SA Chief Architect

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Wayno
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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#31 Post by Wayno » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:17 pm

PG, AFAIK this was an ACC presentation aimed at ACC staff - not just Councilors.

SRW, yep agree - please keep in mind this ppt was not made for general public consumption (we managed to obtain a copy though), and was not created by the IDC. Instead, this is simply evidence of the ACC actively working at engaging with the IDC. Your expectation of the IDC engaging with the community is also my expectation - we all still eagerly await hearing from Tim Horton himself!
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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#32 Post by Prince George » Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:27 pm

Wayno wrote:... and was not created by the IDC. Instead, this is simply evidence of the ACC actively working at engaging with the IDC.
Actually, I believe that Jason Pruszinski has been "seconded" from the ACC to the IDC (was that mentioned in one of the recent newsletters from the councillors?). BTW, I just spotted that there is going to be something like a presentation next Friday from Mr Pruszinski. But - it's going to cost as much as $50 (possibly includes the cost of a lunch), so it seems this is an industry function.

http://www.eventsbot.com/events/eb871912108

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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#33 Post by SRW » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:40 am

Wayno wrote: SRW, yep agree - please keep in mind this ppt was not made for general public consumption (we managed to obtain a copy though), and was not created by the IDC. Instead, this is simply evidence of the ACC actively working at engaging with the IDC. Your expectation of the IDC engaging with the community is also my expectation - we all still eagerly await hearing from Tim Horton himself!
Yeah, it's an interesting insight, if not an enlightening one.

I would like to say that I can appreciate that it's early days, but I don't know that that's really true. I mean, it was proposed at the end of last year, the commissioner has been appointed (and as you say, not a peep yet), and the council presentation seems to indicate that some amount of planning is already being undertaken. But there's slim-to-none public engagement. Not even a website or a listed contact (AFAIK).

Mind, I'm still enthusiastic about it, it's just that the behind-the-doors nature of things so far is sapping at my optimism.
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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#34 Post by Wayno » Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:17 am

I suspect we won't hear much from Tim Horton before the final sentence in Paul Holloway's speech is resolved.
Ministerial Statement, HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, LAID ON THE TABLE, 24 JUN 2010
Government of South Australia
Hon Paul Holloway, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning
Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public, Sector Management

INTEGRATED DESIGN COMMISSIONER

Mr President

I can advise the House that Mr Tim Horton, the distinguished Adelaide architect and President of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Institute of Architects has been offered and has accepted the position of Integrated Design Commissioner for a two year appointment. A recommendation will be made by Cabinet to Executive Council next week. Mr Horton will take up his position from 5 July 2010.

Tim Horton has an outstanding reputation as an architect and urban designer. Since graduating in architecture and environmental design he has held a number of major roles both as an architect and on professional bodies.

Tim has been responsible for design work of major projects in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and of course South Australia. He currently practices at Hassell. Recently Tim has been involved in the design of the exemplary Adelaide Zoo Entrance precinct (including the Green Wall) and, the Giant Panda Bamboo Forest and the Adelaide University Learning Hub (Hughes Plaza) master plan.

Tim's commitment to his profession has culminated in his appointment as President of the SA Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, a position he now holds. He has also served as the Chair of the Architects National Practice Committee and as a juror for the Architecture Awards since 2008.

Tim Horton is an exceptional South Australian, an exceptional architect and he will make a significant difference to the design quality in this State. The Government is grateful to him for accepting this important position as Integrated Design
Commissioner.

The establishment of Integrated Design Commission is a recommendation of Thinker in Residence Professor Laura Lee. Professor Lee was formerly Head of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States and has held other distinguished appointments in other universities.

The South Australian Government earlier this year asked Professor Lee to be our inaugural Commissioner in order to turn her recommendations into reality. The announcement of the establishment of an Integrated Design Commission was hailed as "visionary" by Tim Horton himself on behalf of the Institute of Architects. In relation to the appointment of Professor Lee as the inaugural Commissioner, Tim Horton expressed the Institute's deep respect for her understanding of the place for architecture in shaping more liveable, sustainable cities. He described Professor Lee as a highly respected architect and educator of international standing.

Professor Lee was due to begin her appointment, part-time, on 1 July.

As the Government has previously announced, Professor Lee advised the Government that changed professional and family circumstances would make it difficult for her to take up her appointment on schedule. She inquired whether her appointment could be delayed until 1 September, at the earliest.

Professor Lee has put an extraordinary amount of work into helping South Australia establish the IDC and on other design initiatives and is working closely with the Adelaide City Council on a separate but parallel strategy that has received substantial funding from the Federal Government.

Regrettably the Government has had to advise Professor Lee that it cannot accede to her request for a delay in taking up the appointment given the number of projects we are currently dealing with both in the CBD and in the wider metropolitan area. She fully accepts the Government's decision for the earliest possible start and has therefore asked to be relieved of her appointment. She has also offered to give Mr Horton, the Government and the Commission any advice or support needed to help give the Commission a flying start. A Government Architect will also be appointed and this position will be advertised nationally shortly.
So the answer to my original question "Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?" is yes, very soon.
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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#35 Post by Wayno » Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:27 am

SRW wrote:Not even a website or a listed contact (AFAIK).
tadum! here's the website with contact details ==> http://www.premcab.sa.gov.au/dpc/department_IDC.html
In June 2010, award-winning South Australian Architect and Urban Designer, Tim Horton, was announced as South Australian Commissioner for Integrated Design. Mr Horton commenced his role on 5 July 2010 for a two year term.
tim_horton.jpg
Tim Horton
tim_horton.jpg (8.66 KiB) Viewed 10058 times
WHAT IS INTEGRATED DESIGN?
Integrated Design recognises that the nature of our challenges has shifted with increasing interdependence on component parts. Cities are just one example of a complex system that crosses traditional boundaries of responsibility including transport, planning, health and education, sustainability and finance. Multi-disciplinary perspectives are required to respond to global and local challenges.

A research strategy and evidence-base will be used to inform decisions on how we use our buildings, places, spaces as well as landscapes and natural resources. It is essential we make the right design decisions today to define the heritage of tomorrow.

WHAT THE IDC SA WILL DO:
The key objective of the Integrated Design Commission (IDC) South Australia is to advocate the value of design and assume a whole of government (local and state) approach in advocating for, and advising on, ways to achieve excellence in the designed environment through an intelligent investment approach.

The Commission will have a broad remit considering all matters relating to design and the built environment, including planning, infrastructure, transport and energy, urban ecology and landscape, industrial and product design. The Commission will advance targets defined in South Australia's Strategic Plan.

The Commission will consist of a small team led by the Government Architect and supported by a director, specialist designers and administrative support. To ensure effective communication across government the Commission will sit within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. The Commissioner will be independent of the government but will provide strategic advice to the Premier and Cabinet on issues related to design. The Commissioner will be supported by an expert advisory panel of eight with broad expertise in design, governance and planning.

The Commission will promote:

Constructive engagement with the widest range of communities to promote public awareness of design. Collaborative leadership and constructive partnerships will be sought between academia, government, industry, professional organisations and the community.

Strategic research initiated by the Commission will provide new knowledge to inform a creative design-led response to social and environmental design problems. This will be used to enhance design, planning and development across the state. These design principles will assist government to assess the quality of development applications and will provide greater certainty to the community and developers regarding potential development.

Design Excellence will underpin the Commission's mandate in all fields of action. The Commission will establish a practice of design review to support significant projects in delivering good design outcomes. The discipline of design review will advocate working from sound design-based principles and testing through critique.

The Commission will facilitate a series of locally based integrated design strategies to encourage the highest design standards and design innovation in the system and services of government. The first of these strategies, the Integrated Design Strategy (IDS) for Adelaide City is underway as a demonstration project. The aim is to replicate this approach across the whole state.

Innovative new policies and projects will ensure a prosperous and sustainable future for South Australia - the Integrated Design Commission and associated Integrated Design Strategies aim to deliver the appropriate structures to achieve successful outcomes.

CONTACT DETAILS

State Administration Centre
200 Victoria Square
Adelaide SA 5000

GPO Box 2343
Adelaide SA 5001

Phone 61 8 8463 6381
Email: [email protected]
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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#36 Post by SRW » Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:04 am

Excellent detective work, Wayno!

That page really does serve to bring it all back into focus. It seems to me that the IDC will have a largely informative/informal role and will be a professional/expert-led endeavour (a bit at odds with my ideas about community involvement, but not necessarily a bad thing supposing we are given opportunities for representation in the overall processes, and so long as the IDC itself is transparent).

There's just this remaining element about which I am unclear:
These design principles will assist government to assess the quality of development applications and will provide greater certainty to the community and developers regarding potential development.

Design Excellence will underpin the Commission's mandate in all fields of action. The Commission will establish a practice of design review to support significant projects in delivering good design outcomes. The discipline of design review will advocate working from sound design-based principles and testing through critique.
I think that I had begun to envisage a role for the IDC analogous to that of the DAC -- as an extra/complementary layer of review alongside or underneath it. But given the informative nature enunciated elsewhere in that document, and the references here to the review of only either 'significant' or 'government' projects, it would appear that I've been a little too optimistic.

Interesting, also, is the separation of the roles of ID Commissioner and Government Architect into two different persons, when I would have thought they could be fulfilled by one and the same. I guess the idea is that the Government Architect will be responsible for designing government projects and the Commissioner will be responsible for reviewing them? Not immediately apparent to me, is all.

Look forward to hearing more from Commissioner Horton.
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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#37 Post by Prince George » Fri Oct 15, 2010 2:07 pm

Today's AFR reports that Sydney architect Ben Hewett (I presume that this is him) has been appointed to be the SA government architect. I'm trying to find a press release about this.

UPDATE - found one at the AIA.
Architects welcome appointment of SA Government Architect
Thursday 14 October 2010

Today’s appointment of a South Australian Government Architect represents a welcome and necessary ‘next step’ to safeguard and optimise the State’s future growth.

Applauding the SA Government’s announcement earlier today, the Australian Institute of Architects’ SA President David Holland said the long awaited move was a major win for all South Australians.

“We commend the State Government for the appointment, which signals a continuation of their recent public commitment to the best built environment outcomes for South Australia,” Mr Holland said.

“The appointment of Sydney architect Ben Hewett is a vital follow-up to the formation late last year of the Integrated Design Commission (IDC), and recent appointment of Tim Horton as SA Integrated Design Commissioner.”

“While South Australia is the last State in Australia to appoint a Government Architect, with the value of this role recognised in most States for some time, we are confident that the State Government has now developed a nation-leading design model.

“The Integrated Design Commission offers the strongest national model for integrated design excellence, and will be a key initiative in enhancing the quality of Adelaide’s growth over the next 30 years.

“On top of this, we expect to benefit from Ben Hewett’s independence as a respected interstate professional, with experience in both practice and academia. We look forward to working with him and anticipate that Ben’s appointment will see a strong emphasis on practice-based research and innovation.”

Since the establishment of the IDC, we have seen a greater focus on design within government procurement policy and, with this appointment, expect to see more changes toward a true ‘integrated design approach’ ”

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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#38 Post by Prince George » Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:09 pm

I must say, I expected that people would be more excited about getting a State Architect than it seems we are. Here's the write-up from the 'tiser:
Ben Hewett promises to link heritage and progress
SHERADYN HOLDERHEAD | From:The Advertiser | October 20, 2010 12:01AM

ADELAIDE is set to get a makeover with newly appointed Government Architect Ben Hewett promising innovative urban design to blend the city's heritage with a contemporary approach.

Mr Hewett will take up his position with the Integrated Design Commission in January next year and says he is "very excited".

Addressing building heights in the city will be one item on the agenda as the commission focuses on creating a denser city.

"I think to be specific about building heights is not the right way we need to tackle the issue but we do need a more dense urban environment," Mr Hewett said.

"There is an opportunity for the current layout to be adjusted and building heights is one small factor in the debate."

He said a benefit of taller, thinner buildings was that they did not overshadow the street to the same extent as short buildings with a large circumference.

Mr Hewett, who lives in Sydney, gained experience working with heritage and public development in past roles with the NSW Government Architects and Tasmanian State Architect.

"I think it's about balancing the strengths the city has, while being able to bring some of my recent experience with contemporary designing thinking," he said.

"I think I'm part of a different generation of designers."

Mr Hewett's work with the commission will not be solely focused on the city but will provide advice to the Government about issues relating to the 30-year plan for Greater Adelaide, ensuring innovative and sustainable urban design, building and infrastructure in SA.

Australian Institute of Architects' SA president David Holland said the institute expected the state would benefit from Mr Hewett's independence as a respected professional.

"We look forward to working with him and anticipate that Ben's appointment will see a strong emphasis on practice-based research and innovation," he said.

"While South Australia is the last state in Australia to appoint a Government Architect, with the value of this role recognised in most states, we are confident that the State Government has now developed a nation-leading design model."
The image that accompanied the print version of this story, btw, was a far from inspiring. I wonder where we could find more of Mr Hewett's portfolio?

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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#39 Post by Wayno » Thu Oct 21, 2010 5:52 pm

Prince George wrote:I wonder where we could find more of Mr Hewett's portfolio?
there's this ==> http://offshorestudio.net/?p=6 (but yes i agree PG, some pikkies of his previous work would be nice)
Ben (B.Arch (hons. 1st class) UNSW) is a registered Architect and Director of Offshorestudio. He has had extensive design and practice experience in a large variety of project types, with past roles in the NSW Government Architect’s Office, private practice, various collaborations, and as a Design Director with Crone Partners Architecture Studios. Currently Ben is a Lecturer with the School of Architecture at the University of Technology in Sydney, as well as a Design Consultant to Crone Partners. He joined Offshorestudio in 2007.

As Design Director with Crone Partners, Ben designed a large variety of project types including luxury apartments to high-density residential, small scale retail/commercial buildings to 40 storey twin towers, as well as masterplans, exhibition centres and luxury houses. Sites range from Sydney’s CBD, Manly, Victoria Park, and Rhodes in Sydney, to country New South Wales, Newcastle, Brisbane, Dubai, Pakistan and China.

Ben has worked with the Government Architect Design Directorate [now Government Architect’s Office] between 1991-2001, during which time he worked on the award winning Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Redevelopment of Circular Quay, and Parramatta Children’s Court. Ben was also a leading member of the design team for Manly Hydraulics Laboratory (RAIA Architecture Award for Public Buildings, Commendation, 2000), various schemes for cultural facilities for Pier 2/3 in Walsh Bay (working directly with Philippe Robert and Chris Johnson, NSW Government Architect), as well as a number of schools, hospitals and art galleries. In various periods of private practice Ben has worked on a variety of houses and small commercial feasibility studies.

Ben has tutored and lectured design part-time since 1999 . In 2005 he joined UTS as casual tutor in 5th Year Architecture, before starting 2006 in a full-time role. His current roles at the University of Technology, Sydney involve the coordination and lecturing of senior level design subjects.
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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#40 Post by Wayno » Fri Dec 24, 2010 3:14 pm

Tim Horton, our Integrated Design Commission leader has popped out of the woodwork. This is the first article i've seen since he took the IDC helm.

Monotonehell, long article warning ;-)
THE Commissioner for Integrated Design in the Department of Premier and Cabinet shares his vision.

Some time in 2008, quietly and anonymously, Earth underwent a major shift. For the first time in human history, more people lived in towns and cities than the rural hinterland. It was a tipping point that had been a long time coming. The first wave of urbanisation took place in North America and Europe between 1750 and 1950, fuelled by the employment opportunities of the industrial age. In these 200 years, the population of cities in the developed world rocketed from 15 million to 423 million.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, a second wave of urbanization - this time primarily in the developing world - will see the number of urbanites reach a staggering 3.9 billion in 2030.

So it’s no wonder that cities, and the quality of life they represent, have become the stuff of interest.

At this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, the Australian pavilion explored the future of our increasingly urbanised world and offered design visions for Australian cities.

Teams imagined a flooded Gold Coast, a new city built above another in Melbourne, underwater cities that run on wave power and a South Australian entry that explored a massive re-engineering of the continental landmass to restore rainfall and secure food production for a new Australian population of 50 million in 90 years’ time.

There is a long tradition of imagining the future of cities. There is not, however, a high strike rate in getting the prediction (or the prescription) right –but then that’s often not the purpose. Imagining new urban forms is often more about questioning what has been done before, and stoking the fire of imagination.

Sometimes, imagination and opportunity align; probably nowhere as spectacularly as the new city rising just outside of Abu Dhabi. Masdar is one of the world’s most ambitious new cities and it will redefine urban life in the 21st century. Besides being one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable cities, Masdar provides a particularly intriguing design template for Adelaide as it shares a strikingly similar set of physical attributes. Masdar describes itself as a ‘walled city’ with a footprint of six square kilometers.
Masdar_City.jpg
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Adelaide’s is six square miles. Visually, the similarities are striking. Masdar anticipates a population of 50,000. Adelaide’s population has fluctuated over time but our city’s 30-Year Plan projects around 40,000. Both are ‘knowledge cities’ that value an intellectual- and research-driven culture of enquiry.

Both share a regimented underlying city structure, with organic, meandering natural features that disrupt the ordered grid and introduce surprise and delight, green space and respite. The early images of Masdar emphasise public spaces that encourage an active street-based civic life.

Masdar has banned private cars, banned fossil fuels and restricted all city traffic to a subterranean level - or rather, the city sits above the traffic; it is built seven metres clear of the desert plain to capture cooling breezes.

Masdar is designed to respond to its environment. Shaded walkways and narrow streets reduce glare and heat gain, and are complemented by attractive outdoor green spaces. The orientation of streets and public spaces make the most of cooling night-time desert breezes and reduce the adverse impact of hot daytime temperatures. Masdar is at once a leading example of a modern, smart and connected city and a pattern book of traditional design techniques.

Masdar is also a city built from scratch - low rise and compact in contrast to Dubai’s sprawling Disneyland of towers. Masdar has no history, but is impeccably designed. In contrast, Adelaide has a rich heritage and is recognised as a global exemplar of considered urban planning. But what lessons can we learn from this new urban experiment in the desert and how can it help our own city-on-a-plain? We share the challenges of a dry, water-constrained climate and remoteness. But what else can we learn from this sister in the mid East?

Masdar has set goals fearlessly and without precedent - and generated a ‘brand’ in doing so. Masdar has been endorsed by the World Wildlife Fund and is accredited as a ‘One Planet Living’ city. This means that if all cities achieved Masdar’s targets, we’d only need one planet to live on; not the two many have forecast we’ll need by 2030 given our rate of consumption.

Masdar has allowed itself to imagine a new urban form where technology sits alongside tradition and quality of life is valued. But it’s the ambitious targets and a clearly stated set of values that build a brand which, in turn, attracts investment, interest and innovation.

The city of the future is knowledge-driven and powered by ‘creatives’ whose knowledge and innovation are highly valued. These are the ‘key workers’ of the 21st-century economy. Although Adelaide’s ‘safe’ environs do little to attract this creative class, we are lucky to have some interesting threads worth exploring.

The mining sector in South Australia developed three-dimensional virtual reality tools decades ago to improve safety and productivity. Yet we still don’t have a 3-D virtual model of Greater Adelaide. We rely on isolated paper-based perspectives of a new building, street or park without seeing it in its context, or understanding its energy consumption and how much carbon it could sequester. Drawing from the expertise of other emergent sectors in SA offers a tantalising glimpse of an Adelaide that is technologically enabled, within a natural parkland setting. How can the emerging technology employed in the defence industry at Adelaide’s Techport be applied in other sectors? How can our understanding of the complex supply chain of advanced manufacturing, such as just-in-time delivery, be used in the next generation of transport management?

In the world of design and innovation, there’s a dictum for success: “Fail early, fail often”. Failure works when it is backed by a commitment to find a pathway to achieving a target. We wouldn’t have landed a man on the moon without failure in the laboratory and on the launch pad. There are quavering voices already perceptible. Will we accept the changes needed in our own lives? Are we open to seeing a new city emerge? Will new, diverse housing models be appealing to the market? These are natural fears. Adelaide is waking from its hiatus and we are building understanding as much as we are building a city.

And that dog-eared tag of Adelaide as a small-scaled city is quickly becoming a strength. As the larger cities of the East coast groan under the legacy of rapid expansion, much of their essential infrastructure is crumbling or was never put in place.

As business becomes easier to transact from any place in the world with a connection to broadband, the differentiator will be the quality of life offered by a city. This gives us the potential to turn our historic weakness into a new strength. While the global mega-cities struggle to react to the enormity of regenerating infrastructure, addressing social equity and staying within reach of nature, a small network of second-sized cities is emerging with a more agile outlook. Helsinki and Zurich are just two that are working to emphasise the place for the human within the urban experience.

Through the Helsinki Design Lab, the Finnish Innovation Fund is ‘tithing’ some of the revenue gained from its natural resources and mining to fund programmes that rethink how an aging population might influence the future of cities. The programmes look at elderly peoples’ housing needs, how they will contribute to work and their mobility and social opportunities.

Zurich has developed a virtual representation of the city that comprises a three-dimensional form model, a carbon-management plan and energy simulator - all in one. Imagine ETSA being able to instantly model the impact of a new Royal Adelaide Hospital, or SA Water having the energy consumption of a Desalination Plant simulated instantly. (It’s heartening to report some encouraging conversations have started on this front). A city of the scale of Helsinki, Zurich or Adelaide can work more flexibly, openly and more effectively - we subvert the “six degrees of separation” truism in Adelaide by at least four degrees and we need to start working these close networks harder to collectively imagine the Adelaide of the future.

The 30-Year Plan is our invitation to imagine.

The plan is a high level strategic document and is one of the leading plans in the country. But where Masdar powerfully states its aim through design, the 30-Year Plan is a framework. The invitation to all of us lies in recognition that the plan’s success lies in developing a “new urban form”.

There’s a sketchy outline of this new urban form, including: a concentration of new housing in existing urban areas to contain growth; locating new housing and jobs in transit corridors to reduce the need for private car use; and a renewed emphasis on world-class design.

Picking up a cue from Masdar, what sort of urban form would Adelaide have if it understood its own natural systems better? Right now, a research partnership between Fifth Creek Studio’s Graeme Hopkins and Flinders University’s School of Remote Sensing is mapping the urban heat island effect of the Adelaide CBD - that is the heat generated by the city itself throughout the day, which then hangs over the city as the day warms.

The research is showing that the Gully Winds that trundle down from the Hills on late summer afternoons effectively cleanse the city of much of the heat. But it also shows that the heat settles west of the city. This is vital intelligence for urban planners, architects and landscape architects and city governors. And it’s remarkable that we’re only now beginning to understand the science behind this phenomena 175 years after settlement.

Research, technology and innovation - these are recurring themes in imagining more friendly, more sustainable cities. As the range of technologies we rely on for daily life grows, we need to ask how we can draw these technologies together into a seamless support system. What sort of city experience would we enjoy if our phones tracked available car parks or anticipated the arrival of the bus home? How can real-time information help us make decisions that improve our quality of life?

Take the example of the IT world. Software 30 years ago was about green-screen and syntax errors (if/then/else statements). Fast forward to today’s interface on a smart phone or tablet. The computer-speak is hidden behind intuitive interface tools and icons. It has shifted from geek-speak to something my five year old ‘gets’. Imagine bundling the myriad complexities of a city into the background and developing a more user-friendly interface. Imagine environmental sensors constantly monitoring air quality, pedestrian and cyclist movement, traffic congestion, and ambient and surface temperatures. This input stream might mean more pedestrian-friendly traffic lights that activate by sensing presence, not by a predetermined time interval.

Increasingly, industry is seeing possibilities to link these discrete interactions into an integrated ‘urban operating system’. Take Cisco’s Smart & Connected Communities concept. Cisco’s idea is to use intelligent (digital) networking to inter-link people with services, social infrastructure and information. By networking the functions of the city, more intelligent decisions are made possible, including new options for managing energy consumption (by diverting resources where they’re needed instantly, or automatically powering down a building after hours), reducing operating costs, or by making buildings more responsive to the needs of their tenants. It may mean better ‘remote control’ of building air conditioning and lighting, better IT networks that promote flexible work arrangements. Location will be less important than connection.

Another glimpse in to the future-now is the ‘urban informatics’ work of Arup, a global design practice. The term refers to how information and communications technologies might shape our cities, and how a more responsive city might enable more interaction, more empowering of individuals - how a city can become “alive to the touch of its citizens”, as Arup’s Dan Hill puts it.

An example might be how city infrastructure could be driven by the number of people in a specific vicinity. Imagine a new Torrens footbridge whose lights automatically power up after a game at the Adelaide Oval as the fans leave and head into the city to celebrate. Or the foot traffic itself could power the lighting, a technology being tested in Tokyo. “People powered infrastructure”, just imagine it.

Whatever future we choose for ourselves, we know it will need a greater level of co-operation and collaboration between government, industry and community. It will also involve new and exciting opportunities for cities to respond to our needs in real time. One thing’s for certain: things will have to change. And in many ways, that includes us.
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Re: Does Adelaide have a Chief Architect?

#41 Post by tstaylor » Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:05 pm

It maybe a few months late, but read the June Issue of Place magazine if you want to find out some more information on Laura Lee and the IDChttp://www.placemagazine.com.au

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SA Chief Architect

#42 Post by Wayno » Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:23 pm

Seems we have a new Chief Architect. No fanfare?

From Indaily.
New Govt Architect to raise the voice of design

Newly appointed Government Architect Kirsteen Mackay says she will be a public advocate for design with an expanded role in government.

The Scottish-born architect and London Royal College of Art alumnus will have a larger role than her predecessors, which will include managing the Office for Design and Architecture SA (ODASA).

“I’ve taken the expansion of this role as a sign that government really does care about it [design],” she says.

“The remit is broader. It’s more involved in the delivery of projects.

“Not only is the Government Architect involved in the planning approvals processes, but it’s planning policy now.”

Mackay says she wants to engage with the public on the design issues of the day and use the expanded role within the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) to coordinate the promotion of good design in South Australia.

“The thing that I’m most excited about is being able to do more of that public advocacy.

“I hope that the role will be more visible.”

She says her role will include “coordinating opinion, potentially, from (the design) industry and making sure that the minister has access to that brain power”.

“That has to be done really carefully by a Government Architect.

“Sometimes people feel that it’s more independent if it’s not in a department. [However] I’m finding that … it’s actually really good that we’re embedded within the planning department, because we get really good access to the Minister.

“You have to be able to give frank and fearless advice, and you can do that within government.”

Mackay studied architecture at the Glasgow School of Art before taking up work with the firm which designed the London Eye, Marks Barfield Architects.

She completed her post-graduate degree in design at the Royal College of Art in London before launching her own architecture firm working on residential and workplace design projects.

Mackay also worked with the UK’s Commission of Architecture and the Built Environment and, in the process, composed a model of design review which is now embedded within the South Australian planning system.

Acting Premier John Rau congratulated her on her appointment.

“Ms Mackay has played a pivotal role in shaping Adelaide’s design review program over a number of years, and will bring her strong design expertise to the forefront of major projects in the city and across the state,” he said.

“The Government Architect’s role, through design review, is to encourage better development.

“It’s about making sure that Adelaide’s new buildings and public spaces are lifted to a higher quality and creating places which people enjoy being in.”
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

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