Peter Wilson is the 2013 recipient of the Austraian Institute of Architect's (AIA) Gold Medal Award, the AIA's highest individual honour made to an architect for their production of works which promote excellence in architecture and the profession.

Peter, an alumus of the University of Melbourne, received the Gold Medal in recognition of his outstanding projects and his contribution to the development of architectural drawing as a tool of representation and research.

Watch his Gold Medal Address, which was delivered at the University of Melbourne in October.

Our pick of design & architecture events this month

MSDx
Runs from 13 to 15 November in the South Lawn Underground Carpark, University of Melbourne, Parkville.
MSDx is the annual showcase of graduating design students from the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design. Installed in the South Lawn Underground Carpark (famous as being a location in the iconic Mad Max film) it will feature over 200 works by MSD thesis students and exceptional design projects from Masters Studios C, D and E.

Designing 'The Shop': the Parkville campus past and future
Runs to Sunday 9 Feb 2014 @ The Potter Museum
Curated by Bala Starr and Alex Selenitsch.

Melbourne Now
Runs from 22 November 2013 to 23 March 2014 @ NGV Australia and NGV International
Melbourne Now celebrates the latest art, architecture, design, performance and cultural practice to reflect the complex cultural landscape of creative Melbourne. This ambitious exhibition across NGV Australia and NGV International will show how visual artists and creative practitioners have contributed to creating a place with a unique and dynamic cultural identity.

Postcode 3000: A city transformed?
Runs to 21 December 2013 at the City Gallery, Melbourne Town Hall
Postcode 3000 is an exhibition that survey the genesis and typologies of Melbourne's rapid development. It asks the question: do we fully comprehend the impact of this latest boom?

La Trobe Reading Room, State Library of Victoria
Tours held 2–3pm daily. Free entry.
Visit the magnificent domed La Trobe Reading Room, designed by Norman G. Peebles, which celebrates its centenary this year.

Melbourne School of Design students, led by ABP's Hamish Hill and Professor Qinghau Guo, have created a full-sized timber gateway based on the entry to a 12th century temple in Zhejiang province in China. The stucture was launched today at Malvern Primary School, which offers its 700 students Mandarin as a second language and has a sister-school relationship with a school in Nanjing, China.

"The Gateway has been permanently installed in the grounds of Malvern Primary School and is an excellent example of the learning and skill development our students engage in, as well as providing community benefit," said ABP Dean Tom Kvan.

Studio coordinator, Hamish Hill, saw this project as a unique opportunity for MSD students to build at a large scale, using different materials and traditional Asian techniques.

"It is a chance to move away from working at a model scale to learn about full sized construction, with all the complexities of working with timber to build a traditional design," he said.

This project is one in a series of MSD studios in which large structures are donated to communities.

2 December @ 1pm, The Open Stage, 757 Swanston St

Register Now

Jane Rendell will present Coming to Welsh - A Site-Writing, as part of the newly titled MSD Agenda series, profiling the people and practices transforming our modern world.

Jane Rendell is a writer who has developed her position on 'critical spatial practice' (2002 and 2006) and 'site-writing' (2005 and 2010) through such authored books as Site-Writing (2010), Art and Architecture (2006), and The Pursuit of Pleasure (2002) and co-edited collections as Pattern (2007), Critical Architecture (2007), Spatial Imagination (2005), The Unknown City (2001), Intersections (2000), Gender, Space, Architecture (1999) and Strangely Familiar (1995). She is Professor of Architecture and Art at the Bartlett, UCL. http://www.janerendell.co.uk/

3 December @ 5pm, Harold White Theatre, 757 Swanston St

Register here

Professor of Architecture at Canada's McGill University, Avi Friedman will be in Melbourne in December to present a free public lecture, Thinking "outside the box" about affordable and sustainable homes and communities.

“Out-of-the-box” thinking needs to be pursued in the building of affordable and sustainable dwellings and communities. Buying a la carte, leaving space un-partitioned for the occupant to complete, and using innovative technologies are some of the ideas that will be presented by Avi Friedman Professor at the McGill School of Architecture, in Canada, practicing architect and the recipient of the World Habitat Award.  Principles and applications will be outlined and their application in real-world projects will be illustrated.

Find out more about Professor Friedman

An eager bus load departed the University of Melbourne on the 5th of October, but it wasn't filled with students off on a travelling studio or field trip. This bus was occupied by some of Australia's leading architects, designers and planners.

ABP's Advancement team, led by Judy Turner, welcomed 17 Faculty alumni and supporters, and, with the assistance of Associate Professor Jeffrey Turnbull and Professor Philip Goad, took them on a tour of two of Melbourne's architectural gems.

Suzanne Dance, from the class of 1965, writes about her experience on the first ABP Bus Tour.

"What better way to spend a sunny Saturday in October than visiting two of Australia's foremost buildings with commentary provided by two of the country's finest Architectural historians?

The tour began at Newman College [1916-18] where a group of M.U Architecture Alumni assembled to meet our guide, Jeffrey Turnbull, a noted College expert."

Continue reading

Resilient Communities and Shelter Relief

Timothy Stats graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2004 with a Bachelor of Planning and Design and a Bachelor of Architecture. He has returned to the University community this year to undertake a Master of Construction Management. We caught up with Tim to find out where his career has taken him so far…and the answer – all over the world.

Following a number of years working in private architecture firms, Tim found his passion in the humanitarian sector. He currently works at the Australian Red Cross and specialises in shelter relief.

Tim spent 18 months working in Timor assisting the National Red Cross Society of Timor-Leste rehabilitate their branch offices around the districts of the mountainous countryside. This experience gave Tim a chance to be involved in a very holistic way in the entire planning and design process.

More recently, Tim travelled as an aid worker to Mozambique to provide rapid assessment of needs following cyclone damage which devastated villages across the region. Tim was working with broken communities, with up to 40 per cent of houses damaged in some villages – an enormous strain on the community.  Tim was faced with the stark reality of disaster relief.

Read the full article

Dr. Matt Stevens, Senior Lecturer, Construction Management

For those who have lived elsewhere, Melbourne is a standalone city in many respects. For me, architecture comes to mind first.

People use the term “placeholder” and I think that is an accurate descriptor for the Sidney Myer Asia Centre. It greets visitors to the University of Melbourne who walk south on Faraday Street with sharp, clean and varied lines. Externally, the significant amount of glazing on ground floor invites people with openness. Internally, the architectural features are pronounced and carefully executed.

I have another reason for my affection. We recently used it as the main case study for ABPL 90025 Project Management in Practice. The construction planning, resourcing and scheduling required for this building challenged students to think in unique ways. As importantly, it required me to review the plans, specifications and the building itself closely for details large and small. Its complexity and challenges allowed each of us to study it for the entire semester without losing interest. As a side note, the original construction firm utilized it for several years after completion as a reference for its ability to construct a significant building within the letter and spirit of the design.

In my view, the Sidney Myer Asia Centre is one of the significant buildings in Melbourne that crystallizes why this city has achieved its international standing in the built environment.