We all use rules. By looking at them critically we will precipitate a dynamic evolution in our understanding and practice of designing 'with the environment'.
New Zealand is not only snake less and nuclear free but also has a tradition of earth buildings. In pre European times, Maori utilised the ground's insulating properties by partially sinking thatched roofed houses into the ground.
Mudflat arts believes that the landscape is not there to be painted so much as to be protected. The role has changed from one of passive painter to active member of the community.
In Brisbane the older suburbs are distinctive and a prime source of identity for this sub-tropical city. The timber tradition has left us a rich heritage. For this proposal we have taken an existing suburb with houses on 800m2 blocks. The houses are simple single frontal address buildings.
"In modern architecture we find difficulty in managing the relation between the physical presence of a building and its intimations of the mental and spiritual. Our architectural objects rarely serve as objects of intermediation between the ordinary, the physical and the present on the one hand, and the mystical, the spiritual and the abstract on the other...."
Written with Paul Mutton. Merz is a new urban artist's village in the inner city suburb of Brompton, South Australia. Photos and drawings of the project.