry, it’s nutty but still perfumed and aromatic.’

The traditional Italian approach to vin santo is to hang trebbiano and malvasia white grapes on string under the rafters of a barn or house where :: d r i v e n 39

the warmth helps with the dehydration process in the grapes, making them incredibly sweet.

So that’s what Melton did in 1995, except the grapes he used were the more readily available pedro ximenez and muscat.

The first year, rats in his father-in-law’s shed attacked the grapes. The second year Melton ran out of time to get his staff mobilised but in 1998 the planets were in alignment. The wine, called Sotto di Ferro (meaning ‘under the iron’ roof) is an extraordinary and complex wine but the expense and time involved in its making (it takes a gang of six a week to pick and hang five tonne of grapes on strings to make just 600 litres of wine) means few other producers will be following in his exact footsteps any time soon.

This is not the case with moscato, one of the fastest growing wine styles in Australia.

How fast? In 2006, Hunter Valley winemaker Tempus Two made its first moscato, producing 600 six-packs of wine. The wine flew out the cellar door and was fully sold out in just two months.

‘I have never seen anything like it in my life,’ says awe-struck Tempus Two winemaker Liz Jackson. In 2007, the winery upped production…to 8000 six-packs!

Another Italian-inspired drink, moscato was pioneered by Brown Brothers as an alternative to serious (and more expensive) sparkling

wines. As a wine, it’s never complicated or terribly complex. Simple and fruity with a gentle fizziness that is said to be half way between a sparkling and a still wine (what the Italian call ‘fizzante’), moscato wines generally use a member of the muscat grape family to heighten the exaggerated fruitiness of the wine. Moscato simply means muscat in Italian.

Tempus Two winemaker Liz Jackson senses that the real appeal of the wine lies in what it isn’t. It isn’t heavy and it’s never alcoholic. In fact, most moscatos weigh in around six or seven per cent alcohol.

‘I think our national palate is changing away from heavy dessert wines,’ says Jackson. ‘We have a Mediterranean climate after all.’

Or perhaps we’re just bored. For the last decade our idea of a sweet wine (as opposed to a fortified wine) was something starting with the letter ‘b’ – botrytis.

We had botrytis semillon and botrytis riesling and sometimes a blend of botrytis semillon and sauvignon blanc (as they do in Sauternes) and yes, we loved the honey richness, the citrus peel and the candied peaches and pears but frankly, it was becoming monotonous.

Now there is an alternative and the choices are only restricted by the imagination of winemakers.

Sweet wines can sometimes be fruit sweet, sometimes savoury, sometimes nutty and sometimes they’re just an imaginative take on the old botrytis style. At Yalumba, winemaker Louisa Rose makes a botrytis viognier.

‘When you think about the flavours of viognier they are so synergistic with botrytis flavours: the apricots, the lusciousness and the glycerol and everything,’ she says.

Rose shows you don’t have to stick to the usual suspects when it comes to botrytis.

It’s a freedom enjoyed by others who attain a similar level of sweetness and flavour through simply the cutting a grapevine’s fruit bearing canes – the so-called cordon cut or cane cut method. Foxeys Hangout on the Mornington Peninsula uses the method to produce a stunning and spicy pinot gris.

But whatever the process employed, whether it’s drying fruit on straw (Turkey Flat The Last Straw marsanne) or part-drying on racks (Plantagenet Off The Rack chenin blanc) or leaving the grapes out a little longer in the growing season (T’Gallant Io Late Harvest pinot gris) or even freezing grapes on the vine naturally (Bloodwood ice riesling) or by refrigeration (Wellington iced riesling), sweet wines are making a welcome comeback.

sweet stars All sweet wines aren’t the same…

Driven picks a stellar selection

Victoria Yarra Valley Domaine Chandon Cuvee Riche, $29.99 After Moet et Chandon’s successful foray into the sweeter-style of champagne with its Nectar Imperial, its Australian off-shoot has followed suit. Domaine Chandon’s Cuvee Riche, a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, gives an almost feather-light impression of sweetness. Shows complex aromas of biscuit, vanilla cream and confection. In the mouth, it’s smooth, very textural, rich and velvety with a clean bite of acidity.

Take a glass with a selection of cheeses, blue cheese especially. www.greenpointwines.com.au New South Wales Hunter Valley Tempus Two Moscato $25 Here, winemaker Liz Jackson has gone to Italy’s northern region of Piedmont for her inspiration and the gently fizzy (‘fizzante’) style of sweet wines from Asti. The ‘moscato’ style combines low alcohol (seven per cent) and the frontignac grape’s naturally sweet, simple fruitiness. Like sucking on ripe sultanas, this pale wine has a super grapey intensity. Sometimes served as an aperitivo, moscato is really more at home at the end of the meal with a zabaglione, cassata, fruit salad (steeped in moscato for something different) or soft cheeses. www.tempustwo.com.au tasmania Hobart Wellington Iced Riesling, $25 (375ml) In Germany, riesling grapes are left out through to early winter where natural freezing helps concentrate fruit flavour and produces socalled Eisweins. In Hobart, it’s a different story but the effect is similar.

Winemaker Andrew Hood artificially freezes riesling grape juice to produce a sweet wine with striking purity of fruit. The key here is taut acidity that keeps the spicy citrus sweet fruity intensity from becoming cloying. This is one of the few Australian attempts at the European style.

An excellent counterpoint to lemon or passionfruit tart. www.hoodwines.com.au south australia Barossa Valley Charles Melton Sotto di Ferro, $55 (375ml) This most traditional Barossa Valley winemaker goes Italian with an extraordinary interpretation of Tuscany’s popular vin santo (‘holy wine’).

Pedro ximenez and muscadelle are dried and concentrated to produce a seductive visceral sweet wine. Time in oak adds to the complexity. Nuts, wild honey, candied peel and touches of vanilla define this unique Aussie wine. In Italy you dunk amaretti biscuits into your vin santo, served in small glasses, at the end of the meal. Ditto with your sotto di ferro. The 2001 vintage is sold out but 2002 will be available around Christmas. www.charlesmeltonwines.com.au western australia Margaret River Stella Bella Pink Muscat, $17 (375ml) Stella Bella is definitely ‘out’ there with its marketing and its winemaking, choosing a road that embraces drinkability and non-conformity. In pink muscat, it chooses the muscat a petits grains grape made with a pale pink hue and a perfume and flavour that is brilliantly over-the-top grapey and juicy. One of the growing band of moscato-inspired sweeties that is just so damn drinkable and only 7.5 per cent alcohol. Enjoy with fresh fruit or grilled peaches. www.stellabella.com.au

40 d r i v e n ::

:: d r i v e n 41

La Soupe aux Truffes (truffle soup). This chicken broth, flavoured with mushrooms, foie gras, and a generous amount of truffles, is served in a porcelain soup tureen, covered with puff pastry, and baked in the oven.

You can start a meal at his restaurant with this dish, and swap spoonfuls of frog soup with cress dumplings with your partner. A fish course could follow, maybe the lobster cassolette, or the fresh-water pike. Otherwise you might like to share a duckling roasted on a spit, or dig into a plate of veal sweetbreads with crayfish tails.

Whatever you choose, it would be a meal that you are not likely to forget.

Kicking off the same day with a match between England and the US will be a game in Lens, a depressed former mining town in northern France. Although there’s not much to do in the town itself, and the surrounding countryside is scarred with slag heaps, you should certainly make a trip to Notre Dame de Lorette.

This beautiful chapel stands on a slope above a World War One cemetery, dedicated to soldiers who fell in battle during a sustained German assault between January and March 1915. By holding the line, the French troops saved their country from being overrun and defeated.

Hop on board the Wallaby express. Rugby World Cup is upon us and Peugeot is one of the major sponsors but if you are making the trip all the way to France to see our boys do battle on the field, then you might just want to take in a little more than just the rugby. With matches being held in cities across France, Marc Llewellyn takes a look at some of the more interesting cultural, epicural and artistic attractions of : lens

the host cities

F r a n c e : lyon

:: t r a v e l

Come September, France is set to be overcome by rugby fever as the world cup kicks off its regional tour with Australia playing Japan on September 8 in Lyon, the country’s third largest city after Paris and Marseilles.

Lyon is known to trivia buffs as the headquarters of Interpol and the home of tripe lyonnaise, quenelles (pureed fish and cream dumplings), and white-skinned Lyon sausages but the city’s gastronomic delights extend far further than just the sausages that hang like stalactites from the ceilings of local butchers and restaurants.

There are dozens of bistros around town that serve up regional food, but the best place to eat is the world-famous Auberge du Pont de Collonges, found just north of Lyon on the edge of the Saone River. The chef here is the octogenarian Paul Bocuse, credited with being one of the most influential proponents of nouvelle cuisine.

Bocuse attained the ultimate three Michelin stars in 1965, aged 39, after taking over the restaurant from his father. He’s held on to them ever since. In 1975 he was awarded the Legion d’ Honneur by president Valery Giscard d’Estaing at the Elysee Palace, and for the occasion he created his most famous dish,

42 d r i v e n ::

beyond the field

:: d r i v e n 43

with six types of fish – a hearty meal perfect for dinner – the second with just three, which makes it a lighter alternative for lunch.

A scorpion fish is essential, while gurnard, conger eel, turbot, weever and rainbow wrasse can make an appearance too. Waiters present the fish whole, on a platter, before whisking them away to the kitchen. They reappear some time later, boned and garnished with parsley, after simmering in a heady stock that’s been bubbling on the stove for hours.

Traditionally, you eat the fish separately from the broth, with some potatoes (sometimes sliced, and always buttered). Your meal usually

seafood, cooked in a broth made from olive oil, fennel, garlic, onion, and tomato that emanates from the many cafes that line the streets of the old city.

There are two types of bouillabaisse served in Marseilles: Bouillabaisse du Ravi and Bouillabaisse du Pêcheur. The first comes

comes with two bowls of mayonnaise too, one laced with garlic, the other with pimento and saffron. You rub some croutons with cloves of garlic, dip a few in each of the bowls, then float them in the soup. Bon appetit!

As Rugby World Cup continues its regional tour to rugby-mad Nantes, you might want to

44 d r i v e n ::

take in a little sci-fi and fantasy and visit the Jules Verne Museum.

One of France’s most famous authors, Verne was born in Nantes in 1828. He wrote reams of poetry and verse, as well as 54 novels. Of these, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873), became international bestsellers.

The museum is entombed in what the local tourism office calls a ‘great bourgeois mansion.’

There are models and manuscripts and a multimedia offering too, which all work quite nicely to sum up the author’s penchant for extraordinary journeys.

Verne is a fitting symbol for this city that is not

Pétrus and Château Le Pin are just as good, and often sell for more.

As for the whites, nine wines were classed as Premier Cru in 1855. Château d’Yquem was considered so great it was granted a special Premier Cru Supérieur classification. Last year, an American collector bought a bottle of this wine dating from 1787, for US$90,000. The price made it the second most expensive wine ever.

The most expensive though remains a bottle of undrinkable Chateau Lafite, also from 1787, which sold at Christie’s London in December 1985 for £105,00. That’s roughly A$246,000 dollars in today’s prices.

A few smaller chateaux open their doors for tasting, but if you want to visit a great one then forget it unless you are a wine professional with very good contacts. Still, you can see the vines and the signs and of course drink the wines…

The game they play in heaven rolls on next to Montpellier, where you’ll find a futuristic city within a city that’s well worth exploring. A short stroll from the beautiful main city square, the Place de la Comedie, is Antigone. Created by Ricardo Bofill, a Spanish architect born in Barcelona, Antigone is a linear neoclassical whimsy that spans the grounds of a former barracks between the old city centre and the River Lez.

: bordeaux

There are 20,000 white crosses in the cemetery, and it’s an unnerving experience walking along the lines and noting the ages of the men who fell here. A nearby museum holds a collection of 2000 objects that recall the soldiers’ life in the trenches. The Diorama 191418 display offers 400 views of the war in 3D, and there’s also a reconstructed battlefield, with trenches and tunnels to explore.

All Blacks fans should head south on September 8 when New Zealand takes on Italy in Marseilles, a city renowned for its bouillabaisse. Pervading the streets of this southern port is the intoxicating aroma of local

of the most significant design pieces in France, including creations by Eames, Le Corbusier, Perriand, and Prouvé.

The gallery also features one of the most important photography collections in France, with some 2300 images from Nadar to the present, as well as one of the most important libraries for the study of modern art in the country.

Enthusiasts will be delighted by the gallery’s bookshop, which offers thousands of titles covering aesthetics, painting, sculpture, design, architecture, photography and fashion.

Fans of good reds should next head to Bordeaux, the urban heart of one of the largest wine-growing regions in the world – after the Languedoc wine region, that is.

Scattered around the city are some 900 wineries, supplied by about 13,000 grape growers.

Napoleon III demanded a classification process for Bordeaux wines be put in place in time for the 1855 Exposition a Universelle de Paris. Only four reds were assigned the highest rank of Premier Cru – Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux, and Château Haut-Brion.

This prestigious list remained unchanged until 1973, when Mouton Rothschild was promoted to Premier Cru status too. Unofficially, Château

: st etienne

: marseilles

The movement gained so much news coverage that the instigators plan to gather thousands more protestors and march down the Champs-Elysées in Paris on New Years Eve 2007.

Meanwhile, between Toulouse and Lyon is St Etienne, the next rugby staging post. It’s famed as the place where the first practical sewing machine was invented, and was once regarded as the bicycle capital of France (it’s still a hub of bicycle wheel manufacture).

Nicknamed ‘The City of Design’, St Etienne hosts the Biennale Internationale Du Design, which attracts around 120,000 visitors, and all the latest in fashion, urban innovation, and architecture.

The highlight for art lovers though is the Musée d’Art Moderne, one of the top three in the world which ranks only below the equivalent museum in Paris, and New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

There are around 15,000 artworks here, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, and installations covering impressionism, cubism, surrealism, neo-expressionism, pop-art, new realism, and minimal art.

Among those represented are Picasso, Monet, Kandinsky, Miro, Max Ernst, and Warhol.

In addition, the museum displays around 1000

shy of displaying its eccentricities from time to time. Most notable was New Year’s Eve 2006, when some 600 people protested with banners reading ‘No to 2007’ and ‘Now is better’. When the clock ticked past midnight, they began to cheer ‘No to 2008’ – before moving happily on. :: d r i v e n 45

46 d r i v e n ::

friezes, balustrades, projecting cornices, casement windows and other details.

Next on the score sheet is Toulouse. With

as much as two Eiffel towers. It seems to float above the stadium, suspended by 18 steel needles. It houses all the lighting and acoustical

the largest commercial passenger jet, the A380, about to become a feature in our skies, why not come here just to see some of these monsters being built?

The Airbus Factory is located to the east of the city in a huge industrial zone known as ‘aérospace valley’. Also here are rocket and satellite manufacturers, the CNES (Europe’s equivalent to ‘NASA’), a number of Aerospace universities, and le Cité de l’Espace space centre.

The Airbus Factory is Europe’s largest aeronautical plant. It’s made up of giant hangers and assembly lines, where all the parts for the various Airbus planes are pieced together.

Complete sections of aircraft, from different production sites around Europe, are transported to Toulouse by enormous Beluga aircraft. You can often see these super-transporters arriving or taking off from the site. If you’re lucky you might even see a brand new A380 take off from the test strip, which is located between the factory and the civil airport.

A tour of the factory needs to be organised two weeks in advance, and the highlight is a visit to the giant A380 hanger. You get to stand on a 30-metre-high balcony, with panoramic view of the action below.

The site of the semi finals and final, is St-Denis, an outer Parisian suburb and home to the futuristic, 80,000-seat Stade de France.

This incredible stadium was built for the 1988 soccer World Cup and, if the sport doesn’t get you in then you should really join a daily architectural tour to witness the genius of this place.

Otherwise, you may be fortunate enough to secure a ticket for a major rock concert during your stay – when the stadium transforms into a throbbing, 100,000-seat cauldron.

The arena’s elliptical form supports a hightech, luminous, halo-shaped roof that weighs

mechanisms and still manages to protect the spectators from the elements.

What’s more, the lowest of the three stands, consisting of 25,000 seats, can be rolled back on a cushion of air supported by steel and Teflon rollers. This makes it the largest transformable stadium in the world.

Whether you are venturing north south east or west to watch the Wallabies and their co-horts get down and dirty on the rugby field, it is worth taking a little time out to experience France’s remarkable and sometimes rather left of centre attractions. [ ] www.rugbyworldcup.com

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: toulouse

: montpellier

The concept came about in the 1970s, when it became clear there needed to be a comprehensive plan for connecting the old town centre to the largely undeveloped far side of the river.

Bofill was hired to develop a master plan for a new town center, to be named after Antigone, the youngest daughter of Oedipus, and the heroine of a tragedy written by the Greek playwright Sophocles. The name’s classical implications fitted well with Bofill’s vision.

It was an enormous project, which included around 4000 new dwellings, as well as shops, offices, the regional government headquarters (built in the form of a 15-storey-high triumphal arch), restaurants, cafes, housing for students and artists, schools, sports facilities, and an amphitheatre.

The plan hinges on a monumental westeast axis consisting of a landscaped public promenade, which connects a series of plazas enclosed by residential blocks. This axis is buttressed by more developments and treelined boulevards.

Buildings are constructed from prefabricated concrete panels rendered with a veneer of classical detail, including giant Doric columns, and exaggerated pediments, plinths, capitols,

:

Diesel is no longer a dirty smelly fuel for trucks and few carmakers have done as much as Peugeot to prove its versatility, economy and environmental friendliness. From its awesome power potential evidenced by the podium finish of the 908 HDi FAP at Le Mans through to record breaking economy runs, Peugeot is proving that diesel can be a fuel for the future. Tim Britten gets down but not dirty to discover the French carmaker’s role as an innovator in developing diesel technology that makes it cleaner, greener and more efficient

And Peugeot is out there at the forefront, achieving things that stun diesel disbelievers and merely confirm what the better informed knew all along.

Perhaps the most spectacular example is the performance of the new Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Le Mans series racecar. At the infamous Nürburgring 1000km race in Germany this year, the car claimed first and second places.

Earlier in June, the diesel Peugeot also scored a podium finish at the classic Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, just a year after a mock-up had been revealed to the press at the French circuit.

Prior to that, the car also won at Valencia and in its first ever outing with outright victory at the 1000km of Monza earlier in the year.

The 908 HDi FAP’s 5.5-litre, 100-degree V12 turbodiesel engine produces more than 515 kW,

The good oil

:: t e c h n o l o g y

If the fact that diesel-engined cars have been less visible in our automotive landscape than they are in Europe seems somewhat bemusing, then there will be less puzzlement over the next few years as Australians, with a mixture of enthusiasm and pragmatism, embrace this environmentally-friendly technology.

For diesel cars are on the way up in Australia and are expected to account for around 10 per cent of our new car market within the next three years. It’s still a far cry from the 50 percent share enjoyed in Europe but this growing trend is not happening for nothing.

With passenger-car diesel technology now developing at an impressively rapid pace, we are seeing all the inherent advantages being augmented by operational characteristics that equal, or better, petrol engines.

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along with a locomotive-like 1200 Nm of torque that endows it with the power-to-weight ratio needed to reach the top speed of 339 km/h recorded on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans.

So, while most of us are aware that a turbo-diesel engine is capable of massive torque outputs, Peugeot has proven with the 908 HDi FAP that topend performance can also be quite spectacular.

Yet much of the 908 HDi’s technology, including the high-pressure pumps for the common-rail fuel injection, and the exhaust particulate filters, is no stranger to regular, road-going turbo-diesel Peugeots.

As a matter of interest, stratospherically potent turbo-diesel power could be put to use on the road, if the 908 RC Peugeot concept car is any indication. Described by Peugeot as ‘a luxury four-door limousine concept car equipped with the 5.5L V12 HDi diesel from the 908 sports car installed centrally and transversely’ the 908 RC may preview an upcoming large Peugeot luxury sedan.

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If sheer power is something that a modern turbo-diesel can churn out reliably enough to win some of the world’s toughest races, another thing that has become an accepted benefit is the extraordinary fuel economy.

As an example, fuel economy experts Helen and John Taylor recently completed a round trip from Melbourne to Palm Beach in Queensland while on holidays in Australia in an automatic transmission 307 HDi. Covering 1409km of the 1700km distance on just one tank, they recorded a phenomenal average on the return leg of 3.9 litres/100km driving at realistic highway speeds.

A Peugeot 406 HDi also figured, years earlier, in a one-tank marathon that took the Taylors on what ended up being the world’s longest drive on one tank of diesel, travelling 2348.3 km from Melbourne to Rockhampton with some fuel still in reserve. The frugal duo also holds a roundAustralia Fuel Economy record in a manual Peugeot 307 that squeezed better than 1600km out of each of the nine tanks used during the trip.

And, as if that was not enough, Peugeot is now on the brink of taking it all a step further into the future with the forthcoming introduction of a turbo-diesel hybrid engine that will topple average fuel consumption and emission figures to a level about 30 per cent lower than that achieved by existing petrol hybrids.

With the aim of being the first manufacturer in the world to introduce a diesel hybrid, Peugeot engineers say the new powerplant will return a combined fuel consumption of 3.4 litres per 100km, along with a carbon dioxide (CO2) output of just 90 grams per km. The company first foreshadowed its hybrid diesel intentions with the 307Hybride HDi concept car that was shown at the Geneva motor show last February and followed that up with a 307 CC Hybride at the British motor show in June proving that extremely fuel efficient technology is not out of place in a sporty lifestyle either.

Underlying all this is the increasing need to minimise exhaust emissions – an area once considered a significant problem for diesel engines, but one that has been resoundingly answered by Peugeot technology to the point that today’s turbo-diesels not only equal petrol engines

in many aspects, but also outscore them in others.

This breakthrough in diesel emissions answers increasingly stringent requirements mandated by governments all around the world, and no carmaker has been more focussed on delivering clean diesel power than Peugeot.

As the first car-maker to fit particulate filters to passenger cars in 2000, Peugeot ensures that particle emissions are reduced to barely detectable levels, even lower than the proposed Euro 5 standards due to come into effect in Europe in 2009.

Particulate filters are a major weapon in the battle for clean diesel exhaust and are designed to trap all unburned particles left after the combustion process. So effective is the Peugeot particle filter that it reduces particle emissions to a barely measurable 0.004 g/km – equivalent to a petrol engine and comfortably below the Euro 4 requirement of 0.025 g/km.

Peugeot HDi diesels easily meet Euro 4 nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission standards through the use of such technologies as exhaust gas recirculation and sophisticated electronic engine management and most of the range already satisfies the stricter Euro 5 proposed standard.

Peugeot is also a world leader in directinjection diesel engines, and has been involved in research and development for more than 15 years. The result is the birth of new-generation turbo-diesel engines that are not just 20 per cent more economical than pre-chamber injection engines, but also produce an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions.

An example of just how far Peugeot has come with diesel emissions control is the new 207 HDi. The brisk-performing, compact but spacious 207 uses just 4.8 litres per 100km on the combined cycle and emits a convincingly low 126 grams of CO2 per kilometre.

It is little surprise that Peugeot enjoys – for the second year in a row – the number one ranking in France for low emission vehicles. In fact Peugeot’s new vehicle fleet average of 140g/ km equals the 2008 CO2 average output level agreed to by both the European Automobile Manufacturers Association and the EC. While the company is still investing in research and development into alternative technologies such as fuel cells, in the short to medium term, the good oil for Peugeot is definitely diesel. [ ] www.peugeot.com.au

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smart sacks

:: i n - g e a r

carry it ::

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Have you ever hiked into the middle of the bush and gotten lost only to find that your mobile phone battery was dead? Or perhaps you have headed for the snow with just the right music for a downhill run but your MP3 player was out of power? Well maybe you need a Voltaic solar backpack. This innovative backpack is just one of 800 different products available from online bag and luggage retailer Rushfaster. The Voltaic backpacks are mobile power generators, designed to charge your electronic devices and come with a set of 11 standard adaptors for common mobile phones and other units such as cameras, PDAs and MP3 players. Embedded in the outside of the bags are three lightweight, tough, waterproof solar panels which generate up to 4 watts of power while a Li Ion battery pack is also included to store any surplus power generated, so it is available when you need it and not just when the sun is shining. The battery pack can also be charged using an AC adapter or car charger. So pack up and power away. [ ] www.rushfaster.com.au

tantalising tiles Mosaic tiles can be an attractive and stylish addition to your bathroom, kitchen or outdoor areas and now Spanish manufacturer Mosavit has taken their appeal one step further introducing the Fosvit range of luminescent glass tiles. Suitable for walls and floors, these hardwearing tiles combine phosphorescent pigments incorporated into the tiles in the manufacturing process to provide a glow-in-the-dark effect.

Exposure to both natural and artificial light sources activates the luminescent properties in the tiles with greater exposure creating a more intense glow. The Fosvit tiles are offered in a vast range of colours to suit any décor and are available in Australia through Queensland-based distributor Tilenet. [ ] www.mosavit.com

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decorate it ::

handy helper

mobile music

:: listen to it

Downloadable digital music may be on the increase but it still has its limitations in the home with generally less than perfect audio quality from PC speakers and the fact that it needs to be played through the computer – which is probably not going to reside where you want to listen to music.

With these factors in mind, Sony has introduced the VAIO WA1 Wireless Digital Music Streamer.

Compatible with ATRAC, MP3, WMA and AAC music formats, the WA1 streams digital music from your PC to virtually anywhere in the house via an existing wireless home network or a peer-to-peer wireless connection with the included USB wireless network adaptor. It is compatible with all PCs and various music applications such as SonicStage, iTunes and Windows Media Player while good quality sound comes courtesy of 2 eight-watt, 8cm speakers, a six-band graphic equaliser and audio sound amplifiers. Analogue and digital out ports mean you can also plug it into your stereo system or if you prefer your music in private, there is a built-in headphone jack as well. [ ] www.sony.com.au

Often in the kitchen it seems you never have enough hands and chasing a bowl around on a slippery benchtop while trying to mix up a culinary delight is one thing you can do without.

And that’s exactly what inspired Australian chef, Mauro Felici to invent the Sticky Bowl – a suction device made from non porous high quality food grade silicone. You simply place Sticky Bowl on any smooth surface and press in the centre so that it sticks to the bench. Then place a bowl on top and press to secure the suction. When you are finished, twist the lever to release the mixing bowl and Sticky Bowl can go straight into the dishwasher. This ingenious invention is Australian-made and recently won the People’s Choice Award on the ABC’s New Inventors program. [ ] www.stickybowl.com.au

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:: d r i v e n 53

secure it ::

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safe and sound

s t o re i t : :

Apple and its iPod may have revolutionised music on the move but as with music players in the past, you still need to carry them with care.

So for those who like to be seriously active while listening to their latest downloads, H2O Audio has come to the party with a range of housings to suit all iPods and iPod nanos that offer protection from the elements.

The Outdoor series housings are impact and water-resistant and are designed to keep out the mud, dust and occasional precipitation.

The commander scroll wheel lets you use all the iPod’s functions, even while wearing gloves, and it comes with an arm strap or belt clip. The outdoor housing can also be matched with a set of outdoor headphones that combine a durable neckwrap and coiled cable to ensure they stay on and don’t get tangled in the handlebars of your mountain bike as you are about to tackle a 40-degree downhill. [ ] www.nextdestination.com.au

portable pictures Digital photography may offer the advantage of being able to shoot thousands of holiday snaps and not have to worry about processing costs but you still need to store them and sometimes it can be a hassle to carry a laptop or find an outlet to buy a new memory stick when you are ensconced in the middle of the jungle in Vietnam. But Canon has a solution with its new 80GB M80 media storage unit. Equipped with a magnesium alloy body and a rubber casing to protect the hard drive, the M80 offers an ultra bright 3.7-inch LCD screen and allows transferring, storing and viewing of still and moving images. Its menu system, design and functions are similar to those used on Canon digital cameras and it is capable of supporting the same shooting information and RAW data as EOS digital cameras while it shares the same battery as the Canon 30D, 5D and 20D. [ ] www.canon.com.au

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: : re a d i t

steel art : : The design of appliances has come along way in the past ten years or so to the point where

bold buildings Among Australia’s iconic architects, the name of Neville Gruzman is not one that readily comes to mind but the eclectic, bold and sometimes confronting work of the late modernist Sydney-based architect has now been firmly put on record in an award winning book entitled Gruzman: An architect and his city. Published by Craftsman House and written by Gruzman himself and Professor Philip Goad, this 320-page monograph spans projects over three decades (1950s – 1970s) with stunning photographs by Max Dupain and David Moore that bring to life the many houses and buildings that he designed, largely for clients in Sydney. Guzman’s projects were often hard to categorise, failing to follow particular distinctive movements, and the man himself has been described as ‘colourful’ but what this book offers is an engaging survey of one of Australia’s finest and most passionate architects. Designed by Kate Scott of Melbourne graphic design firm Italic Studio, the book recently won the Best Designed Illustrated Book award from the Australian Publisher’s Association. [ ]

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whitegoods are more often than not, white. But the humble sink has largely been left behind with designs that continued to favour function over form. German manufacturer Blanco, however, is one manufacturer that has a range of very stylish sinks. Among the latest to join its extensive range is the Claron line – a recent recipient of two of the world’s most prestigious design awards with a Red Dot Award and Gold iF Award. Part of Blanco’s SteelArt collection, this new generation of sinks combine impressive appearance with functionality.

With an ultra flat FinoTop rim, the sink has the appearance of being flush mounted in the bench top while corner radii of 10mm create a distinct design language and allow optimal use of the bowl volume. It’s almost enough to make doing the dishes a pleasurable experience. Almost. [ ] www.meaappliances.com.au

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:: t h e n a v i g a t o r

trends : : outlook :: vision

Professor Leon van Schaik Senior Professor of Architecture (Innovation Chair) at RMIT From his base in Melbourne where he is innovation professor of architecture at RMIT, Leon van Schaik has long promoted local and international architectural culture through practice-based research. His passion for the built environment and educating others in the development of sustainable and practical architecture has resulted in his being awarded various accolades. The latest of these was in 2006 when he was made an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia, for service to architecture as an academic, practitioner and educator, and to the community through involvement with a wide range of boards and organisations related to architecture, culture and the arts. He is also a widely published author with his latest books being Mastering Architecture: Becoming a Creative Innovator in Practice (2005) and Design City Melbourne (2006).

I am asked what innovations in architecture are helping people make green buildings, and my response is that most of what people can do has been known for centuries, and the real issue is abjuring from using technology to support irresponsible design.

A house should face north, it should have overhangs that shade walls and windows in summer and let the sun in in winter, it should be very well insulated, have enough mass to store the heat (or cool), should collect its rainwater runoff, and be able to exhaust heat build up from human activity by cross ventilating when that heat is not needed. To this other devices can be added, many also well known for a very long time such as ‘Trombe’ walls – a kind of green house filled with stones that stores heat for use inside in winter – for example. (An under floor example can be seen in Kerstin Thompson’s Visitor Centre at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne.)

Solar hot water has been available for a very long time. New-ish, but not a cutting edge innovation, is the prospect that houses will be autonomous, generating their own electricity with windmills or solar cells, and harvesting their own water.

Students at the Architectural Association (UK) in 1970 built and ran an autonomous house that did all of the above, and they were only pioneers in the sense that they applied these well-established principles. Airconditioning in dwellings is only needed when buildings fail to do these basic things. We do however know a lot more about embodied energy costs of materials now – the hidden costs of making and disposing of them, and we can be far more sensitive to these.

So where is the innovation in architecture today? Architecture is the exercise of the human capability of spatial intelligence, it is this capacity that the profession takes care of for society, honing it and advancing it. It is through spatial composition that we achieve ease and comfort, and find contentment in simpler, less resource-consuming joys.

And young architects today are finding new modes of space making, notably Minifie Nixon, who are applying the new mathematics to space making. At the Victorian College of the Arts, their Centre for Ideas is a world first in applying Voronoi Cells to the devising of a façade to wrap a difficult extension to the library.

And at Healesville Sanctuary their Australian Wildlife Health Centre uses a Costa Surface to create the most interesting public space in an institutional building that you will encounter anywhere in the world today. [ ] www.leonvanschaik.com

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freedom207

peugeot.com.au

The new 207 CC combines the freedom of open air driving with the luxury and refinement of a European sports coupé. In only 25 seconds, its automatic folding steel roof transforms the 207 CC from sun seeking cabriolet to stylishly appointed 2+2 coupé. With a choice of two advanced engines including the 110 kW 1.6-litre direct injection turbo, combined with rally bred handling, 4-airbags, self deploying roll-over protection and ABS, the 207 CC balances exhilaration and function.

Experience freedom to the power of 207 from $34,990*. *Recommended Retail Price for 207 CC 1.6 litre manual model, excluding dealer delivery and statutory charges, subject to change without notice. Optional metallic paint (as shown) available for an additional $680. This is a manufacturer’s advertisement. Please contact your local dealer for exact dealer delivery and statutory charges which are additional to the RRP. PEU6211/DRIVEN