Thesis Studio/02

Shepparton Studio

Rory Hyde

Studio Description

This studio will develop new types of housing for the regional Victorian city of Shepparton. It is being run as part of a larger research project, involving civic, community, and government partners, and the work produced will help shape the city’s future.

Shepparton is a fascinating and beautiful place, but it faces some major challenges. It is ranked number 1 in Australia for climate impacts – flood, fire, and heat – and 80% of its housing is predicted to be uninsurable by the end of the decade.

How Shepparton responds to this challenge could show the way for the nation. This is an architectural challenge. Floods are only a problem if your house is in the way. It’s also a challenge of ways of living - how to shift away from car-dependent suburbia and reimagine a different kind of city?

This studio is being run alongside the Nightingale Night School studio, which is also focused on Shepparton. We will go on site visits together and share guest speakers.

Studio Outcomes

You will research the challenges facing Shepparton, and design new kinds of housing in response to these challenges. This housing will consider all aspects, from delivery model (developer, state, citzen), tenancy model (for sale, for rent, rent to buy, social), building typology (large-scale, small-scale, infill, retrofit), and urban context (suburban, urban).

We will apply a ‘strategic design’ approach, which is as much about asking better questions, as it is about finding answers. We will have one foot in reality – addressing the questions of Shepparton – and one foot in speculation – how does your project change how we think about architecture?

Studio Leader

Dr Rory Hyde is Associate Professor in Architecture, Curatorial Design and Practice at the University of Melbourne. Until 2020 he was the Curator of Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism at the V&A Museum in London. He has worked extensively in practice internationally, including for OMA/AMO, MVRDV, ARM, and BKK. Rory’s work examines new forms of practice and the changing role of the architect today. He is the author a number of books, including Future Practice (2013) and Architects After Architecture (2020). His current research is focused on the Australian suburbs.

Readings & References

• Dolores Hayden, Building Suburbia, 2003, and Redesigning the American Dream, 2002 (1984)
• Graeme Davison, The Cream Brick Frontier, 1995, and Car Wars, 2004
• Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States, 1985
• Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, Learning from Las Vegas, 1972
• Barry Bergdoll, Foreclosed: Redesigning the American Dream, Moma, 2012
• Saul Griffith, The Big Switch: Australia’s Electric Future, 2022
• Alison Page & Paul Memmott, Design: Building on Country, part of First Knowledges series, Margo Neale (ed.)
• Matthew Colloff, Landscapes of our Hearts: Reconciling People and Environment, 2020
• Robin Boyd, Australia’s Home, 1952, and The Australian Ugliness, 1960

Schedule
Lecture Thursdays 17:15-18:15 in MSD B121 (Malaysian Theatre) in Weeks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10
Studio Tuesdays 09:00-13:00 and Thursdays 13:00-15:00 in MSD Room 140

Contact Handbook