Studio 6
Unlock the vaults!
Rebecca McLaughlan & Codey Lyon
Studio Description
It’s time. Let’s jailbreak knowledge from the ivory tower. Ted-X meets the soapbox? Neuroscience in the town halls of rural Australia? Can we free the MOOC from the living room; can we make it a live performance? Why should cider, food trucks and craft dominate the festival scene; why can’t knowledge get in on the action? This studio is interested in traditions of public education and challenging the contemporary university as a consumerist model. You’ll be asked to theme and position knowledge in a festival context. Should it be the main event, or can Marx be an interlude between Beyoncé and The Rolling Stones? Could we enter a circus tent to learn about philosophy, quantum physics and motorcycle maintenance? Then you’ll design it accounting for all the complexity of temporal, transportable, demountable architecture. If we want to seduce the world with knowledge then, surely, it must be delivered in a beautiful space, it must be beguiling, and it must work. Delivered by Rebecca McLaughlan and Codey Lyon, this studio was inspired by Olivia Barr’s desire to provide greater public access to knowledge. Olivia is Senior Lecturer at the Melbourne Law School whose research spans the disciplines of geography, anthropology, philosophy, architecture and public art practices. This studio will be supported with expertise from Sir Jonathan Mills (Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow & former Director of the Edinburgh Festival & the Melbourne International Arts Festival), Sid Sidlow (Managing Director, Circusworks & La Gallerie Mobile) and Mary Minas (Film Maker & recent graduate of the Melbourne School of Entrepreneurship).
Studio Outcomes
As with prior studios taught by McLaughlan, the speculative designs produced within the context of this studio will provide a body of research to imagine new directions for public education and how this might be delivered. Studio generated artefacts (drawings, ideas and models) can be utilised to encourage wider critical reflection and, perhaps also, inspire change. It is anticipated that work produced within this studio may be suitable for publication within academic and/or professional architectural and education journals, alongside public exhibitions. Students undertaking this studio will be asked to give permission for their work to be published and / or contribute directly (as co-authors) to publications featuring their work. Any such participation is entirely voluntary and will not occur until well after semester has finished; your decision to participate in the dissemination of your work (or not) will not impact your studio performance in any way.
Please refer the following for examples of dissemination of student work from prior studios:
- McLaughlan, R., Annear, M. & Pert, A., “Dementia, Ageing and the City: Learning from the Streets of Melbourne,” Architectural Research Quarterly, in press, 2018 (featuring work from “the [un]prescribed hospital” studio, University of Melbourne, 2016).
- McLaughlan, R. & Pert, A., “Evidence and Speculation: Reimagining Approaches to Architecture and Research within the Paediatric Hospital,” Medical Humanities, 2017 (featuring work from “the [un]prescribed hospital” studio, University of Melbourne, 2016).
- McLaughlan, R., Antonopoulos, S., Broun, T., Chong, Y., D’Alberto, C., Doorne, C., Hall, G. … & Clarke, A., “Enter the Designer: Rethinking Objects for Chronic and Palliative Care to Support Positive Psychology,” Design 4 health conference proceedings, in press, 2017 (featuring student work from “death is the only certainty” studio, University of Melbourne, 2017).
- McLaughlan, R., “The Past Awaits: An Open Letter to the Rebuilders of Christchurch,” Architecture New Zealand, March, 2016 (featuring work from “the past awaits” studio, Victoria University of Wellington, 2011).
Studio Leaders
Rebecca is a lecturer at MSD and a New Zealand registered architect whose research takes place at the intersection of architecture, medicine, media, pedagogy and practice. Previous studios lead by Rebecca include 'the [un]prescribed hospital' (2016), ‘a house for unrequited love’ (2017), ‘death is the only certainty’ (2017), and 'pimp my heritage' (2018). Always on the lookout for the next dose of intrigue and excitement, Rebecca found Olivia’s idea for this studio too good to turn down.
Codey is a practising architect and qualified physiotherapist. As a Principal at Lyons architecture, Codey has a decade of experience in the delivery of major healthcare projects; her design aptitude is complemented by an understanding of how to communicate complex ideas across disciplinary boundaries. Codey has been a regular contributor (and favoured critic among students) at studios taught by McLaughlan, Liddicoat and Pert over the past three years. Back by popular demand, this semester she joins us as a studio leader [footnote: Codey did not write this BIO herself … obviously].
ST1/06 Mondays 09:00-12:00 in MSD Room 240
ST2/06 Wednesdays 18:15-21:15 in MSD Room 146