Breathe: The new urban village project   

This is an international competition to design and build a new place for living in the Central City.

Work is underway to rebuild and breathe new life into the Central City, following the destruction caused by the earthquakes.

Designers from throughout the world are invited to influence the way the new generation of Central City residents will live within their environment and what type of communities they will want to be part of.

Christchurch’s new urban village will offer medium density housing with easy access to green space, the new performing arts precinct, retail and entertainment areas, and transport and recreation facilities.

The new urban village is about creating breathing space and spaces that breathe in the new Central City. The village will offer sustainable, modern living on the edge of the planned green belt that will define the central business area and connect with the new urban living spaces.

Stage One closes at 5pm, Tuesday 15 January 2013.

Note that each team must have a designer and a developer as a minimum for Stage 1.

11th Andreu World International Design Contest  

Contestant:
Designers of all ages, professionals and students from all fields of designs from around the world.

Design object:
Chair and/or table

Prizes:
1st prize 3.000 euros, 2nd prize 1.000 euros, and 4 special mentions.

Deadline:
September, 2011

17 Meredith Circuit  

Designed by organic architect Laurie Virr in 1975.

1:1 Architects  

2010 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work  

The AA Prize for Unbuilt Work AA Prize for Unbuilt Work seeks challenging, inventive and rigorous speculations on the futures of architecture.
Sustainable Futures

The 2010 theme is Sustainable Futures.

• How might we make “sustainable” buildings, environments and practices in 2020? In 2050?
• What will appropriate, responsible architecture be?
• Are there opportunities in this to rethink and revitalize architecture and the contribution it makes to the community?

Over the centuries unbuilt architectural projects have provided opportunities for speculation and experiment. They have been vital tools for projecting possible futures. Now we are asking Australian architects and built environment professionals to use unbuilt proposals as a means of imagining architecture in a “post-carbon” world, and in an environment that has undergone major climate change.

Downloads are available here .

Enter Now!

2011 Australian House of the Year 

CALL FOR ENTRIES – CLOSES 31/3

The 2011 inaugural Houses Awards program presented by Houses magazine is now calling for entries from Australian and international design professionals working on an Australian project.

One of the country’s most sought-after architectural accolades, the awards celebrate Australia’s best residential projects in seven categories, with the best house receiving the premier award of Australian House of the Year. 

“The inaugural Houses Awards program is a unique opportunity to celebrate Australian residential architecture,” says Cameron Bruhn, Houses magazine Editorial Director. “The peer-judged awards will recognize achievement through categories that reflect the way architects and designers are shaping Australian homes.”

Each year the Houses Awards provides a unique insight into contemporary residential design and the contribution Australia’s architects and designers make to enhancing the way we live today. This year the judging panel includes eminent architects and designers recognised for creating inspirational Australian homes:

• Camilla Block, Director, Durbach Block Jaggers (NSW)
• Paul Owen, Director, Owen and Vokes (Qld)
• Kerry Phelan, Director, Kerry Phelan Design Office (Vic)
• Brian Zulaikha, Director, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (NSW)
• Cameron Bruhn, Editorial Director, Architecture Media (Vic), and
• Sustainability Category Advisor, Scott Drake, The University of Melbourne.

The categories include:

• New House under 200 sqm
• New House over 200 sqm
• House Alteration and Addition under 200 sqm
• Apartment, Unit, or Townhouse
• Outdoor
• Sustainability
• Australian House of the Year

The Australian House of the Year Award winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize, while winners of individual categories will each win $1,000. All Awarded and Commended projects will be presented with a certificate and use of the Houses Awards logo for printed and promotional materials.

Entrants and their projects will also receive recognition through a range of Architecture Media titles including Houses, Houses: Kitchens+Bathrooms, Architecture Australia, Landscape Architecture Australia, Artichoke, Architectural Product News and Selector, as well as other media.

Entries close on Thursday 31 March 2011 and full details can be found at the awards website – www.housesawards.com.au

Winners will be announced on July 15, 2011.

For further information, please contact Trish Nicol at The Trish Nicol Agency on + 61 2 9356 2711 or trish – AT – trishnicolagency.com.au

2012 AIA conference Creative Director search  

“The Institute is seeking expressions of interest for the role of the Creative Director for the 2012 National Architecture Conference.”

If you dare, download information on the role and requirements from here .

2012 Dulux Colour Awards  

CALLING ALL BEAUTIFUL MINDS: ENTRIES FOR 2012 DULUX COLOUR AWARDS OPEN
Entry for the 2012 Dulux Colour Awards is now open, calling all architects, designers, specifiers and students to reveal their innovative and inspiring use of colour.

Adding a new dynamic for entrants, the 2012 Dulux Colour Awards expands from six to eight categories, with the previous Residential Interior and Exterior Awards divided into four new categories: Single Residential Interior, Multi Residential Interior, Single Residential Exterior and Multi Residential Exterior.
These will join the Commercial Exterior, Commercial Interior, Sustainable Interior and Student categories to be judged by a panel of top industry names.

Aside from the high profile acknowledgment that comes from winning one of Australasia’s most acclaimed industry accolades, each category winner will receive AU$1,500 in prize money and a trophy. All entries will also stand the chance of walking away with the coveted Grand Prix award, receiving AU$2,000, a trophy plus a trip to an international design fair.

Entries for all eight categories are open now until 10 February 2012.
All Dulux Colour Awards entrants in the Residential Interior and Commercial Interior categories will be automatically entered into the Australian Interior Designer Awards (AIDA) free of charge as part of Dulux’s sponsorship of the AIDA.
The 2012 Dulux Colour Awards winners will be announced at a gala function in March 2012.

FAST FACTS
The 2012 Dulux Colour Awards is now accepting entries across eight categories:
• Commercial Interior
• Commercial Exterior
• Single Residential Interior
• Multi Residential Interior
• Single Residential Exterior
• Multi Residential Exterior
• Sustainable Interior
• Student

All category winners, excluding the Student category also stand the chance of being named the 2012 Dulux Colour Awards Grand Prix winner.

Who can enter:
• Architects
• Designers
• Interior Designers
• Colour Consultants
• Students of Architecture and Interior Design

Prizes:
• Commercial Interior: AUD$1,500 cash prize and trophy
• Commercial Exterior: AUD$1,500 cash prize and trophy
• Single Residential Interior: AUD$1,500 cash prize and trophy
• Multi Residential Interior: AUD$1,500 cash prize and trophy
• Single Residential Exterior: AUD$1,500 cash prize and trophy
• Multi Residential Exterior : AUD$1,500 cash prize and trophy
• Sustainable Interior: AUD$1,500 cash prize and trophy
• Student: AUD$1,000 cash prize and trophy, plus the opportunity to produce their own limited edition colour palette as part of Designers for Dulux program
• Grand Prix: AUD $2,000 plus business class airfare and accommodation to an international design fair

Key Dates:
• Entry Opens – 9th November 2012
• Entry Closes – 10th February 2012
• Finalists announced – 27th February 2012
• Winners announced – 28th March 2012

3 Bruthen Road 

“Designed and built by respected Geelong architect Graeme Williams as his own family home, this quality executive house offers 350m2 (38 squares) of living space (approx). Open plan in design with large windows throughout, this house optimises its northerly aspect and cleverly uses plantings to filter the summer sun.”

Auction: Sat, 17th October 09 1.00pm
Fruit Property Geelong. 640K+

3000  

A weekly guide to what’s going on in the less obvious places in Melbourne. This link will take you straight through to the design and art happenings.

3D Tin  

3D tin ventures where no 3D program has been before (maybe). This site lets you make and play with blocks inside a standard browser window, then save them. It’s like a really basic Sketch Up, not bad considering it’s made by a guy (Jayesh Salvi) working alone on it, part time, since April.

It will be super slow if you are using IE 7 or 8. Best in IE9 or any other modern browser. You don’t need Flash, it is all done in HTML5, CSS3, and javascript – which your browser should already have.

3LHD architects  

3xn  

4 Site  

4 Site  

4 Thornhill Drive 

NOW SOLD

Pretty special house and garden from the 50s or 60s, being sold by an architect (2008).

Owner’s text:

The house was designed in 1962 by Peter Robinson+Associates. Don’t know much about them, but we met the project architect, Peter Matters, on the day of the auction in late 2002. He was 80-something not out, still practising somewhere out near Bacchus Marsh, and had shown up out of curiosity to see who bought the place.
He designed the house for a local real-estate agent (!) and his wife, who raised their 3 children here. It’s a perfect family house and was obviously well-loved by its original owners. The mother had recently died, and I think the children were happy to see the house go to another family who would appreciate its unique qualities.

I think of the place like one of those Californian Case-Study houses with its casual-modernism-with-the-hard-edges- knocked-off-gone-all-lazy-and-comfortable-attitude. The place is pretty much as imagined by the architect back in the 1960’s.

5 Star renovations  

The page you need to know if you’re practising in Victoria, as everything changed on May 1st.

99% Invisible  

A lovely little architectural radio show made at KALW in San Francisco. Shows are about 15 minutes long and concentrate on one unpredictable issue.

The episodes are rather well researched and produced, which might have something to do with their good fortune on Kickstarter .

A Daily Dose of Architecture  

“(Almost) daily architectural musings and imagery from New York City”. Capably assembled by John Hill.