The Limits of Architectural Criticism with Naomi Stead and Paul Walker
John Andrews: Architect of Uncommon Sense
Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 6:00 pm
Dulux Gallery, Glyn Davis Building (MSD)
Public Lecture:
John Andrews’s late projects such as the Intelsat headquarters building in Washington DC included sophisticated systems, both passive and active, to modify environmental and energy performance. Although Intelsat was widely discussed in the architectural press, critique of it did not examine its environmental credentials at all. Criticism had met a kind of limit.
Introduced by Justine Clark of Parlour, this will be a discussion between Naomi Stead and Paul Walker on the challenges and possibilities of architectural criticism now. Naomi Stead is Professor and Director of the Enabling Capability Platform (Design and Creative Practice) at RMIT; she is also the architecture critic of the Saturday Paper. Walker is a professor of architecture at the University of Melbourne, editor and lead author of the book John Andrews: Architect of Uncommon Sense (Havard Design Press, 2023) and co-curator, with Kevin Liu, of the exhibition of the same name. He is a regular contributor to Architecture Australia.
Exhibition:
John Andrews: Architect of Uncommon Sense is a celebration of the great, yet under-recognised, architect’s work and its global impact. Now more than ever, Andrews’ designs are a shining example of how architecture can be used to address urgent environmental and urban concerns.
Toured previously at Harvard University’s Druker Design Gallery, Architect of Uncommon Sense showcases formerly inaccessible Australian archival holdings from the State Library of New South Wales, with a special focus on Andrews’ Melbourne projects including the RMIT library and student union (completed as Building 8 by Edmond & Corrigan), the Melbourne Convention Centre, a scheme for the renovation of Flinders Street Station, and a project for medium density housing at South Bank.
Beyond Andrews’ work, the exhibition highlights Australia’s late modern architectural heritage and the evolution of environmental sensibilities in Australian design culture, while investigating the challenges entailed in its conservation.