Architecture.,
Aesth | ethics
The anniversary marking one year since the Grenfell Tower disaster has now been and gone. Most survivors have yet to be permanently rehomed. The cladding material that transformed the 23-storey government housing tower into a chimney, well, it is still used in construction today. Seventy-two dead. And yet, no culpability. For this story however, it isn’t necessary to know residents lodged complaints years prior to the tragedy.[1] Or, to know of aluminium composite panelling, the council-led, superficial refurbishments that catalysed the death trap.[2] You already know Grenfell’s story, whether you trolled the news or not. It is a tale of socioeconomic status dictating living conditions. A tale of ignorance, negligence, and greed; favouring profit margins over fundamental civil rights.
The story of how we got here however, rife with idealism, corruption, and cognitive dissonance, is one you may not know; no other period saw a recalibration in architecture quite like the 20th Century.
Zen & Japan-ness; A theological reading of the architecture of Tadao Ando
Academic critique of the architecture of Tadao Ando to date has struggled to ascertain the central thesis behind his work, limited by a formal analysis into the use of concrete, light, geometry and water. Potentially due to his biographical account of self-education of both Japanese and Western architecture, and the synthesis of occidental physicality and oriental conceptualism, Ando’s work has been conceptually manipulated into the boundaries of Japanese minimalism, critical regionalism, modernism or brutalism. Despite Ando himself refuting such labels, such critiques employing a fragmented reading of Ando’s work consequently miss the opportunity to define exactly what makes Ando’s work profoundly Japanese. Through a historic review of Zen Buddhism, this study will elucidate how Zen aesthetics, evident within temple design and teahouse architecture have become pertinent to understanding a Japanese Japan-ness within the arts. The present study will argue that in order to garner an essentialist conceptual ethos of the work of Tadao Ando, a theological lens of the teachings of the Buddha, and more specifically, the Four Noble Truths must be applied within a metaphysical analysis. Calling upon the seven Zen aesthetic phenomena evident within teahouse architecture, the following conceptual analysis will first compare Tadao Ando’s Buddhist projects before arguing the shared Zennisms found within are present also within Ando’s entire portfolio.
Book Review: Tarzans in the Media Forest, by Toyo Ito, selected & with an Intro by Thomas Daniell
Following previous foci on artists such as Detlef Mertins, Bernard Cache and Max Bill, Toyo Ito, with his career long critique of consumerist culture, likening 21st Century inhabitants to “autistic robots,” was fittingly chosen as the interest of the eighth edition in the series, offering a polemic discussion to counterbalance normative architectural discourse[1]. First published in 2011, ‘Tarzans in the Media Forest’ represents the second exposition into Japanese architecture in the series, continuing from Kengo Kuma’s Anti-Object.
Thomas Daniell, a western architectural PhD scholar with a critical interest in what he calls “post-bubble” Japan, curatorially selected 17 seminal individual essays and architectural writings, in addition to authoring a foreword in hope of elucidating the nexus between the ever-evolving theories of Ito’s 40yr career[2]. Daniell, having issued critique on Ito prior to this compilation, departs from English translated pieces originally published in the likes of GA Japan and JA (Japan Architect) magazines, re-translating many texts himself in an effort to better capture the poetics of Ito’s prose and rhetoric[3]. A step potentially made to bridge the loss of accompanying imagery from previous publications. Despite predominantly acting as an anthology of republished texts, the addition of 2009 ‘Learning from a Tree’ as well as 2011 ‘Instead of an afterword’, act as a welcomed bookend compendium of Ito’s theories hitherto.
NAZI Germany; Fascist Italy: How architectural built form was used as a weapon to coerce allegiance of the people to Fascist ideals
After the devastation of the First World War, many countries were left to reconsider their position in the global ranking of power, many impregnated with a desire to rectify the disappointment, anger and destruction that was felt by nations. Germany and Italy were left economically scarred and as a result felt as though a ruling government was needed that, above all else, prepared and supported the people through armed conflict and economic downturn. It was during the 1920s that Fascism came into prominence in Europe, creating a new form of authoritarian nationalism, placing importance on uniting class systems under the shared allegiance of interest in the success of the nation.[1] Conversely, Walter Benjamin radically claimed that, Fascism could better be described as an “aesthetisation of politics.[2] Such sentiment is not without value, as architecture became a tool to project the ideals of Fascist political parties, recreating national identity and allowing a backdrop for political processions and congregations. Subsequently, building became a therapy which helped to house those who were dislocated from the war as well as persuasive utensil to reaffirm fidelity to the political elite.
Sustainable Construction & Post-war Melbourne
This report has been compiled in order to assess the current sustainable qualities of 23 Temby Street in Watsonia, Victoria. Sitting 20km North-East of Melbourne this 578sqm allotment comfortably houses a 138sqm north-facing dwelling. An evaluation of pre-existing energy efficient and passive design features of the residence was conducted and was referenced in order to make sufficient recommendations to enhance the inherent usefulness of the dwelling. Sustainable retrofitting technologies have been explored and leveraged in order to formulate a proposal.
Consolidate or Spread?: What urban form should Melbourne develop in the future?
Urban consolidation is the process of increasing housing stock and population density in controlled urban areas by limiting sprawl, often by the implementation of multi-family housing (McCrea & Walters, 2012). Urban sprawl, comparatively, is the decentralisation of the urban center, allowing for continued outward spread from the metropolitan area into suburban developments (McCrea & Walters). The present study will investigate the positive and negative impacts of both the consolidation and spread models whilst contextually considering the application of urban consolidation in Melbourne and the complexity of implementation in the area of Templestowe.
Vernacular Landscape Language: An investigation into preference for native or imported vegetation in suburban residential front yard gardens
Over the next decade it is anticipated that Melbourne will have to accommodate over 620,000 extra houses in suburban growth corridors (Melbourne 2030: planning for sustainable growth, 2002; State Government of Victoria, 2014), seeing not only the respective ecological footprint of Australian cities increase to an unprecedented level, but subsequent sociological impacts towards the liveability of the city (Peterson et al., 2012; Seto et al., 2014; State Government of Victoria, 2014). Whilst Victorian Government based sustainable growth management schemes have been considered in Plan Melbourne and Melbourne 2030 strategies, Zheng, Zhang, and Chen (2011) acknowledge the importance of understanding current cultural norms in order to further influence policy making and implementation.
Maj-Maj/ Wiltja, Owa & Bolim Gar & social patterns in far north Australia & New Guinea
Whilst the majority of primary knowledge of both Aboriginal and Papuan architecture has been piecemealed together from the drawings and writings of early explorations from colonial expeditions prior to colonization, it hasn’t been until more recently when such dwellings have been reframed as vernacular in replacement of primitive. The present study argues that Aboriginal and Papuan shelter construction has predominantly evolved through a response to climate as well as availability and abundance of environmental resources, in turn affecting resultant social patterns and relationship with land amongst each culture.