Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2021 i Architecture Australia

As a historian and practitioner, I believe that the most cogent way of visualizing the future is by looking at its reflection in the past. By surveying pertinent chapters of social and architectural history in this column over the last 12 months – and with something akin to an abridged serialization of J. M. Freeman’s classic record of our Institute’s inception and early development – I have consistently drawn attention to the potency of design in transforming lives. This is my sixth and final foreword. I have been writing for a full year, despite the shortest presidential term on record – a mere 10 months, due to a COVID-delayed handover, which made me acutely aware that I would need to work doubly hard to achieve my term’s milestones. Although COVID…

Built on the land of the Wurundjeri and Bunurong peoples of the Kulin nation Among the countless tall buildings erected worldwide, only a few capture the cultural spirit of a specific place and time in history. Occasionally, a single tower, or a group, represents an entire city or even a country at large – but only those that exceed ordinary expectations succeed in this symbolic role. Contrary to common misconceptions, vertical landmarks do not depend on height alone but more on expert professional skill, timeless formal intuition and rare technical prowess. The Flatiron was never the tallest building in New York but it was – and remains – one of its most iconic. Observing Melbourne’s skyline from the “starburst” – the cantilevered communal-space container of Australia 108, the new Fender…

Gold Medal Donald Watson The 2021 recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal, Donald (Don) Robert Watson, stands as a perfect antidote to much that has been exhausting and difficult in 2020. At a time when we have been wearied by narcissistic personalities, polarizing debates and questionable competence, Watson shines as a man of genuine achievement, architectural intelligence, altruism and modesty. As global crises rage, Watson’s elevation of his beloved Queensland context demonstrates the power of the local to inform a national sensitivity to place. This award is timely: for Watson, after a career of more than 50 years, and for our profession, as an affirmation of the holistic possibilities of ethical practice. The jury’s unanimous decision recognizes Watson’s comprehensive contribution to architecture since he graduated from The…

This issue of Architecture Australia announces and celebrates the recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2021 Gold Medal – Donald (Don) Watson. Our tribute (page 77) is the centrepiece to the announcement of the Institute’s suite of National Prizes (page 69). Until we embarked on preparing this Gold Medal coverage, I hardly knew Don, although I appreciated his work. I soon learnt of his humble nature, quick wit and encyclopaedic knowledge of Queensland architecture. Don likes to champion what he calls the “backroom boy” – and, in his modest way, this is how he sees himself. However, reading through the anecdotes from Don’s colleagues, friends and mentors collected here, it is clear that his comprehensive contribution to Queensland architecture and design is widely and affectionately recognized. Although Don has…

Emma Williamson: How did you start out in architecture and where has it taken you? Andy Fergus: I came to architecture as an outsider, from a background studying planning. However, after working for a few years as a graduate, I found myself much more engaged with the spatial implications of policy. It was only after volunteering with the Robin Boyd Foundation that the public advocacy aspect of design drew me back to study architecture. But my studies were mostly a source of personal frustration. I spent most of my classes debating with tutors and resisting the pressure to disregard my planning DNA in favour of form-making. I was lucky to be taught by Rory Hyde around the time that his book Future Practice1 was published. Rory demonstrated an expanded conception…

For Don Watson, architecture was a fascination, a skill learnt early and a lifetime addiction. Long-term friend, architect and erstwhile collaborator Russell Hall jokingly explains that most babies enter the world with a cry, but baby Donald exited the womb squealing, “I want to be an architect!” Don is not embarrassed that his early childhood building blocks (the English construction toy Bayko1 ) may have been responsible for a discipline that his lecturer Ian Sinnamon (mis?)interpreted as being toilet-trained too early. Blessed with architectural stimulation from an early age, he later discovered that this was not unusual: many of his students at The University of Queensland (UQ) in the 1980s had had an influential early experience, such as a new house, a renovation or a relative in the business.2 When…

1. Robert Marsden Hope, Report of the National Estate (Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1974). 2. Donald Watson, “Dating your own home” in National Trust of Queensland Journal, July–August 1976, 27–28; Donald Watson, “Dating your house,” National Trust of Queensland Journal, February 1978, 19–26. 3. Robert Martin and Lindy Crofts, Ipswich: A Townscape Study for the National Estate (Brisbane: National Trust of Queensland, 1977). 4. Donald Watson, “Clearing the scrubs of south-east Queensland” in Kevin Frawley and Noel Semple (eds), Australia’s Ever-changing Forests (Canberra: Department of Geography and Oceanography, Australian Defence Force Academy, 1988), 365–392. 5. The methodology is the same as developed by Bill Gammage in The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia (Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, 2012). 6. Later research by Watson identified that Roehricht…

In architecture as in many professions, we glamorise, celebrate and expect an attitude of unwavering self-confidence in our practitioners. This type of bold, assertive character is an inherent part of the paradigm of ‘success’ as we have learned to perceive it; a stereotypically white, male, middle-class character who need never experience self-doubt. — Philip Watson1 Do you suffer from impostor syndrome? Do you worry that others are more talented, diligent, stylish, well-connected or business -savvy than you? Do you struggle to attract Instagram followers? Does office work – erm, studio culture – wear you down? Is the Climate Crisis eroding your faith in architecture? Are you quietly less-than-convinced that designing beautiful, timeless buildings for an elite few is a worthwhile pursuit? If you answered yes to any of these questions,…

1. Don Watson. “Bayco Blocks: Purposeful Play?”. In Ron Ringer (ed.), Materiality: Brick and Block in Contemporary Australian Architecture (Wetherill Park: Dry Press Publishing, 2015), 558-59. 2. From teaching experience, Don believed that childhood exposure to design and building was more useful than a mature determination to study architecture. 3. As a schoolboy, Don received some sage career advice from Langer: “Be like bamboo, always bounce back.” 4. In a 1967 national student competition, he and McKay shared first prize with Ken Maher (2009 Gold Medallist). 5. Don’s speed reportedly became an issue when the security cameras were unable to register more than a blurred image. 6. This alliance between O’Gorman, Watson and Andresen was established for the competition, with OWA being a joke after keynote speaker Rem Koolhaas’s OMA.…

The Marketplace student conference in Brisbane in 1979 attracted more than 600 student delegates to join in the five days of discussion of ideas, opportunities, concerns, dilemmas and architectural endeavours. Hosted by The University of Queensland and the Queensland Institute of Technology (now QUT), many of the keynote speakers were from overseas, including Bill Mitchell (USA), Paul Oliver (UK) and Pancho Guedes (South Africa). Among the opening presentations by international and interstate architects, a highly informative if somewhat parochial session was presented by Don Watson and Richard Stringer, titled “Queensland from the general to the particular.” Don articulated and defined the key qualities, characteristics and history of the Queenslander house type, and of the use of timber in Queensland buildings – much of which would have been new to many…

1964 Board of Architects of Queensland Prize, The University of Queensland 1967 First Prize (joint), Australian Gas Association National Student Competition (with Douglas McKay) 1968 and 1969 Brian Johnstone Prizes for Design, The University of Queensland 1975 Travel Grant, Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council 1983 Southpoint Offices by Frank Spork and Associates (design architect Don Watson) – RAIA Citation for Meritorious Architecture 1984  Ideas for Brisbane River – First Prize, Brisbane Development Association Competition 1989 Campbell House –RAIA Queensland Architecture Awards House of the Year; RAIA National Architecture Awards, Robin Boyd Award for Residential Design 1995 Queensland Architects of the 19th Century – RAIA Queensland President’s Award; National Trust of Queensland John Herbert Memorial Award (with Judith McKay) 1996 Computing and amenities building, Brisbane Institute of TAFE, Ithaca campus…