Conference Day - Ground Matters: Australasian Student Architecture Congress

The Ground Matters Conference day is a subset of a larger event, the Ground Matters Australasian Student Architecture Congress. The conference day on Wednesday 26th June is open to professionals with 5 formal CPD points available.

We will have eight local, national and international speakers joining us on this day!

Timothy Hill

Taylor and Hinds Architects

Andrew Steen

Kerstin Thompson

Baracco + Wright

Sarah Lynn Rees

Eleena Jamil

Collaboratorio

KEYNOTE DESCRIPTIONS

Timothy Hill

TOPIC: We are often reminded about the capacity of architecture to evoke and suggest potent responses. At its most rewarding, much of what is accepted, intrinsic and essential about habitation (and the landscape), can be experienced with a heightened awareness. To establish such a circumstance, an underpinning task is often the making of an appropriate ‘ground’ for any occupation, to play a deferential role within an accentuated setting. Redescribing the entire site, manipulating its apparent boundaries and emphasising the latent topography can result in a richer set of territories, sequences, enclosures and prospects that may negate the often perplexing surroundings.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Explain how redescribing sites and manipulating apparent boundaries can result in richer territories and enclosures.
• Describe how multiple scales of outdoor rooms are used to create miniature landscapes within Partners Hill’s work.

NSCA COMPETENCIES: PC18, PC 26, PC28, PC29, PC30

Andrew Steen

TOPIC: The lecture interrogates the relation of building materials to the history, present, and future of a place – specifically, bricks and bluestone to Launceston, lutruwita (Tasmania). Conventional perspectives on tradition and ideologies based on western philosophies and academic scaffolds will be interrogated, and new grounds for practice sketched out.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Discuss the relations building materials have between forming connections to place both historically and into the future.
• Explain possible new trajectories of practice stemming from tradition and ideologies based on western philosophies and academic scaffolds.

NSCA COMPETENCIES: PC18, PC25, PC 26, PC28, PC29, PC30

Taylor and Hinds Architects

TOPIC: TBC

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Reflect on different ways of working within sensitive contexts, both culturally and ecologically

NSCA COMPETENCIES: PC17, PC18, PC25, PC26, PC28, PC29, PC30

Kerstin Thompson

TOPIC: Ground matters have been foundational to KTA’s practice. The ways in which our architecture critically relates to Australia’s diverse landscapes - and to disciplinary, theoretical and historical groundings - will be explored in Kerstin’s reflection upon a number of projects.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Describe defining features of the work of Kerstin Thompson Architects and their intent.
• Explain how diverse landscapes have influenced the outcomes of different projects.
• Articulate ways that architectural practice and design can promote the repair of and support for ecological environments.

NSCA COMPETENCIES: PC18, PC25, PC26, PC28, PC29, PC30

Baracco + Wright

TOPIC: Remaking a relationship with the ground

Research, teaching, speculation and practice approaches of reuse and removal of built form and environmental repair from metropolitan to 1:1 scale.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Articulate ways that architectural practice and design can address environmental repair
• Reflect on the notion of research and speculation and how this can inform developments in practice

NSCA COMPETENCIES: PC18, PC25, PC26, PC28, PC29, PC30

Sarah Lynn Rees

TOPIC:Nothing is more timeless than Country. “Neighbourhood character” is a phrase often used to describe the “look and feel of an area” and why this should be preserved. As a design driver however, the term often acts as a device to reproduce watered down versions of colonial architecture. We live in a country that has incredibly deep geological, ecological and cultural stories. These stories form a more relevant and fundamental starting point than the echoing of architectural styles that have, since colonial times, erased the identity of place. It is our job to bring these stories back into view, for and with Country.  

LEARNING OUTCOMES: 

• Discuss how the echoing of colonial architectural styles can, in some instances, erase the identity of place.
• Explain how geological, ecological and cultural stories are present within the different scales of the selected architectural works. 

NSCA COMPETENCIES: PC17, PC18, PC25, PC26, PC27, PC28, PC30

Collaboratorio

TOPIC: Back to basics: reintroducing traditional building materials to serve contemporary needs.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Discuss the use of traditional building materials and their benefits to creating more sustainable buildings
• Discuss the benefits of working collaboratively with different consultants and organisations during the design and procurement processes.
• Describe the use of Luonnonbetoni in Collaboratorio’s work and its benefits.

NSCA COMPETENCIES: PC10, PC18, PC 26, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC31, PC33, PC35

Eleena Jamil

TOPIC: About Making: The cultural continuity and environmental awareness embodied in the architectural-making process, which involves local materials and methods, can offer valuable insights into reimagining modern building practices. A selection of projects presented will demonstrate an engagement with the design and building process and the development of a deep understanding of natural and human resources rooted in context.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Understand how natural resources can be utilised within design work to create more sustainable and place-specific outcomes.
• Explain how a return to natural craftsmanship can reimagine modern building practices.

NSCA COMPETENCIES: PC18, PC 26, PC28, PC29, PC30, PC33

Professional ticket prices: $300

Acquisition of CPD points will be completed through The Australian Institure of Architects. More details to be released to those wishing to receive CPD nearer to the conference.

If you are a student wanting to buy a ticket, use this link to buy your ticket for the whole five days of the congress:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ground-matters-australasian-student-architecture-congress-tickets-759457316277?aff=oddtdtcreator

Refund Policy: https://www.groundmatters.com.au/_files/ugd/6ab422_5933a982d0194c44b43c0ac8624f9471.pdf