Studio 43

Living Urban

Rob Nerlich & Kate McMahon

Studio Description

This is an innovative design studio that will challenge the status quo of apartment living in the inner city. It seeks innovative ideas about living in higher densities in Melbourne – more residents in tighter spaces with a smaller carbon footprint. A focus will be the quality of internal and external spaces and spatial connections, yet also public realm outcomes and opportunities to connect to and inform the city and create/foster community in a broad socio-economic setting. This is no enclave. Projects need to challenge both planning rules and development norms that encourage mediocrity in our housing stock.

The site(s) for the Studio projects will be within the West Melbourne Structure Plan, which proposes a combination of floor area ratios + preferred height limits. Within this context students will be encouraged to explore opportunities for urban/architectural form, higher density indoor/outdoor living, public/private zoning and active and passive sustainable design.

Studio Outcome

The objective of the studio is to research the urbanism of higher density housing projects and the intimacy of living both within the dwellings and communal areas. Can urban housing contribute to the making of the city? Can living environments create the opportunity for community to develop? How can privacy, dignity and delight be introduced into dwellings?

Preliminary urban design exercises (group work) will investigate Urban Placemaking, questions of urban form and density and opportunities to encourage diversity and community building.

Concurrently higher density housing and living typologies will be developed, creating innovative housing types for a diverse range of household sizes and types.

Higher density housing projects will be developed informed by the outcomes of the urban and housing research. Visits to exemplar projects and guest presentations from experienced housing and urbanist practitioners will provide a diversity of approach.

Studio Leader

Rob Nerlich and Kate McMahon are founding directors of award-winning Melbourne-based practice mcmahon and nerlich, who specialise in finely crafted housing, commercial and community projects with a focus on the spatial, formal and urban-realm aspects of their work. They recently gained planning approval for an innovative mixed use commercial and housing project in Marysville.

Rob has experience in projects across many scales in Australia, Europe and Asia. He is passionate about housing in all its forms - from individual houses to inner urban apartments, and believes that all members of society deserve a dignified and appropriate place to live.

Kate is a registered architect in Victoria and the United Kingdom and has worked extensively on education and residential buildings here and in the UK. Kate designs iteratively using a combination of physical and digital modelling, and her passion is in exploring how quality design enriches communities.

Readings & References

Urban placemaking

• Christian Norberg-Schulz, Genius Loci Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture
• Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City
• Jan Gehl, Cities for People

Density, Community and Diversity

• Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
• Michael Webb Building Community, New Apartment Architecture
• The London Plan 2016

rban form and development

• Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City, Rem Koolhaas, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Project Japan Metabolism Talks…
• Manuel Gausa et.al. (eds), The Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture

Housing

• Katelin Butler and Cameron Bruhn (eds), The Apartment House
• Philip Thalis and Laura Harding (guest Eds) Architecture Australia May/June 2014, Urban Housing: Making the City
• A+T Density Series Books
• Claudia Hildner, Future Living Collective Housing in Japan
• Friederike Schneider (Ed), Floor Plan Manual

Sustainability

• Mohsen Mostafavi with Gareth Doherty (Eds), Ecological Urbanism

Schedule Mondays 12:00-15:00 in Room 227; Thursdays 12:00-15:00 at McMahon and Nerlich Architects
Travel Week 4 | $10

Contact Handbook Key Dates