Forum To Debate Architecture, Culture And Climate

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Industry - Architecture Press Release
27th October 2010, 06:19pm - Views: 1714

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MELBOURNE

BRUNSWICK

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FISHERMANS BEND

POINT COOK

HAMILTON

HO CHI MINH CITY

HANOI

Forum to debate architecture, culture and climate

In a new twist, an upcoming architecture and culture debate isn’t focused on the

rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney. A public forum at RMIT Capitol Theatre on

Thursday, 11 November, from 6pm to 7.30pm presented by RMIT Gallery will

discuss why Melbourne and Berlin are regarded as the cultural capitals of their

countries.

Richard Blythe, Professor of Architecture, Head of the School of Architecture and

Design at RMIT University, and Director of Terroir, is part of a distinguished panel

of international and local architects to ask – can architecture be considered as a

base as well as a source of inspiration? Can a city, a suburb or a single building be

a pioneer for cultural formation?

Peter Mares, presenter of The National Interest, will host the forum, which will be

broadcast on ABC Radio National’s “Big Ideas”. He will be joined by Jürgen Mayer

H., Visiting Professor at Columbia University, New York, and Director of Jürgen

Mayer H., Berlin; Claudia Perren, Architect, Curator, and Lecturer for Design,

Architectural Theory and History, Sydney and Berlin; Shelley Penn, Director of

Shelley Penn Architects; and John Wardle, Director of John Wardle Architects,

Melbourne.

Questions about the roles that architecture, climate, infrastructure and finance play

in urban strategies are ones that Ms Perren considers vital in town planning.

She singles out Jürgen Mayer H. architects’ design for a unique apartment house

at Johannisstraße in Mitte, Berlin's downtown district, being built by property

development group Euroboden. This reinterprets the classic Berliner Wohnhaus

with its multi-unit structure, varying floorplans and layouts that indicate a number of

housing options, as well as a green interior courtyard.

“Berlin’s urban block structure supported a mix of people and uses from the

beginning; I do not think it works the same way in Melbourne,” Ms Perren said.

Big Ideas Forum Hotspots: Culture, Climate and Architecture in Berlin and

Melbourne. Cost: $10 concession/ $15 full price. Tickets must be bought before

the event. Call RMIT Gallery on (03) 9925 1717.

This public program event is presented in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut

Australien and the initiative “Future Proofing Property” as part of Berlin Dayz, the

German-Australian Arts Festival, and the European design exhibition Somewhat

Different: Contemporary Design and the Power of Convention, RMIT Gallery 1

October – 13 November. Developed by the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IfA).

For interviews, contact Evelyn Tsitas, RMIT Gallery media coordinator, on

9925 1716 or 0418 139 015.

Image: JOH 3 - Apartmenthouse Johannisstraße 3, Berlin, by Jürgen Mayer H.

Architects. (See second sheet of release.)

27 October, 2010

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