Festival Of Architecture and Design

The much-anticipated Festival of Architecture and Design launches as an annual event this October, promising a program of events and activities targeted at the wider community. In a city recognised for its strong festival culture there’s some anomaly as to why it’s taken this long for Adelaide to hold an annual festival of architecture and design. It may be the timing was never quite right or that unfair comparison with the eastern states left many feeling there was nothing to celebrate. Neither sentiment stands up today, of course, especially as the SA Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects prepares to launch the inaugural Festival of Architecture and Design (FAD) in early October. Adelaide’s renewed vibrancy is due in no small part to its shifting architecture and design landscape. It makes good sense this festival be introduced within a milieu that supports the rigorous dialogue such an event brings. FAD’s joint Creative Leaders Anthony Balsamo and Dino Vrynios, along with Leah Salamon as Executive Team Leader, have overseen planning of the five-day event, in close collaboration with Richard Hosking, State Chapter Manager, and Festival Coordinator Kara Growden. Together they have curated a compelling program that is both accessible in content and potent in premise, making for a comprehensive series of activities, panel discussions, forums and tours. “We want to get the message about the value of good architecture and design out to the community,” Balsamo explains. “And what we hope to do through FAD is show South Australians how architecture and design can enrich their lives.” The program’s curatorial themes take inspiration from State Government Architect Ben Hewett’s principles for good design, which advocate inclusivity, sustainability, diversity and integration. It makes FAD particularly relevant culturally and reiterates Adelaide’s emerging role as the country’s fastest growing hub of design. As Balsamo continues, “It’s also important to talk about architecture as a balanced art and a process that brings about many different objectives. Yes, it’s about providing practical and beautiful outcomes, but there’s no point having a beautiful building if it doesn’t last.” In many ways, Balsamo, Vrynios and Salamon (all practising architects themselves) are trying to demystify the role of the architect to a wider community who may not understand what it is they do. Through FAD’s program they aim to break down the stereotype that misrepresents architecture and design as elitist and not for everyone. The festival is also part of a broader strategy to start the groundswell of enthusiasm for the Australian Institute of& Architects’ National Architecture Conference. The annual event features international speakers of note and usually alternates between Melbourne and other major Australian capitals, but in 2016 will be held in Adelaide; a massive coup for the SA Chapter. FAD’s current program may be well placed to inform the upcoming Conference, depending on the curatorial direction that the event’s Creative Directors decide to take. In the meantime, this October promises some thoughtful examination and discussion. Program highlights are the ‘Design Will Save Our Suburbs’ debate, architours conducted by John Wardle and Keith Conlon, and the transformation of Ebenezer Place during an all-day Upcycle Architecture event. For Balsamo the legacy of any festival can be seen in what it contributes to civic liveliness by ensuring there’s always vibrancy in the city. “This is something Adelaide does well,” he says. “It’s also about leveraging off that process for the permanent improvement of Adelaide as a place to live in and enjoy.” Festival of Architecture and Design October 10 to October 14 architecture.com.au fad.org.au

Festival Of Architecture and Design Program

ARCHI-TOURS: SMALL BARS, BIG CITY Thursday, October 9, 6.30pm-9,30pm, various bars (ticketed) A guided walking tour with travelling musicians, circulate the city stopping in a variety of Adelaide’s recently opened small bar venues. Enjoy a speciality beverage over an informal talk by the lead designer and business owner about the way their business has made efficient use of an underutilised space in the city and how they continue to activate space on a city scale. UPCYCLE ARCHITECTURE Friday, October 10, all day, Ebenezer Place (free) See Adelaide’s favourite eclectic laneway transformed mysteriously overnight by a group of young architects, who set to reimagine Adelaide’s cardboard waste as a material for artistic expression. By Friday morning, a series of beautifully designed and constructed installations of cardboard architecture will be on display to activate and enliven the space for the day. ARTCHITECTURE EXHIBITION Friday, October 10 to Tuesday, October 14, various locations (free) Architects value creative ideas and their expression is not only limited to buildings and spaces. At local architectural practices and institutions, view original artistic works from Adelaide’s architects exploring their many creative talents including drawings and paintings. ASK AN ARCHITECT Friday, October 10 to Tuesday, October 14,12pm-2pm, 100 Flinders Street (free – bookings essential) Are you planning to renovate or build a new home? Ask an Architect will provide you with a free one-on-one 20 minute consultation with an experienced architect for valuable advice on your ideas and plans, to help get you started on your building or renovation journey. ONE:ONE ADELAIDE Friday, October 10, 6pm-late, Festival Hub (free) One:One is a fun, fast-paced collaboration between architectural professionals and students, who in one day will design and construct a fully functional bar fit-out at the Festival Hub using only recycled materials supplied. Come and experience all their creations for an after-party celebration over drinks, food and live entertainment. ARCHI-TOURS: TOUR DE NORTH ADELAIDE Saturday, October 11, 11am-1pm, Festival Hub (free – bookings essential) Join Adelaide’s legendary broadcaster Keith Conlon on a leisurely, slow-paced bicycle tour of architecture and sculpture sites around North Adelaide and the Parklands. Finish off with an informal conversation at the Kentish Arms Hotel on Stanley Street. Don’t have a bike? Participants can hire a free City Bike from the Adelaide City Council. ARCHI-KIDS: MINECRAFT METROPOLIS Saturday, October 11 to Tuesday, October 14, Festival Hub In the lead up to the Festival, Year 6 and 7 students at Prospect Primary School have been exploring all the elements that contribute to the design of a sustainable urban environment. The students have considered all the environmental, social, cultural, economic and infrastructure factors to plan and design their vision for a liveable city, currently under construction using the online building game Minecraft™. These will be projected live in the Festival Hub. SHOOT THE ARCHITECT PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Saturday, October 11 to Tuesday, October 14, Festival Hub Witness the unseen side of the architects behind Adelaide’s architecture. Professional and amateur photographers have the ability to capture their creative’s personality in a portrait photography competition. Entries will be on display at the Festival Hub and the winners will be announced at the Festival Closing Party. FESTIVAL LAUNCH & GOLD MEDAL CELEBRATION Saturday, October 11, 6pm-11pm, Festival Hub (free – bookings essential) Celebrate Adelaide’s first Festival of Architecture and Design at the official launch party featuring the Gold Medal Talk by Adelaide’s own Phil Harris and Adrian Welke, co-founders of Troppo, who have been awarded the highest individual honour in architecture. ARCHI-KIDS: TIP OF THE ICEBERG Sunday, October 12, 11am-3pm, Festival Hub (free) A collaboration with the Art Gallery of South Australia’s current exhibition The extreme climate of Nicholas Folland, whose work involves transforming everyday objects and experiences into miraculous environments and perilous encounters. Participants of all ages will consider the formal, structural and aesthetic principles at work in making a small sculpture out of architectural tracepaper and cardboard. ARCHI-TOURS: MEET THE MAKERS Sunday, October 12, 11am-3pm, various locations (free) In partnership with Open House Adelaide, which in 2015 will be moving its annual program to October, the ‘Meet the Makers’ self-guided walking tour will invite you to explore inside some of Adelaide’s architecture and design practices. GREAT MUSIC IN GREAT SPACES Sunday, October 12, 2pm-4pm, Adelaide Oval (ticketed) See Adelaide’s architecture from a new perspective, as we visit one of Adelaide’s iconic buildings for a discussion by one of Adelaide’s leading architects and an acoustic engineer, with musical performances highlighting the acoustic qualities of various spaces within the stadium. ARCHITECTS INPROFILE: DESIGN CONVERSATIONS Sunday, October 12, 6pm-8pm, Festival Hub, (free – bookings essential) After a sell-out event in partnership with The Adelaide Review for the 2014 SA Architecture Awards Exhibition earlier this year, hear from some of South Australia’s leading residential architects about the process and benefits of working with an architect and gain insights into how architecture and design can contribute and enhance our quality of life. ARCHI-TOURS: LOOK UP IN RUNDLE MALL Monday, October 13, 5.30pm-8pm, Beehive Corner (ticketed) Join Adelaide’s legendary broadcaster Keith Conlon, along with a leading heritage architect, on an educational walking tour looking up at Rundle Mall’s notable and historic sites. Meet your guides at the wellknown landmark the neo-gothic Beehive Corner and finish the tour for informal conversation over drinks in Rundle Street’s popular cosmopolitan East End. THE SOAPBOX DEBATE: DESIGN WILL SAVE OUR SUBURBS Monday, October 13, 6pm-9pm, Festival Hub (ticketed) Brian Hayes QC, former SA Government CEO Rod Hook and SA Chapter President’s Medallist Susan Phillips, will debate about the current and future state of our suburbs against architect and PhD candidate Damien Madigan, Festivals Adelaide Christie Anthoney and Marcus Rolfe, Managing Director, URPS. Judged by Greg Mackie, CEO Place Leaders Asia Pacific, the fun starts with drinks and a food truck style dinner from 6pm, with the ‘serious’ business kicking off at 7pm. ARCHI-FILMS Monday, October 13 and Tuesday, October 14, 6pm-8pm, 51 Glen Osmond Road, Eastwood (ticketed) In collaboration with the Robin Boyd Foundation’s DADo Film Society, enjoy screenings of documentaries and films on architecture and design, and hear from guest speakers who will share their own unique perspectives on the film subjects to kick off the conversation. ARCHI-TOURS: THE JEFFREY SMART LEARNING CENTRE BUILDING Tuesday, October 14, 3.30pm-5.30pm, 217-243 Hindley Street (ticketed) A guided tour by John Wardle Architects and Adelaide practice Phillips / Pilkington Architects of the University of South Australia’s new Jeffery Smart Learning Centre Building in Adelaide’s revitalised West End. FESTIVAL CLOSING PARTY Tuesday, October 14, 6pm-10pm, Festival Hub (free – bookings essential) The official closing celebration will feature the announcement of the Shoot the Architect prize winners, the Take Your Place short film screening and People’s Choice winners, and a public jury presentation of the Unbuilt Adelaide: Imagine the Never Builts exhibition. UNBUILT ADELAIDE: IMAGINE THE NEVER BUILTS Tuesday, October 14, 8pm-10pm, Festival Hub (free – bookings essential) Come and join us for a glimpse at an alternate Adelaide as The Plan Radio and Architectural Window Systems (AWS) present a night of outtakes, b-sides and bellwether spectacles of the unreal & unbuilt projects from in and around Adelaide. A public jury chaired by Government Architect Ben Hewett along with The Plan Radio hosts will select from a shortlist of ‘projects that never came to pass’ the most affecting work as the inaugural winner of the 2014 Unbuilt Adelaide trophy. An exhibition of the entries will be on display at the Festival Hub and will initiate the first in a series that will begin to document Adelaide’s Unbuilt Work.