D/09

The Multifamily House

Kate Finning

Studio Description

Housing discussion today is dominated by topics such as demographics, new typologies, and promises of social or economic reform through architectural means. In many ways, we have not recovered from the social project promised by modernist housing.

But what of the material reality of buildings, and of architects’ preoccupation before the 20th century? That is, of architectural elements, proportions and details, of facade composition and the hierarchy and arrangement of rooms. In our own context, the art of building has been dismissed in favour of a technocratic and functionalist-driven approach to architecture.

Instead, the studio will focus on the material reality of architecture and its qualities. We will study floor plans, room types, doors, columns, construction methods, and their histories. We will use architectural elements with precision and conduct these studies through physical models and orthogonal drawings.

Studio Outcomes

Students will work in pairs on a project within an existing contemporary suburb. In the first half of the semester we will look at exemplar apartment plans and apply their lessons to the villa type. This will be an intensively plan-oriented set of studio sessions.

The second half of the semester will shift the focus to the detail and volume. Here the expression of the building will follow the resolution of a construction detail, following a close study of existing cavity wall and lightweight construction. We will consider the elements of the suburban street as figures to be reconfigured anew.

Studio Leader

Kate Finning is an architect practicing in Melbourne. She is currently co-editing a forthcoming publication titled Five Good Swiss Plans (Quart Publishers, 2024).

Readings & References

• Bates, S. “Living from the centre.” In Papers 3: Sergison Bates architects, 108-121. Lucerne: Quart Publishers, 2016.
• Beigel, Florian and Philip Christou.“Room Non-Room: Peter Märkli Atelierhaus Weissacher.” Quaderns d’arquitectura i urbanisme, no.265 (2013): 36-41.
• Dovey, Kim. “Model houses and housing ideology in Australia.” Housing Studies 7, No.3 (1992): 177-188.
• “Five Good Swiss Plans.” An online Swiss-Australian architecture symposium on the domestic floor plan, March 2022. Video, 2:59:43. https://www.youtube.com/live/7Q-KOOfHNAk?feature=share
• Staines, Allan. Australian House Building Manual. Caloundra, Qld: Pinedale Press, 2020.

ABPL90438 Design Studio D is an Early start subject. An in-person Studio Presentation Day event will be held in the Hercus Theatre (L05), David Caro Building from 1pm-2pm on Tuesday 16th July followed by one-hour Q&A Session with Studio Leaders and Subject Coordinators in the MSD building. The Studio Ballot will be held online at the beginning of O-week, opening from 3pm Tuesday 16th July and closing at 3pm Wednesday 17th July. The outcome of Studio Allocation will be announced on Canvas before the end of Friday 19th July. There will be subject preparatory online work to be completed during this period before the semester commencement.

Schedule:
Tuesday 3pm-6pm in MSD 236
&
Friday 3:15pm-6:15pm in MSD 138

Contact Handbook