Photo: Don Henry in the Kimberley

High profile and respected environmentalists Don Henry and Tim Flannery have joined the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute (MSSI) at the University of Melbourne.

MSSI, a research centre hosted by ABP, supports important research, projects and conversations about sustainability, in addition to exploring human environmental challenges created by climate change.

Read more.

Photo: John Gollings

Architecture critic for The Age, Joe Rollo writes about the new Melbourne School of Design building, describing it as "a wonderful facility, in glass and wood and concrete and zinc, designed for visibility and engagement, filled with the kinds of complexities which have come to mark much of Wardle's work."

Read the full project review here.

The inaugural Brookfield Multiplex PhD Scholarship in Construction Studies is now open for expressions of interest. The scholarship program provides support to an outstanding scholar to investigate the factors leading to positive advancements in the building industry.

By tackling key issues, such as project delivery, quality of construction, and the efficient use of natural, material and human resources, the Brookfield Multiplex PhD Scholar is expected to contribute to the future of the built environment and highlight the role that construction can play in bringing agendas of social, technological and economic sustainability to fruition.

Prospective applicants should submit a full application no later than 31 October 2014.

Further Information

Download Expression of Interest Form

REGISTER NOW

The next Melbourne Forum event - Practice of the future: Where is practice going? - will take place at the new Melbourne School of Design building on Wednesday 12 November at 6pm.

Presenters include Dr. Dominique Hes (ABP), Meyer Eidelson (author, entertainer and social commentator), Nick Adams (Arup), and Eli Court (Climate Works Australia).

During the forum, Dominique Hes will launch her new book - Designing for Hope: contributive practices for a thriving future - co-written with Chrisna du Plessis.

Melbourne Forum is a series of free public talks aimed at increasing the development and refurbishment of commercial buildings in Victoria to achieve greater levels of sustainable performance.

The 2014 - 2015 Melbourne Forum partners are Melbourne School of Design - University of Melbourne, City of Melbourne, AIRAH, Sustainability Victoria and City West Water.

Nur-e-Dipha Shamima Muttaqi is a Master of Urban Planning Student with a vision for socially inclusive design.

Together with her architectural partners, Shareq and Iftekhar, Nur-e has been awarded the 2014 Futurarc Green Leadership Award for socially inclusive development. The Rishipara Mandir Paathshaala School in Bangladesh was an ambitious project and the first architectural feat for these early career designers since graduating from the Bachelor of Architecture at Brac University, Bangladesh.

The school is part of an education programme initiated by American, Christopher Lee Hesse, and Australian, Markus S Favrus, and run by the Subornogram Foundation, which provides access to education for children across Bangladesh’s marginalised communities.

"It was vital to engage the community at all stages of the process in order to instil a sense of ownership and ensure the school truly met their needs," Nur-e said.

Continue Reading

Photo: Sagrada Familia 01CC BY-SA 3.0 Bernard Gagnon - Own work

Wednesday 15 October at 6pm
Lecture Theatre 1 (Room B117), Mason Road
Melbourne School of Design (Building 133)
Enter from Elisabeth Murdoch Courtyard

Professor Mark Burry will present the 2014 R Douglas Wright Lecture - Untangling Antoni Gaudí's Multidimensional Mysteries - at Melbourne School of Design on Wednesday 15 October 2014 at 6pm.

Professor Burry will discuss Gaudí's concern with geometries never before applied to architecture, and demonstrate that Gaudí skipped a dimension by going from the conventional two dimensions of the plan to four.

Professor Burry will argue that the implications of Gaudí's spatially singular and visionary way of thinking can be extended from the apparent uniqueness of the challenges that Gaudí set himself to the challenges we collectively face in the design of our future urban built environment.

REGISTER HERE

Melbourne: What Next?, which presents a discussion on creating a better future for Melbourne, will be launched at a special public event in the Dulux Gallery at the new Melbourne School of Design building on Monday 13 October at 6pm.

The book, edited by Carolyn Whitzman (ABP), Brendan Gleeson (MSSI) and Alexander Sheko (Master of Urban Planning student) brings together the voices of political leaders, planning and design experts and young activists. It highlights key challenges and potential solutions to pressing planning issues.

Consisting of original research and summaries from the Future Melbourne Network forums, interspersed with 'vox pops' from community advocates and forum participants, Melbourne: What Next? provides a strong argument for better metropolitan planning in advance of the November 2014 State election.

The free downloadable e-book will be available online from 6pm on 13 October.

This week the University of Melbourne launched Election Watch Victoria, an online platform to analyse policy and party strategy in the leadup to the Victorian Election on 29 November.

Election Watch brings together the University of Melbourne’s most respected and experienced academics to provide rigorous analysis and independent commentary on the Victorian election campaign - from political scientists and public policy experts to specialists in health, education and urban planning.

A chapter extract from Melbourne: What Next? is already live on Election Watch, with plenty of urban planning and design commentary to come.

If you want to contribute contact Jo Chandler, Editor.