Wednesday 6 October – Friday 19 November 2021 5.00pm (AEDT)
Where
Design Speaks Virtual Portal
Virtual Event
Tickets
Ticket sales for this event are closed.
Program Info
The Architecture Symposium: Small presents a curated collection of Australian architects whose projects demonstrate a manner of working deliberately within limit – be it size, budget, material, country or community – to enable profound impact. Each of these architects will reflect on a recent project or process that, although not necessarily small, involves divergent practice methods developed over many years to produce an enviable economy of architectural means.
Session 1 – Small: Making Urban Live streamed 1–3 pm Wednesday 6 October – available on demand until 5 pm AEDT 19 November.
A PLACE FOR GATHERING: PARRAMATTA MISSION John Choi, Chrofi (Sydney, NSW)
SMALL LESSONS FOR THE BIGGER CITY: LOFTUS LANE Mel Bright, Studio Bright (Melbourne, Vic)
CO-BECOMING: REDFERN COMMUNITY FACILITY Amelia Holliday and Isabelle Toland, Aileen Sage Architects (Sydney, NSW)
SMALL WINS Olivia Hyde, office of the Government Architect NSW (Sydney, NSW)
DISSECTION All presenters join a live panel discussion moderated by curators Anita Panov and Andrew Scott.
Session 2 – Small: Making Suburban Live streamed 1–3 pm Wednesday 13 October – available on demand until 5 pm AEDT 19 November.
DIGNITY AND EVERYDAY LIFE: ST ALBANS HOUSING Nigel Bertram, NMBW Architecture Studio (Melbourne, Vic)
A DECISIVE NEARNESS TO NATURE* IN THE SUBURBS: BEACONSFIELD HOUSE Simon Pendal, Simon Pendal Architect (Fremantle, WA)
*Borrowed from Romano Guardini, Letters from Lake Como.
ARCHITECTURE THAT ADAPTS: THREE HOUSE John Ellway, John Ellway Architect (Brisbane, Qld)
THE SCALES OF HISTORY AND THE PROBLEMS OF MEMORY: BOZEN'S COTTAGE Mat Hinds, Taylor and Hinds (Hobart, Tas)
DISSECTION All presenters join a live panel discussion moderated by curators Anita Panov and Andrew Scott.
Session 3 – Small: Making Community Live streamed 1–3 pm Wednesday 20 October – available on demand until 5 pm AEDT 19 November.
THIS IS A BIG THING: SPINIFEX HILL STUDIO Jennie Officer, Officer Woods Architects (Fremantle, WA)
STRANGELY FAMILIAR: ED (EDWIN ARNOLD) HARDY PARK AMENITIES Matthew Eagle, ME (Gold Coast, Qld)
IT IS BETTER TO KNOW HOW TO LEARN THAN TO KNOW (DR SEUSS): RESEARCH PRIMARY SCHOOL Rachel Nolan and Patrick Kennedy, Kennedy Nolan (Melbourne, Vic)
Eighty-one clients: Strata Plan 3402 Alexander Symes, Alexander Symes Architect (Sydney, NSW)
DISSECTION All presenters join a live panel discussion moderated by curators Anita Panov and Andrew Scott.
John Choi is a co-founder and director of Chrofi – a practice widely recognized for its holistic approach and design innovation. The practice has been awarded the AIA Nicholas Murcutt Award for Small Project Architecture, seven Chicago Athenaeum Awards and three World Architecture Festival Awards. In 2012, John was nominated for the Iakov Chernikhov Prize, and in 2014 he was the prize recipient of the AR International Award for Emerging Architecture.
Mel Bright is the owner and founding director of Studio Bright, a Melbourne-based practice that has gathered a collection of diverse and highly acclaimed built work. Studio Bright is best known for its houses, but the practice is currently working on a number of city-making projects across a variety of scales and types, including civic, educational and multi-residential projects.
Amelia worked for a number of years as a senior architect with Neeson Murcutt Architects, which is where she and Isabelle met. Prior to that she worked with Architect Marshall and Tonkin Zulhaika Greer in Sydney. She is currently a member of the Australian Institute of Architects Venice Biennale Committee.
Isabelle Toland graduated from the University of Sydney with Honours in 2004. In 2013 she founded Aileen Sage Architects in Sydney with Amelia Holliday.
Isabelle’s project experience ranges vastly in scale and location, from remote communities to densely urban contexts, and from new builds to adaptive reuse. In all scenarios, Isabelle consistently champions projects that prioritise custodianship, cultural narratives and inclusive design. Often working collaboratively with artists, academics, and directly with communities, Isabelle actively strives to amplify underrepresented voices, ensuring that design serves as a bridge for connection, storytelling, and long-term stewardship of place.
Olivia Hyde is the director of design excellence at the Government Architect NSW and a professor of practice in architecture at The University of Sydney. In her role with the Government Architect, Olivia leads the development of policies and programs – for the State Design Review Panel – to support and promote greater design quality in the built environment across the state.
Nigel Bertram is practice professor of architecture at Monash University and director of NMBW Architecture Studio, established in Melbourne with Marika Neustupny and Lucinda McLean in 1997. The team’s architectural work has been widely published and awarded across categories, including urban design, single and multiple residential designs, small public works and adaptive re-use of existing buildings.
Simon Pendal is a practising architect and educator who co-leads the studio program at the Fremantle School of Architecture. His practice works primarily on suburban commissions which are small, intimate and finely wrought, seeking communication with their local landscape and environment. Simon obtained his practice-based PhD via the “invitational” stream at RMIT in late 2016, and since that time has tried to better understand the place in which he resides, seeking also to invite students and colleagues into this conversation.
John Ellway runs a small architectural practice with a love for creating places where people live, inspired by their stories of travel and family memories. His goal is to create simple functional buildings that delight and surprise through the control of light, shadow and landscape, with a focus on local materials, climate, and social relationships.
Mat Hinds established Taylor and Hinds Architects with Poppy Taylor in 2011. The practice is nationally and internationally recognised and awarded, particularly within the sphere of cultural heritage.
The architecture of Taylor and Hinds centres on an approach that is site specific, economical and strategic. Noted for its sensitivity, firmness and experiential clarity, the work of Taylor and Hinds addresses complex questions of civics, landscape, identity and history particular to the Tasmanian condition.
Jennie is a founding director at Officer Woods Architects, a senior lecturer in the School of Design at the University of Western Australia and a fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects.
Jennie grew up in the remote Murchison region of Western Australia and particularly enjoys responding to non-standard challenges and issues. She combines several roles in professional life: practitioner, teacher, researcher and advocate.
Matthew is the director and founder of architecture studio ME and a teacher at the Abedian School of Architecture Bond University on the Gold Coast.
Matthew established ME in 2013 and is based at Jellurgal, Burleigh Heads on the lands of the Kombumerri people. ME is a studio based architecture practice that emphasises design, research, making and teaching as the primary areas of focus. Together with our clients, community, consultants and craftspeople we investigate and seek to understand the cultural, ecological, societal and historical narratives of place. This is in search of the making of authentic, sensitive and climatically astute spaces and places.
Patrick Kennedy and Rachel Nolan established Kennedy Nolan in Melbourne in 1999. They both grew up in the country and became friends when they moved to the city in the late 1980s to study at The University of Melbourne.
Kennedy Nolan is an architecture practice that has established a strong reputation for making architecture with a distinct approach to the built form and highly considered interiors. The practice has been recognized by numerous design awards.
Alex’s technical expertise in building physics and facade system design is built on the experience he gained working in Arup’s building physics and facade engineer teams from 2010 to 2014. He has hands-on experience with construction and design for manufacture assembly (DFMA) and a passion for how buildings are put together. Alex has specialist training in the design and delivery of passive houses, which he believes offers a pathway towards exceptionally comfortable and healthy homes. Alex loves to collaborate with like-minded individuals and to test the boundaries of how status quo can be challenged to advance sustainable architecture.
Anita Panov and Andrew Scott studied architecture at the University of Newcastle under Richard Leplastrier and Peter Stutchbury, among others. After decade-long apprenticeships with William Smart and Angelo Candalepas respectively, they commenced practice together in 2012, and in 2016 were the first collaboration to receive the New South Wales Emerging Architects prize, the citation stating:
“Through their conscious and thoughtful approach to the crafting of buildings, Panov Scott demonstrate design excellence, generosity of spirit and leadership by example. They are builders, teachers, curators, scientists, agitators and writers. This critical thought leadership has the potential to inspire the next generation of architects.”
