Architecture & Design

It houses a cluster of 32 3D printers and offers 3d printing service to the University of Melbourne. Users submit jobs remotely to a centrally managed 3D printing cluster that is open and visible to the public.

The lab acts as a participatory “gallery” for experiencing new technology, provoking larger conversations about the future and technologies part in it. Throughout the day passers-by will be able to observe the highly visible bank of 3D printers producing models, along with dynamic and advanced digital imagery projected on the wall providing constant visual excitement and attraction.

The NExT Lab is also easily reconfigured to host small events, educational sessions and demonstrations. These events are facilitated by a Video Wall for presenting digital content.

There are two primary functions of the makerspace. Firstly, it is a flexible space. Students can make models collaboratively and study independently. Secondly, it provides storage options for student models and supplies. With a reconfigurable layout, it caters for other functions, such as workshops, presentations and even exhibitions.

A catalogue of storage and workspace hybrids was developed using workshop observations and precedent studies. This provided various model making and studying facilities, which responded directly to the students’ needs.

This 6,000sqm+ site is positioned in Melbourne’s Southbank, a prestigious waterfront precinct. Located within a high density area, the site enjoys a variety of programs from its neighbouring buildings. As such, there is an opportunity for this project to complement its immediate context by becoming a new activity hub in the precinct; to become a piece of urban infrastructure at a small urban grain yet change Melbourne’s skyline at a macro scale.

The client has a vision for the site to redefine the retail, commercial, residential and public open space offering in Melbourne’s most coveted location. Whilst there is a strong commercial intent to the project, the client aspires to deliver a project that offers immense public benefit to the local and wider community.

Upon completion, the site will become a local facility to live, work and play in; offering a wide selection of amenities for a diverse range of users.

This is piezo oasis, translating the natural form into an urban experience with the aid of piezo technology.

The oasis is a grove of 207 trees arrayed across the site, aligned on the diagonal to the prevailing wind directions. A mosaic tile ground plane is configured with geometries and a watercourse provides evaporative cooling. With the rustling leaves and flow of water, the oasis will be a place of calm. The installation consists of trees with branches and leaves that sway in the wind. The tree and its branches are constructed of laminate timber. The main trunk is a 440mm x 440mm column standing 19.2m tall. From this spring branches with a square section of 220mm, ranging from 10m to 18m long. Leaves consisting of three piezo harvesters each are attached along these branches; the actuators and wiring are housed within.

An elevated circular gathering space forms the heart of the site (The ‘Memorial Island’). The circular gathering space is an abstraction of the sun but also the moon. The surface of the gathering space is charcoal black and punctured only by the 185 small lights that mark the columns below and 4,199 perforations for water to pass through. At the same time each day (12.51pm) a wall of water connects the raised gathering space with the river.

Beyond the water lies a forest of 185, blackened trees, which support the gathering space above. These trees represent 185 people who lost their lives but they are not static memorial objects, instead they are active performative pieces supporting the structure and the people above. These trees are carved with messages, motifs and names acting as records of a previous life and telling the story of an individual’s life. Just as traditional Maori Carving was used to record the ancestors, this forest of carved trees reflects a specific history and culture unique to New Zealand. The black ‘forest’ also provides private space within the site. Just like wondering into the quiet of a dense forest this space is peaceful, private and more suited to individual contemplation and quiet reflection

The Tower of Knowledge celebrates human ingenuity in manipulating materials and structures to progress occupation of the Australian landscape over time. The curated program builds upon familiar processes and events that shape the Canberra landscape. These qualities are potently present in the TCL curated landscapes of the Canberra Arboretum, and our proposal seeks to continue this trajectory to provoke new and future performances for the community, played out in this iconic site. The form of the cast tower is strangely familiar – appearing as it does in homage to the compelling fire towers that look out across the landscapes of Australia to warn of impending trouble on the horizon.

The tower is clearly monumental; in one guise representing the memory of the last 100 years of engineering innovation stored inside the walls of the lofty tower. Then, in its re-de-constructed form it becomes an embedded history lain across and growing up from the earth from which the Pin Oak Forest and its clearings convey the presence and care of the profession of Engineers.

The growth of societies, accelerated by digital information processes, require a design intervention that will communicate and interact with the changing environmental context and user preferences. Cities need to embody interactive architecture, a process-oriented guide to designing dynamic spaces capable of constantly adapting to the changing environments while simultaneously performing a range of user functions.

Primary users of Melbourne Central were identified as shoppers, business personnel and artists. Their behaviour (speed, variation, direction, duration) were recorded and simulated onto new the site, Melbourne Central rooftop to determine the arrangement of architectural modules. The architecture modules sense and records user behaviour on-site in order to propose different configurations to suit the various participants across time.

The challenge was to generate a re-configurable design that enriches the existing built ecosystem. The current studio spaces are not suitable for collaboration among the artists as it restricts spontaneous creative endeavours. Secondly, visitors should be able to explore the studios and engage with the artists differently at every visit.

By creating decentralised workshops, the designers can share the machinery and learn from each other. A modular design was adopted to facilitate connectivity on various scales, whereas automation was incorporated to facilitate reconfigurability. Prototyping was prioritised to demonstrate design capabilities of the overall automated movements and interconnecting joint details.

The process was tested in a series of three workshops to design and fabricate a pavilion for the Office of Design and Architecture South Australia (ODASA) in Adelaide to coincide with the Australian Institute of Architecture’s National Conference.

In this third workshop the AGILE X3, ODASA Pavilion was fabricated in an easily demountable structure with intermittent flyscreen panels. The workshop was led by Dr Tim McGinley and consisted of architecture and engineering students from the University of South Australia. The pavilion weighed approximately 140kgs and the arch spans a distance of approximately 4.5 metres. It was semi-constructed as 8 manageable sections, transported to the site and assembled in a day.

As Hong Yi says, “Perhaps more important than the drink itself is the underlying culture. Locals gather in kopitiams and mamaks, and here they talk about where to buy the best durians, the traffic, politics, weather, soccer… It is a drink that brings people together.”

To realise her artistic vision, I worked with One Design Office to plan the construction and assembly of the installation. Photographs of the ‘Tarik Man’ were taken, pixelated and mapped onto a grid to build the installation in segments.

The photograph was manipulated to determine the quantity of each dyed tea bag and instructions on how the tea bags were arranged and assembled were created. The design took 10 days and the fabrication and assembly process took over two months. The artwork weighed over 200kg with a size of 3.2 x 2.2 metres.