In late 2011 the famous American architect, Peter Eisenman known for his intellectual and theoretical approach to design and teaching presented a lecture to the students and faculty of Sci-arc, Southern California’s prestigious architectural school. The lecture was titled ‘Project or Practice?’ Eisenman made […]
As population growth continues to increase in Brisbane, where urban sprawl has claimed the farthest reach of any Australian city, it is becoming common to see small-time developers subdividing land close to the city fringe in an attempt to capitalise on density changes in council legislation. Prior to 2009, land owners were not able to […]
For decades, the ‘Project Home’ has essentially remained the dominant model of housing for the Australian population. Ninety-seven percent of all houses built in our nation are hammered up by companies who base floor plans, construction methods and finishes on price points and profit margins rather than a response to environment and to maximised liveability […]
MORE Queenslanders are downsizing to medium-density homes, new research shows. Figures from recent Census data and research by Bankwest found 38 per cent of home approvals in Queensland in the last 12 months were for medium-density dwellings. This is up from 32 per cent in 2006 and includes units, townhouses and semi-detached houses. Bankwest Retail […]
Supersize is suddenly becoming downsize as home buyers opt for smaller, more efficient homes, one of Australia’s largest property developers says. Stockland chief executive for residential communities, Mark Hunter told Fairfax newspapers on Thursday that the average four-bedroom home had shrunk 20 per cent since 2007. Mr Hunter said smaller three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes were “the […]
Monotony and plainness are rarely considered as factors supressing the Australian psyche. But consider for a moment that most project homes built in estates are by and large the same across the continent. Could we be contributing to what Alain De Botton calls ‘Status Anxiety’? He suggests that our level of satisfaction in life is […]
Recently VicUrban, the Victorian Government’s land and development agency, commissioned seven well known Australian architectural practices and volume home builders to collaborate in the design and construction of 5 houses that offer a sustainable/affordable alternative to the current project home offerings. These designs have now been constructed and right ups published. The project is called […]
At the centre of the housing debate there is this seemingly never ending ethical dispute between profit verses environmental sensitivity. It has forced me to reflect on how we might have arrived at this point which, in my mind, could have been avoided. Institutionalisation means: to physiologically make part of a structured and usually well-established […]