Dear staff,

Fabricate is the official student newsletter at the Melbourne School of Design. You are receiving this email as a current student or staff member of the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning.

The image above is a mural in Berlin by the street artist known as JR.

JR is the name of a photographer and artist whose identity is unconfirmed. He has described himself as a "photograffeur", he flyposts large black-and-white photographic images in public locations in a manner which is similar to the appropriation of the built environment by the graffiti artist. He states that the street is "the largest art gallery in the world." He started out on the streets of Paris and his work "often challenges widely held preconceptions and the reductive images propagated by advertising and the media."

JR's work combines art and action and deals with commitment, freedom, identity and limits. He has been introduced by Fabrice Bousteau as: "the one we already call the Cartier-Bresson of the 21st century". On 20 October 2010, JR won the TED Prize for 2011.

Read on for all the latest MSD news.

Calling all Masters of Architecture students!

In 2014 we are planning to facilitate the launch of the first ever MSD Architecture student club.

This will be a fantastic opportunity to network, socialise and contribute to the rich architectural culture within the University.

Industry nights, peer support programs, social events and more. If you can dream it, we can do it!

First planning meeting will occur midday Monday 3rd of March.

Please email Justin Cusack on the link below to express your interest.

Survey opens 9:00am Wednesday 22 January 2014 and closes 6:00pm Friday 7 March 2014.

The University of Melbourne is inviting all newly enrolled, first year undergraduate and graduate coursework students to take part in our 2014 Commencing Student Survey. The survey is conducted to better understand our students’ decision to study at the University of Melbourne and to help the University plan for a range of activities.

The survey will take 10 - 15 minutes to complete. Students will need to have completed their enrolment and received a student number to participate.

All newly enrolled students who complete this survey have the opportunity to go in the running to win a 13” MacBook Pro or a 16GB iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular or one of five $100 Co-op bookshop vouchers.

Click on the button below for more information

CoDesign Studio is a social enterprise that exists to create inclusive neighbourhoods and empowered communities. We do this by mobilising communities, professionals and service providers to design and implement neighbourhood improvement projects.

With integrated expertise in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and community development –  combined with a highly participatory approach and teams of professional volunteers – CoDesign delivers tactical, local and community-led solutions to built environment challenges. We make neighbourhood revitalisation faster, cheaper, and more fun.

Projects typically include pop up spaces, revitalisation of under-utilised spaces and community capacity building, as well as a host of built community and landscape infrastructure projects.

Click on the button below for more information

The AustCham Beijing Future Business Leaders Program is an initiative of AustCham Beijing, developed in response to Australia's growing economic, cultural and political relationship with China. Previously know as the AustCham China Scholarship, the Program has been developing young Australians ability to flourish in the Australian- China Business environment since 2011.

The Program is designed for students who have a long term passion for strengthening this relationship through their business or cultural pursuits. A typical candidate will have completed a Bachelors degree, have practical work experience, and have undertaken China focused work or academic studies. Although Mandarin language skills are not required to apply for this position, candidates who have taken the initiative in developing core cultural and language skills will be highly regarded.

The Programs alumni will form the base of Australia's young, China focused, business and cultural leaders.

Click on the button below for more information

Urban ecology and biodiversity is one of our most pressing global issues.

City of Melbourne will host this exciting public forum to discuss this matter and to launch the new book: Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities with special guest Prof Thomas Elmqvist from the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

The book represents the world’s first global assessment of the effects of urbanization on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Moderator: Virginia Trioli, presenter ABC News Breakfast, ABC1
Keynote Speaker: Prof Thomas Elmqvist, Stockholm Resilience Centre

Panel: Dr Chris Ives, RMIT; Dr Ruth Beilin, University of Melbourne; Prof Mark McDonnell, ARCUE Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
Join us for we promise will be a stimulating and lively discussion with opportunity for audience participation.

Click the link below to register.

What:International-known advocate for sustainable architecture, Nirmal Kishnani, will present emerging ideas for Asia and Australia in this free public lecture.

This lecture is presented by Holcim and Melbourne School of Design.

Kishnani is Assistant Dean and Program Director at the School of Design and Environment at the National University of Singapore where he formulates curriculum and teaches sustainable design.

He is author of Greening Asia - Emerging Principles of Sustainable Architecture, widely regarded as the first booko to critique the rising tide of Green in Asia and put forth principles for sustainable design that are Asia-centric.

Expert from Melbourne will join Kishnani for a panel discussion on sustainable construction in the local context.

Where:Carrillo Gantner Theatre

When: 24th February 6.30 - 8.30pm

Who:Jamie Peck, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia.

What:The presentation explores Detroit’s role as a critical case of “austerity urbanism,” positioning the city’s recent bankruptcy as part of an extended historical process rather than a singular event.

In one sense, the bankruptcy represents a crisis of crisis management, in another, it speaks to the corrosive
logic of the devolved, neoliberal form of fiscal federalism.

Where:Theatre 2, 221 Bouverie St.

Click on the button below for more information

Saturday 22 Feb 2014, 2.00- 3.00pm||

Jenny Long with Michael Graf and Andrew HazewinkelGiovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) was one of the most extraordinary printmakers of the 18th century.

He was also an architect, antiquarian and firebrand. Curator of The Piranesi effect Jenny Long will discuss with contemporary artists Michael Graf and Andrew Hazewinkel what it is about Piranesi's work which continues to excite artists and designers in the 21st century. Jenny Long is a free-lance curator based in Melbourne and Bendigo.

Michael Graf and Andrew Hazewinkel are well known artists based in Melbourne with a long standing interest in the works of Piranesi. A number of Graf and Hazewinkel works are included in the exhibition.All welcome, no bookings required.

Click on the button below for more information

Date: Thursday 13th February

This forum, organised by SLiMS, is aimed at supporting people advocating for public transport - specifically, dealing with the tricky questions that pop up and handling popular misconceptions.

The discussion will be led by Dr John Stone, lecturer in Transport Planning at the University of Melbourne.

Click on the lonk below to register.

The State Library administers a number of research programs, reflecting its place as a hub for intellectual inquiry and discourse. It awards fellowships to benefit those working in the creative and scholarly spheres, and scholarships to promote high standards and leadership in the public library sector.

Click on the button below for more information