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Juxtaposed by modern architecture on the western side of the street, the circa 1842 working class terrace facades on the eastern side have been retained and restored in line with strict heritage conditions.
“Kensington Street’s integration with the Central Park precinct was of great consideration. We wanted to celebrate its difference in vernacular to the rest of the contemporary precinct but wanted to integrate it with quality landscaping and other infrastructure.
— Hospitality Magazine
Until several architectural firms were charged with restoring and revamping it, Kensington Street in Sydney's Chippendale area was a former bustling industrial zone fallen to ruin. Now the street (or at least, the design firms responsible for its transformation, including Turf Design... View full entry
With the working title Utzon, The Man Behind the Opera House, the film will tell the story of Danish architect Jørn Utzon, who was just 38 years old and relatively unknown when he won the international competition to design an opera house on Sydney’s Bennelong Point in 1957...
The Sydney Opera House was completed by Australian architect Peter Hall – a handover which ostracised Hall from the architectural community, and which his family believe led to his ruin.
— The Guardian
With a screenplay by Oscar-nominated Petter Skavlan, the film promises to get into some thorny emotional terrain. As producer Jan Marnell explains, “We have a world wonder. We have its creator – who wasn’t allowed to see his dream fulfilled. We have creativity versus bureaucracy and... View full entry
Surveys have revealed that 93% of the almost 3,000 individual reefs have been touched by bleaching, and almost a quarter – 22% – of coral over the entire Great Barrier Reef has been killed by this bleaching event...
Since tourists usually go diving and snorkelling in the middle and southern sections, there are plenty of spectacular corals for them to see there. But they shouldn’t be fooled by that – the reef is in the midst of a major environmental catastrophe.
— the Guardian
"Many scientists are now saying it is almost too late to save it. Strong and immediate action is required to alleviate water pollution and stop the underlying cause: climate change."For other news from the front lines of our warming planet, check out these links:America's first "climate refugees"... View full entry
This year's Biennale has tried to raise fundamental issues around the role of the architect through social and economic issues. Challenges of social inequality, housing, urbanisation, are found across the world but perhaps they are nowhere more apparent than in the cities of Brazil.The Curator of... View full entry
adding butts can cut the energy needed to fire bricks by up to 58 per cent.
Fired-clay bricks incorporated with cigarette butts were also lighter with better insulation properties – meaning reduced household heating and cooling costs.
Importantly, bricks incorporated with 1 per cent cigarette butts maintained properties very similar to those of normal bricks.
— sciencedaily.com
Related on Archinect:New glow-in-the-dark cement could illuminate roads & structuresUCL researchers present a new kind of self-cleaning nano-engineered windowMIT researchers have created a new material that stores and releases solar energyHow "smart" tintable glass will reduce our needs for... View full entry
These public pools, or sundlaugs, serve as the communal heart of Iceland, sacred places whose affordability and ubiquity are viewed as a kind of civil right....The pool is Iceland’s social space: where families meet neighbors, where newcomers first receive welcome, where rivals can’t avoid one another. — NYT
Dan Kois considers how communal pools and the sociability of soaking, are "a key to Icelandic well-being." On a related note, Dan Hill recently published an essay reflecting on ‘The Pool’, a book published as part of The Australian pavilion for the 2016 Venice... View full entry
Stephen Ashton, Howard Raggatt, and Ian McDougall have left a lasting impression in the Australian contemporary architecture scene since they founded Ashton Raggatt McDougall in 1988. Since then, ARM has built projects that the Australian Institute of Architects describes as “some of the most extraordinary [if not sometimes controversial] buildings in the short post-colonial history of [the] country.” — Bustler
ARM's contentious body of work recently earned them the 2016 Gold Medal in the Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards. Here's a glimpse of their work:Photos by John Gollings.Find out more on Bustler. View full entry
[Utzon] wrote to his idol, boldly sending his designs of the Opera House and asking Le Corbusier to contribute in the form of “decoration, carpets and paintings”. His idol wrote back, and by October 1960 the young Utzon was the proud owner of a striking tapestry [...]
The piece is now hanging behind glass in the far end of the Utzon-designed western foyer: a holding place while the Opera House continues the “decade of renewal” that will lead up to its 50th anniversary in 2023.
— theguardian.com
Another look at the tapestry, as it was hung in Jørn Utzon's home in Denmark:Related on Archinect:The Sydney Opera House by Jørn Utzon Celebrates Its 40th AnniversaryJørn Utzon dead at 90Rare film of Le Corbusier in his Paris home and studioLe Corbusier in Color View full entry
A striking circular building at Darling Harbour will house a new City of Sydney library for the area’s existing and incoming residents, following an agreement with Lendlease.
The six storey community and retail centre, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, will be built by developer Lendlease at Darling Square.
— the City of Sydney
The Office of the Mayor of Sydney announced that the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma will design a new multi-use building at Darling Square that will include a two-level library. The developer Lendlease will build the timber-swathed structure.“I am very pleased that the City has reached an... View full entry
[Healthabitat, the non-profit Paul Pholeros co-founded,] developed a model called Housing for Health...working with Aboriginal communities, conducting a survey of all housing and completing urgent repairs using mainly local Indigenous contractors, and adding whatever upgrades or repairs they can afford until the money runs out.
The organisation has improved more than 8,000 houses – a third of Australia’s Indigenous-controlled housing stock – and with them the lives of 55,000 people.
— The Guardian
More on Archinect: New study suggests Aboriginal collective memory reaches back more than 7,000 years Mindscraper: high-rise educational facility renderings in Sydney unveiled by Grimshaw & BVN An illustrated history of Canberra, the Australian capital designed by American architects Peter... View full entry
Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, will be the recipient of New South Wales' first high-rise educational facility, courtesy the firms Grimshaw and BVN. Based on the "Schools-within-Schools" pedagogical model, where learning is "delivered in stages rather than via age groups," the school... View full entry
Floating fragmented pieces of reclaimed timber energize the lobby space of the charmingly named Hotel Hotel, located in the blossoming precinct of NewActon in Canberra, Australia. Designed by Australian practice March Studio, the hotel was recently named World Interior of the Year at the INSIDE... View full entry
The 2015 pavilion, founded and commissioned by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation, was designed by AL_A, the studio of award-winning British architect Amanda Levete. The pavilion is made up of 13 large and 30 smaller petal-like shades, supported by four metre high columns. — The Guardian
Made from carbon fiber poles and roof petals, Amanda Levete's newly opened MPavilion (which runs through February 7th, 2016) also has an acoustic component, courtesy composer Matthias Schack-Arnott of Speak Percussion."Sunset Ritual," as the L.E.D. lighting and music show is known, welcomes the... View full entry
Aboriginal society has preserved memories of Australia’s coastline dating back more than 7,000 years [according to] Professor of Geography Patrick Nunn...
[His] study looks at Aboriginal stories from 21 places around Australia’s coastline, each describing a time when sea levels were significantly lower than today... present sea levels in Australia were reached 7,000 years ago and as such any stories about the coastline stretching much further out to sea had to pre-date that time.
— Past Horizons: Adventures in Archaeology
[Duncan Gay, self-described as 'the biggest bike-lane skeptic', and the] NSW government [are] about to get rid of a much-loved and much-used AU$5M protected cycleway in Sydney’s city centre...Gay’s move seems to go against the flow, with cycling increasingly feted as a potential congestion and pollution game changer in major cities around the world...But he is not alone. — The Guardian
Previous bike-lane news on Archinect:Copenhagen Tops List of the 20 Most Bike-Friendly CitiesAs bicycle ownership in North Korea rises, Pyongyang introduces bike lanesLA Gets its First Parking-Protected Bike LanesBike Lanes Don’t Cause Traffic Jams If You’re Smart About Where You Build... View full entry