Studio D/02
Singapore Prototypes
Donald Bates
Studio Description
Singapore – a unique island, city-state - has a long history of providing social housing for its dense population. While this has sometimes only been very basic accommodations – in contrast to some of the more luxurious developments on the island – nonetheless, this process continues to generate interesting, and innovative new multi-level residential complexes. The last 15 years has produced some particularly speculative residential designs, with particular attention to the climatic and social conditions that define Singapore.
In this context, Melbourne and other Australian cities have a great deal to learn from Singapore, particularly with a new-found focus on housing in Victoria and elsewhere. There is a clear crisis in the provision of affordable and adequate housing in Australia, which has been recognised at the local, the state and the national level.
Studio D/02 will be taking a short trip (6 – 8 days) to Singapore as part of the social and complex housing prototypes. The trip will need to be self-funded by students. The funding that is being provided by the University will be to put to defraying some of the costs while in Singapore, including transport, meals and any visitation costs at various venues.
Students should expect to that airfares (MEL-SIN-MEL) will be approx.. aud $1,521 - $2,500, while reasonable accommodation might be in the order of aud $1,095 - $1,800. We are seeking opportunities for student housing at some of the universities, but this is not certain. It is proposed that the travel dates for our trip to Singapore should be arriving no later than Sunday 7th, January, and remaining until at least Saturday 13th Jan. It might be suggested to arrive a day earlier and possible to leave a day later, for a slightly longer visit.
If you are not able to fund these travel expenses, you should consider another SUM Term studio.
Studio Outcomes
The intense study period of the 2024 summer term requires a very focused, very efficient use of research, first-hand experience and critical analysis and the formulation of new multi-level housing complexes for Melbourne. The project will be the design of new affordable, social, communal housing prototypes for Melbourne, to contribute to the renewed debates in Australia around the provision of adequate housing for all.
The final project will be a well-researched, well-designed housing prototype that challenges the current trends in Melbourne residential market. Ranging in scale from 12 – 30 stories, the projects will each require speculations on “how we can live now”, and what that might mean in 20 years’ time.
Detailed apartment layouts will be combined with mixed-use plans and urban considerations. Models – both digital and physical - will be used to generate new formal massing and complex geometries. Climatic, material and constructional concerns will need to be addressed and resolved into coherent final projects and reflective journals.
Studio Leaders
Professor Donald Bates is the Chair of Architectural Design and Associate Dean (Engagement) at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne. He is a Founder and Director of LAB Architecture Studio.
He graduated with a B.Arch from University of Houston, and has an M.Arch from Cranbrook Academy of Art.
In 1994, Prof Bates and Peter Davidson founded LAB Architecture Studio, and in 1997, LAB won the competition for Federation Square, Melbourne. LAB has designed a range of large-scale commercial, cultural, civic and residential projects, numerous master plans, with built works in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
Prof Bates has lectured at more than 230 schools of architecture worldwide, is a member of the Victorian Design Review Panel, the City of Melbourne Design Review Panel, and has been a jury member or chair of jury for more than 35 international design competitions and has been published extensively in journals and magazines.
Readings & References
To be provided later.
Schedule:
Monday-Thursday 15:00-18:00
Off-Site Activities: Singapore