CALL OUT FOR PROPOSALS Go Away and Come Back: an exhibition of architecture, travel, research, experience.

 

Image: Detail Opportunistic,

2012. R. Creagh.

Go Away and Come Back:

an exhibition of architecture, travel, research, experience.

What does it mean to return home after focused travels? What meaningful contribution can be made when returning with understandings found elsewhere or between places? Go Away and Come Back: an exhibition of architecture, travel, research, experience spirals around these questions proposing an investigation through the work and travels of established and emerging architects.

Architectural pilgrimages, study trips and grand tours have a significant place in the historical understanding of architectural education. Now, the internet grants access to the other side of the world from a home interior. Is the value of study trips questioned by the proliferation of online architectural media? With the increasing convenience of travel has the status of the grand tour shifted within the education of architects? Has inexpensive digital photography diminished the way experiences are recorded? Given the change in global economics, and a shifting emphasis away from old colonial centres, is there still relevance to the overseas internship?

Go Away and Come Back is a proposed peer reviewed exhibition of research works. The visual enquiries  are invited that draw on exhibitors’ travel documentation and reflection to further understandings of the nexus of architecture, experience, research and travel. In a contemporary world of globalisation and mobility, submissions are invited that challenge assumptions about both travel experiences and architectural research through grounded enquiry and engaging mediums.

 Call for proposals now open.

A maximum single A4 page written expression of interest, including a brief biographic statement, should be received before Monday 24 June, 2013. An additional reference image may be included at the applicants’ discretion. Please email to Robyn Creagh r.creagh@curtin.edu.au or Shannon Lyons  s.lyons@curtin.edu.au

Successful applicants will be invited to attend a series of optional workshops in Perth. As part of the curatorial review and development of the research works, at key points in the lead up to exhibition an interdisciplinary selection of creative practitioners and scholars will provide mentoring and critique. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue of works and scholarly essays.

LOW CARBON, LOW COST HOUSING: IS IT POSSIBLE? a Dutch answer from the field.

Presenter: Rein Buur
Date: Thrusday, May 31
Time: 11:30-12:30pm. Please join us for morning tea at 11.00am
Venue: CUSP Shed, CUSP Office, 3 Pakenhan Street, Fremantle

The financial crisis is hitting hard in Europe, especially affecting the building sector. Consumer confidence is low and lending criteria for home loans have become very strict. The economy is stagnating while the ambitions for sustainability are still high. One of the biggest challenges in the Netherlands is thus to make sustainable houses affordable.

Solutions are not only to be found through technological innovation, since most of the technology is already available. It is important to incorporate green technology into the design from the start. In addition, supply chain integration and applying Lean principles contribute to a more efficient building process. This can be achieved by offsite production, using BIM to reduce failure costs, and the willingness of companies to share knowledge and profit.  These ingredients are the key to create a budget for sustainable houses.

An example from the field is a residential project in Amsterdam (460 houses), called ‘Co-Green, Stadstuin Overtoom’. The focus of this project is more than low carbon low cost housing alone. Another aspect is closed-loop design, meaning that demolition material is re-used. Finally, the transition of a post-World War II suburb with social problems brings the challenge to create a better living environment.

All in all an interesting answer from the field to make cities more resilient.

About the presenter:

Rein Buur

Rein is an architect from the Netherlands. He has over 12 years experience in designing residential projects. First at KOW Architecture in The Hague, as senior architect responsible for the business unit residential buildings, and now working at Groosman Partners in Rotterdam. He is currently visiting Western Australia with his family, having a sabbatical leave.