Studio 32
NHG
Dayne Trower & Simona Falvo
This studio is available to students enrolled in ABPL90142 Studio C, ABPL90143 Studio D, and ABPL90115 Studio E.
Studio Description
The township of Hamilton in south-western Victoria is the largest town in the Southern Grampians region.
With the rise of architecturally significant regional galleries, the Hamilton Gallery, along with the Southern Grampians Shire Council and various community stakeholders, is undertaking a master planning and scoping study for the New Hamilton Gallery (NHG) project. The NHG is envisioned as a ‘new world-class gallery for the Southern Grampians Region’ aiming to revitalise the township and attract new tourists markets by creating a destination cultural arts precinct integrated with civic amenities.
The NHG provides an opportunity to create a new point of interest in Hamilton and, at its core, celebrates architecture which has the potential to be fascinating, tactile, adaptable and transformative. Through a creative response to place and landscape, NHG will investigate the role of architecture in acting as key anchor for the revitalisation of Hamilton and the surrounding region.
Studio Outcomes
Students will initially be required to undertake a variety of research and design-based projects through site visits, mapping and model making to establish an understanding of their own design processes and how these can be shaped in response to the context of the New Hamilton Gallery (NHG) site and its broader surrounds. Students will then be given a brief, which they can expand upon and challenge, for a mid to large scale project relating to what has been discovered throughout the preliminary weeks of the term.
Students must be able to:
- Conceptualise and engage in rigorous research through design to open the potential for experimentation and innovation.
- Communicate ideas and designs verbally, visually and textually through a range of investigative media.
- Research with enhanced appreciation of theoretical, environmental, social, historical, cultural and technical contexts in relation to the activity of architecture.
- Examine architecture’s responsibility in the regional realm and its potential, from the micro, human and macro scales.
Studio Leaders
Dayne Trower is an architect and director of Trower Falvo Architects. Prior to starting his own practice, Dayne worked on a number of significant local and international projects, predominantly with Sean Godsell Architects, including the 2014 M Pavilion. Dayne is also trained in design and has worked alongside renowned Australian designer, Brian Sadgrove. Dayne is especially interested in design that is site and culturally specific, developed through a rigorous process of examination and research and his work, which has been widely published and exhibited, inherently explores these concepts.
Simona Falvo is an architect and director of Trower Falvo Architects, having completed her Master of Architecture at the Melbourne School of Design. She graduated with first class honours and has studied abroad at the University of Stuttgart and University of Gothenburg. Simona has worked on a variety of projects at different stages ranging from retail and residential projects to larger scale townhouse and apartment projects. She has extensive experience in all stages of the design process from initial concept design, planning, documentation and project delivery.
Readings & References
- ‘The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention’, Corner, J.
- ‘Intersections’ in ‘Furniture, Structure and Infrastructure’, Bertram, N.
- ‘Splitting and Doubling: Gordon Matta-Clark and the Body of Sculpture’, Wagner, M.
- ‘Subtraction’ in ‘Buildings Must Die: A Perverse View of Architecture’, Cairns, S. and Jacobs, J.
- ‘Powers of Ten and the Relative Size of Things in the Universe’ (film), Eames, C. and Eames, R.
- Selected excerpts from ‘South Grampians Shire Council Planning Scheme’ and associated Council documents
Additional readings and reference material will be provided throughout the term.
Schedule Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 16:00-20:00 Online