2021 USYD TEACHING - Murrawarri Nation Self-Determination Project

The site is located on the 47,864 ha Ledknapper Nature Reserve, in a semi-arid North West NSW, between Bourke and Cunamulla.

Ledknapper Nature Reserve lies within the traditional lands of the Dinandu group of the Murrawarri people and has highly significant archaeological, traditional and contemporary social values to the local Aboriginal people. Evidence of Aboriginal occupation recorded within the reserve includes open camp sites, modified (scarred) trees for canoe making, stone tools and other artefacts. 

Project Brief 

The Vision of the Murrawarri people is to "provide for the freedom for our Nation and our People by becoming Self-Determining and Self-Governing."

Under their economic goals and priorities they plan "to develop Murrawarri cultural and tourism opportunities in the Nation" as well as "develop Murrawarri native food and horticulture industry in the Nation."

Garrera Station is an old sheep station located on this Nature Reserve. The Murrawarri Elders are currently in talks with National Parks to convert this station into a cultural tourism location, as part of their vision for self-determination. 

As part of the plan to develop the old sheep station Australian NGO Raw Impact [https://www.rawimpact.org/], who previously have worked in Cambodia assisting rural poor become self-sufficient, are initiating their Australian program called ‘On Country’ where by they are partnering with the First Nations communities to bring teams of volunteers to see, hear and experience the true history and culture of their people. Garrera Station will be the base for this project.

As an architectural studio project our brief will be to realise the vision of the Elders and Raw Impact in developing Garrera Station. To gain an appreciation of the special environment of the reserve, the cultural connections of the First Nations people have to the place. The brief will be to work with the existing structures in providing unique architectural solutions appropriate for the cultural setting, climate, location and history of the place.

Of particular focus is the sensitive issue of providing real social improvement through development and how to adapt, alter and add to an existing built environment in a remote location that is also culturally appropriate. How it can be grounded in the place while not being a copy of the past.

This should lead to the complex integration of architectural issues resulting in an innovative solution in direct response to the brief, the site, the environment and the concerns of the local community.

Functional Brief – Stage 1

Accommodation is required for a maximum of 45 people, using the existing buildings:

• 5 Local Elders / Murrawarri people

• 10 RAW Impact Crew

• 30 Volunteers / Students

Studio 2B 2020 Architecture for Humanity Tutors; Rob Brown/Jed Long

Slum Relocation Project -3 Prototype Self-Sufficient Bamboo Houses for Rural Cambodian Families

Location; Sarikakaev Commune (Phnonm Penh),

Background

This design studio takes a worldwide view of architecture, and emphasises the important role which architecture can play in assisting communities in need.

Brief

This project involves designing 3 different family houses using bamboo as the principal building material.  The homes to have a minimum of two bedrooms, a kitchen area, living space ,separate toilet and storage space.

Family 1 consists of husband and wife and two young children the husband is a fisherman.

Family 2 consists of one mother 4 children and one grandparent. The mother works in the near by rice paddies and the grand mother looks after the children.

Family 3 consist of husband and wife and two grown up children. The husband is a motor bike mechanic and would like to work from home if possible his two children are learning the trade.

Client

This is real life project for RAW Impact(Raising Awareness Worldwide) an Australian non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in Cambodia, sited near the Mekong River outside of Phnom Penh. The RAW Impact organization seeks to ‘raise awareness worldwide’ by creating powerful change through sustainable projects in Cambodia. This is done by teams of volunteers from high schools, universities and corporate businesses assisting the poorest rural communities by hands on building projects including schools, community buildings, housing as well as providing education for teachers, agricultural projects health, sanitation and water resources.

Context

With the rapidly expanding city of Phnom Penh outlying villages are being engulfed as suburbs of the city, many of these villages on the outskirts of the city are slums whose occupants do not own the land they live on. The government policy is to relocate these slum dwellers to a distant agricultural part of
the country as part of any redevelopment of the city surrounds. RAW has built a school and individual housing for these slum dwellers to date but the encroaching city development will see the people they have been helping relocated far from where they currently live and work and send their kids to school. Hence RAW have decided to purchase land near to the school and develop a medium density mixed use residential prototype development to relocate the slum dwellers so they can stay in the community.

Site

This block of land which has been purchased adjoins RAW’s‘ Salt School‘ and is in the flood zone of the nearby Mekong River fronting the main road with a 150m frontage and a 15-40m depth of block characterized by a large man made hole some 3 metres deep with a stream along one boundary.

The residential portion will house between 10-15 families. The site needs to have its own self sufficient agricultural/aquaculture and building material reserves. The site is not to have walls or fences and security is to be resolved in another way.

The aim is to develop a variety of prototype houses for different family configurations both in design and material construction techniques so it can be repeated by RAW on a much larger site at a later date.

Studio

Students will be asked to research the history, environment, and culture of Cambodia to ground their understanding of the problems and issues building in a third world country present.

The use of bamboo as a sustainable/principal building material will be investigated and critical to the development of the design.

Of particular focus is the sensitive issue of contemporary design within a developing country - how it can be grounded in the place while not being a copy of the past?

Emphasis will be placed on the students’ capacity to search for meaningful architecture beyond the issues of functional problem solving and pure composition. This should lead to the complex integration of architectural issues resulting in an innovative solution in direct response to the brief, the site, the environment and the concerns of the local community.

Studio Aim

The result of these studies will be a resolved design addressing all the issues of the brief, the use of bamboo as the principal building material, culturally/environmentally appropriate design, understanding building skills in the third world. The studio will provide an opportunity to develop design and presentation skills . Students will be exposed to the different methods of research, programmatic diagrams, design process and design testing. The studio will encourage both the traditional art of sketching and the use of 3D/Photoshop/photomontage skills to create a highly descriptive but equally artistic imagery.

In conjunction with the production of these images the studio will explore the art of model making and 1:1 bamboo elements. These techniques are essential student skills and ideally suited to creating powerful and evocative representations.

Student work

Li Thomas Zelin and Erin Pritchett

2019 UNSW TEACHING - Woodford Environmental Education Research Centre

Studio Tutors: Rob Brown + Jed Long

2019 | ARCH 7112

UNSW Masters of Architecture Program Architecture + Design

Studio Premise

Architecture is not solely the domain of the architect; it is the culmination of a collaboration with a multitude of agents acting with and on the behalf of others. at a time when climate change and the degradation of the planet are simultaneously presented as the most pressing and most ignored challenges of our time, we must ask ourselves what the role of the architect is in combating this existential threat.

this studio does not seek to find one single answer, rather, it is an exploration of other ways in which we can practice architecture to ensure ethics are not abandoned for aesthetics.

The Site

this project is located at Woodford, Queensland, in the sub-tropical hinterland if the Sunshine Coast, best known for its annual 6 day folk festival, which transforms a 500 acre site into a village housing 125,000 people. The festival organisers are looking to activate the site year round by building a centre for research and sustainability, focusing on practical solutions for solving the challenge that climate change is posing to the natural environment and agricultural industries.

This centre of learning would combine indigenous sustainable practices and knowledge with the latest innovative concepts of achieving a zero carbon economy. It would also build upon Woodford’s own legacy of reforesting a dairy farm into a vibrant and diverse ecosystem along with strengthening existing connections with traditional custodians of the site, the Jinibara People.

The Brief

Centred around a series of large man made ponds, the project will involve the design of a campus village consisting of one or a number of buildings all requiring a sensitive response to the spirit of place, and the complexities of brief.

Students will begin by preparing a master plan for the site, before selecting a building to resolve individually to a high level of architectural detail.

The studio will draw on the text Spacial Agency [Jeremy Till, Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider] to explore how the role of the architect can be extended to take into account the consequences of architecture, as much as the objects of architecture.

Facilities to include but not limited to;

-Agricultural/indigenous research centre

-Alternative/sustainability research centre

-Workshops/teaching facilities/gallery

-Stage and associated festival facilities

-Housing, both casual and permanent

-Restaurant, and teaching kitchen facilities

-Green houses/admin/offices/landscaping

The materiality of the campus should reflect the brief, the environment, the location, and the potential for cyclical/flexible use throughout the year.

Key Considerations should include;

-Response to context and the environment

-Maintenance

-Embodied Energy

-Operational Sustainability

-Durability, practicality, rudimentary

The design should address principles of sustainability, considerations should include, but are not limited to;

-Use innovative technological systems and environmentally sound principles

-Environmental approach should be fundamental to the design, not added as a feature

-Enhance the experience of the environment

-Limit the impacts and visibility of necessary service areas, equipment and vehicles

-Encourage working with each other, working with the environment

Student work by Sen Yan.

2018 UNSW TEACHING – Extreme Urbanisation Lab, Ahmedabad old city, India

Studio Tutors: Rajiv Kadam, Rob Brown + Carly Martin

2018 | ARCH

UNSW Masters of Architecture + Masters of Urban Design

Background

 This intensive studio allows Master of Architecture and Urban Design students to explore and engage with the contemporary global challenges of rapid urbanisation, affordable mass housing and urban resilience in a context in which these challenges are most amplified. The studio is a collaboration between the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, CEPT and UNSW Built Environment. Students will be required to do an analysis of the existing fabric, traditional urban morphologies and building technologies, (construction and environmental systems) that have sustained the world heritage city of Ahmedabad over many centuries. The challenge is to regenerate and adapt this fabric for 21st century living while maintaining the critical conservation values of the precinct. Students will be expected to propose innovative uses, adaption and architectural interventions that while specific to a place and building, can also be strategically applied as a model for other adaptive reuse projects within the city, providing a compendium of adaptation strategies and lessons for wider application.

2018 UNSW TEACHING - Lake Pedder Wilderness Encampment

Studio Tutors: Rob Brown + Carly Martin

2018 | ARCH 7111/2

UNSW Masters of Architecture Program Architecture + Design

Background

Contemporary society has placed both advantages and difficulties before the young people of today. We live in a fast-paced world of material affluence, peace, freedom and every changing technology.

On the other side of the ledger, adolescents today can be isolated, be unfamiliar with risk or failure. unsure of boundaries, treated as consumers from a very early age, and suffer from issues of self-esteem or body image. The contours of adolescence are changing.

Current educational practice is rapidly acknowledging the benefits of taking students out of their comfort zone of home and class rooms into nature to an alternative ‘outdoor campus’ to help facilitate personal development, an appreciation of nature, and to develop mental strength to face the challenges of the 21st century.

This project aims to tackle youth resilience and confidence through a high school outpost in the wilderness of Tasmania. The student wilderness encampment will give students the opportunity to discover, explore and strengthen traditional courses of strength, growth and fulfillment which form a diminished part of contemporary thought, life and educational practice. It is the aim of the facility to give students the tools and skills to face the challenges of the 21st century with personal confidence, intellectual versatility, academic hunger and optimism.

Site

The encampment is located in South-West Tasmania – part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The area is remote and far removed from the hustle and bustle of the modern world. Lake Pedder itself is a contentious site in this beautiful region. In the 1960s, Lake Pedder became a battleground for one of Australia’s first major environmental struggles, giving birth to the Australian conservation movement. The original Lake Pedder featured a unique 3km long pink quartzite beach, which in 1972 was flooded to provide for a hydro-electric scheme. In more recent times, there has been a renewed push to restore Lake Pedder to its former glory by modifying the hydro scheme and allowing the beach to resurface. The student wilderness outpost will form part of the initiative to realise the return of the lake.

Brief

The aim of this studio is to design a wilderness encampment/campus for high school students (12-18 years old) to experience/learn/explore the Tasmanian wilderness. Groups of students will be staying at the campus for varying period of time – from a few days to a few weeks.

The main building and center-piece of the build will be the Lodge, which will contain a reception with communications area, kitchen and dining space for 120, and social space for 120 students/staff. Additional facilities will include teaching spaces with classrooms, an observatory, laundry facilities, storage facilities for outdoor education equipment, staff meeting spaces, and a camping area for 120 students/staff. Accommodation ‘units’ to be provided for students, including common room areas, washroom facilities. Separate staff accommodation must also be provided, which allows adequate supervision of student areas.

The wilderness encampment is to be an educational retreat, not a hotel or indulgent holiday camp – it is an experience of living with less in direct contact with the environment.

Studio

Students will be asked to research the history, environment and culture of the South-West Tasmanian wilderness. The aim is to ground the understanding of the project in an understanding of the problems and issues building in or adjoining a World Heritage Wilderness Area, where there are particular issues of conservation and development.

Emphasis will be placed on the students’ capacity to search for meaningful architecture beyond the issues of functional problem solving and pure composition. This should lead to the complex integration of architectural issues resulting in an innovative solution in direct response to the brief, the site, the environment and the concerns of the conservation community. The resolved design should consider issues of cultural appropriateness, building skills in remote locations and environmental appropriateness.

Studio Aim

The studio will provide an opportunity to develop necessary skills for the major design project in graduation year. Students will be exposed to the different methods of research, brief writing,
conceptual development, programmatic diagrams, design process and design testing. The studio will encourage both the traditional art of sketching and the use of the latest 3d/Photoshop/photomontage skills to create a highly descriptive but equally artistic image.

In conjunction with the production of these images the studio will explore the art of model making. These techniques are essential student skills and ideally suited to creating powerful and evocative representations.

Student work

Sasha Lesiuk

Awarded the Andrew Taylor Memorial Prize

Jincheng Jiang

Nailah Masagos

2017 UNSW TEACHING 'EVERY PIECE MATTERS' STUDENT WORK

Studio Tutors: Rob Brown, Carly Martin + Jed Long

2017 | ARCH 7111 Design Studio 1

UNSW Masters of Architecture Program Architecture + Design

This is real life project for RAW Impact (Raising Awareness Worldwide) an Australian nongovernmentalorganisation (NGO) working in Cambodia, sited near the Mekong River outside of Phnom Penh. The RAW Impact organization seeks to ‘raise awareness worldwide’ by creating powerful change through sustainable projects in Cambodia. This is done by teams of volunteers from high schools, universities and corporate businesses assisting the poorest rural communities by hands on building projects including schools, community buildings, housing as well as providing education for teachers, agricultural projects health, sanitation and water resources.

 With the rapidly expanding city of Phnom Penh outlying villages are being engulfed as suburbs of the city, many of these villages on the outskirts of the city are slums whose occupants do not own the land they live on. The government policy is to relocate these slum dwellers to a distant agricultural part of the country as part of any redevelopment of the city surrounds. RAW has built a school and individual housing for these slum dwellers to date. In these buildings, RAW has increasingly been looking to use bamboo, which has the potential to be an affordable, sustainable building material for their projects.

Cambodia is home to some of Southeast Asia’s oldest forests, and is losing them through illegal clearing at a rate of 2000 square kilometres every year. This deforestation has seen Cambodia’s rainforest cover decrease from 70% in 1970 to 3% today. Bamboo is a strong, versatile building material that has the potential to largely replace timber products in the construction industry, particularly in Cambodia. RAW is currently sourcing their bamboo externally, but as the growth cycle of bamboo is very short (only a few years), RAW wants to grow and process all their own bamboo. This will also help to reduce costs for their construction projects, allowing them to help even more people. In order to do this, RAW will need to construct a bamboo workshop and factory, which will allow them to process the bamboo to use in construction.

For this project, students will need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the process of planting, growing, harvesting and processing bamboo. It is through this knowledge that the brief for the bamboo workshop will be developed. Students will be asked in groups to develop a comprehensive flow chart for understanding the processing of bamboo.

The workshop/factory building is to be built using mainly bamboo, but students may also choose to use supplementary materials in their design. In addition to this, students will be required to design and build a piece of bamboo furniture or an item which could be produced in their bamboo factory.

Student Work:

Jincheng Jiang

Awards: Renzo Piano Award in Architecture

Siyue Zhang

2015 UNSW GRADUATION PROJECT | 'EXCAVATING THE EDGE: KALGOORLIE SUPERPIT'

Work by Jessica Gottlieb | Graduate Architect at Casey Brown Architecture

2015 | ARCH 7201 Graduation Studio

UNSW Masters of Architecture Program Architecture + Design

Initially responding to a studio brief for unconventional housing -  

‘Excavating the Edge’ responds to the challenge of exploring a totally new kind of city, one that shifts from Australia’s densely populated coast to its under - utilised centre.

The city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is 600km inland from Perth. Along its eastern fringe lies the KCGM Superpit, the world’s fourth largest open cut gold mine. 4km long, 1.5km wide and 600 metres deep, it forms a deep scar in the earth. Its decommissioning in 2021 provides a unique opportunity for rejuvenation.

The design itself is a two-faced puncturing of a man-made berm that currently lines the pit edge and presents a closed wall to the city. All new cut is re-constituted as a multi-functioning rammed earth wall that connects the entire edge. Driven by economic, social, environmental and material imperatives, and serving both private and public uses, the intervention extends and links the city to the pit, suggesting and promoting future growth.

There is an inherent contrast of scale evident in the design, whereby a barren expanse has been broken down, remediated and repurposed. Significant vertical and horizontal relationships are established. Responding to the crudely cut pit, a series of fine geometric edge excavations articulate unconventional, semi-subterranean housing typologies that filter into semi-private courtyards, which open onto public spaces.

The proposal both celebrates and provides protection from the desert climate. It is powered by a solar road / proposed bushwalking track that runs through the mine, and recycles all grey- and black-water. Providing a major economic driver for Kalgoorlie are climate-specific, food-producing greenhouses that utilise the pit groundwater as the primary water source.

The intervention is inherently social, totally self-sustainable and economically viable as an agricultural producer. ‘Excavating the Edge’ represents one exploration of repurposing an exceptional outback landscape for future urban settlement. The potential for similar intervention into other dramatic sites provides future architectural food for thought. 

Awards: -

Masters Graduate of the Year UNSW – Australian Institute of Architects NSW Chapter 2017

RIBA Presidents Silver Medal - Royal Institute of British Architects 2017 (Nominated)

NSW Design Medal- Australian Institute of Architects NSW Chapter 2016 (Nominated)

Margot + Neville Gruzman Award for Urban Design - UNSW 2016

2016 UNSW TEACHING - RAW IMPACT 'EVERY PIECE MATTERS' STUDENT WORK

Studio Tutors: Rob Brown & Carly Martin

2016 | ARCH 7111 Design Studio 2

UNSW Masters of Architecture Program Architecture + Design

This design studio takes a worldwide view of architecture, and emphasises the important role which architecture can play in assisting communities in need.

The studio will examine the variety of prospects offered by bamboo in architecture, in particular investigating the work of Colombian architect Simón Vélez, who famously described bamboo as “the vegetable alternative to steel”. Perhaps less well known is that other architects including Buckminster Fuller, Frei Otto, Renzo Piano, Toyo Ito and Arata Isozaki also experimented with the versatile material, despite bamboo’s reputation as “the poor man’s wood”.

Over one billion people in the world live in bamboo houses in Asia, Latin America and Africa. In addition to houses, it has been used to make bridges and other buildings, and can be processed to be eaten, fed, exported, turned into paper, used in furniture or even turned into musical instruments. It is a low-tech material with high innovative potential.

Bamboo is affordable, sustainable, lightweight, flexible, and can be easily manipulated - how can it be developed into the architecture of the 21st century?

This project involves designing a self-sufficient community for 100 families using bamboo as the principal building material, as well as associated community buildings (kindergarten, iconic community sheds).

Student Work:

Mengying Li

Junyue Xia