SHAPE
The Age
Friday November 6, 2009
On the edgeWITH James Hargraves€™ E-Rosen Bridge bench (pictured), the humble seat becomes a metaphor for the space-time continuum. How apt for a piece of furniture on which one contemplates where we have been, what we are doing and what we plan to do next. The stainless-steel design, based on the structure of a wormhole, won last month€™s Fringe Furniture first prize €” unsurprisingly, in its most cutting edge design category. But if you missed it, travel through space and time and discover it as part of a group show of emerging furniture designers. November 11-15. Guildford Lane Gallery, 20-24 Guildford Lane, city.Climate controlANYONE wanting to be in the running for the next sustainability awards can remind themselves of the basics and check out Think Brick€™s useful Design for Climate website. While global warming may have taken effect by the time the website has loaded, if you are not in a hurry it offers handy tips on where to place eaves, windows and verandas, depending on your location. Architect Tone Wheeler collaborated with Think Brick over the past two years on this admirable endeavour.designingforclimate.com.auLet the games beginAFTER the controversy associated with its heavily stylised Olympics logo and its much-commented upon likeness to Lisa Simpson fellating a headless figure, theLondon Olympic Committee has come up with a safe design for its accompanyinginfo graphics. It combines the stylised double lines and jagged type of the offending logo alongside safely realist representations of the key events. The double-whammy approach is undoubtedly clearer and more refined, but it is much less fun to interpret. Not to be outdone, however, are the commemorative British stamps with great line work by artist Julian Opie (pictured) and illustrator Andrew Davidson,among others.london2012.comHype and gloryIT may be in its second year, but the World Architecture Festival is already an anticipated event. Perhaps because of its impressive list of speakers, but more likely its hubristic declaration of a World Building of the Year. Last year it anointed the Luigi Bocconi University in Milan by Irish architects Grafton. This year the shortlist includes 11 Australian practices across 15 categories. Many of them will be hoping last week€™s Australian Architecture Awards prove prescient. Three of the winning projects in our national awards are shortlisted for the WAF: the Melbourne Recital Centre/MTC Theatre by ARM in the culture category, Ivy by Woods Bagot andHecker Phelan Guthrie in the holiday and new and old categories, and the BendigoBank headquarters by BVN Architecture and Gray Puksand in the office category.worldarchitecturefestival.comGold for greenALREADY the recipient of four major environmental accolades (and shortlisted forthe World Architecture Festival), the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (pictured) has won major gongs in this year€™s BPN Sustainability Awards. The project was overall winner and took out the public building and urban design award. In the single dwelling category, Zen Architects took the award for its Brunswick Lane Solar House. The two-storey, timber-clad building makes the most of its small site with a number of environmentally clever techniques. Along with recycled water and solar panels, Zen has reversed the typical plan. Bedrooms are on the ground floor tomaximise the building€™s thermal mass, while living spaces are upstairs to take in views and benefit from cross-ventilation.bpn.com.au
© 2009 The Age
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