Award winning Australian architects to present bold, brave, creative designs at the National Gallery of Australia
The Australian Institute of Architects ACT Chapter in partnership with the National Gallery of Australia and BCA Certifiers are hosting four different Australian architects to present their work every Wednesday evening throughout the month of September. Projects vary from a cantilevered sculptural concrete house in north Queensland – redefining contemporary tropical housing, skilfully designed inner city residential projects, to a curvaceous spiral high rise inspired by a Beyoncé music video. This year’s speaker series promises to excite and inspire Canberra audiences.
The 2015 line-up features speakers from Charles Wright Architects (Melbourne and Port Douglas), MAKE Architecture (Melbourne), Elenberg Fraser (Melbourne) and Tribe Studio (Sydney).
Charles Wright architects impressed this year’s Queensland Architecture Awards jury, winning an Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New) for their project, The Edge. The awards jury noted ‘This house is an impressive response to a difficult site. The robust shell like concrete envelope gives the client privacy and frames the panoramic view. Raw materials and the angular form, which projects the living areas over the hillside, create a commanding presence for the building.’
MAKE Architecture is a design studio that provides socially and environmentally driven design solutions that give back to the community. These values are reflected in their projects such as Local House which offers an active connection to the St Kilda community. ‘Local House is a modestly scaled addition to a sculptural, richly detailed double fronted house, strong in its response to context,’ cited the 2015 Victorian Architecture Awards jury. ‘Distinguishing this project however is the back lane studio addition. This brave gesture by the client and architect has created an open, alternative entry for the house.’
Elenberg Fraser describes themselves as not your average architecture firm. An integrated Melbourne based design practice operating across the Asia Pacific region, designing across all scales of architecture. One of their latest projects is a Beyoncé inspired multi-residential building. The firm notes ‘The complex form – a vertical cantilever – is actually the most effective way to redistribute the building’s mass, giving the best results in terms of structural dispersion, frequency oscillation and wind requirements. Art and science? You betcha. For those more on the art than science side, we will reveal that the form does pay homage to something more aesthetic – we’re going to trust you’ve seen the music video for Beyoncé’s Ghost.’
Hannah Tribe founding director of Tribe Studio boasts a portfolio of award winning houses that are architecturally ambitious, sustainable and beautiful. Their designs follow an intensely site-specific approach that is particularly sensitive to client-requirements. The firm’s most recent award winning project, House McBeath, continues this design thinking in an adaptive re-use of a narrow Sydney 19th century terrace. The 2015 NSW Architecture Awards jury cited ‘contemporary in its expression, the two storey addition is sensitive not only to the original house but also in its acknowledgment of the broader streetscape context.’
Lectures will be held at the National Gallery of Australia as follows:
Wednesday 09 September – Charles Wright Architects
Wednesday 16 September – MAKE Architecture
Wednesday 23 September – Elenberg Fraser
Wednesday 30 September – Tribe Studio
Early bird series tickets are available until 31 August, but get in quick as this popular event often sells out.
Tickets are available from www.nga.gov.au/architects
