Schools at the heart of our neighbourhoods

“It’s a luxury to have land space taking up different building functions”, and notes BVN principal architect Ali Bounds “no longer prudent to simply have workplaces or schools that operate between certain hours leaving building stock empty outside of these programmed times.”

Making space for community

When we think about community today in our local NSW context, our varied lived experience can obscure its common meaning. This is exacerbated by our highly privatised built environment, developed by European colonisation through the physical demarcation and division of land, and systematic allocation of individual property rights. Our context seen through this lens, holds more affinity with the condition of immunity, understood as exemption from obligation to share (land) with others.

Place, people, materials

While preparing the works of architect Paul Pholeros for archiving in the State Library of New South Wales, a lecture outline for architecture students in Papua New Guinea, circa 1995, was unearthed.

What are we doing?

We first drafted this ‘rather portentous call for contributions’ in July 2020, when the world was beset with pessimism. Our call was not an invitation to even bleaker pessimism, but rather for positive assertions of where and how architects can break out of this habit of building the wrong thing in the wrong place out of the wrong materials.

Bushfire recovery, spirit and strength

I could quote the statistics – 18,600,000 hectares burned, 5,900 buildings destroyed, 34 lives lost, 1,000,000,000 animals killed. I could tell you about better building practices – strengthened BAL40 guidelines, a revised National Construction Code, new and improved fire attenuation materials.

Caring for Indigenous cultural philosophies

Let’s consider that precursory to the NSW Architects Code of Professional Conduct, an architect could carry a duty of care to place; an obligation to be in tune with the long-term impacts of our profession, practice and production.

Housing people

Australia has long prioritised the movement and shelter of cars over the movement and shelter of people – and this has impacted on the liveability of our cities and the health and wellbeing of residents.

Sirius: Architecture Saved, Heritage Lost

At Sydney-Open, a livestream panel discussion chaired by Adam Haddow on new heritage asked what buildings saved from demolition have changed the city for the better. Panelist Richard Francis-Jones put forward the Sirius building but also suggested that while the building was saved something more important has been lost.

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