Studio 07
Beneath the Gantry
Gumji Kang and Henry Williams
This studio is available to students enrolled in ABPL90142 Studio C, ABPL90143 Studio D, and ABPL90115 Studio E.
Studio Description
What does it mean to work? Where are the places of production? How could we live with the places of production?
In recent years an increasing number of cities, including Melbourne, have amended their development policies to permit the co-location of light industrial use and residential accommodation. In this research-driven studio students will critically appraise the challenges and opportunities arising from this trend, leading to the design of a medium-density live/work development in an industrial site in Abbotsford.
Studio Outcomes
An initial research phase will encourage students to consider several theoretical/analytical viewpoints, each framing the project in a unique way;
- Live/work utopian speculation from the Industrial Revolution to the present;
- the evolution of industrial typologies;
- urban human ecosystems
In the second phase students will work collaboratively to prepare a detailed investigation of the existing site, revealing evolving patterns of occupation and activity, a taxonomy of physical forms and traits, and a record of diverse narratives.
Following these two preparatory phases students will undertake an individual design project within the broader studio site. Each student will develop a unique brief and intended project outcome informed by their earlier research.
Studio Leaders
Gumji Kang is an architect based in Melbourne and has taught a number of architectural design studios at the University of Melbourne. Her interest lies in the architectural design strategies and interventions in the public space, and public architecture with a strong focus on research-driven practice.
Henry Williams is a multi-disciplinary designer based in Adelaide and Melbourne working across architecture, exhibition, and object design. He previously worked for Sir David Chipperfield and Stanton Williams Architects in London, and between 2019 and 2021 was Architecture Lead at Snøhetta’s Australasian studio. Henry sits on the Design Review Panel at the Office for Design and Architecture SA (ODASA).
Readings & References
- Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City (MIT Press, 1984)
- Anthony Vidler, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux: Architecture and Utopia in the Era of the French Revolution (Birkhauser, 2021)
- John Ruskin, Unto This Last (J. Wiley & Sons, 1872)
- Robert Owen, A New View of Society and Other Writings (Penguin, 1991)
Schedule Mondays 15:15-21:15