RETHINKING SUBURBIA
Place, Ecology and Housing in Melbourne's growth areas

Dr. Delia Teschendorff with Professor Alan Pert

Studio Description

Addressing deep concerns about climate change and the damaging environmental impact of Melbourne’s rapid urban expansion, this studio will investigate alternative subdivision and housing approaches, using a real-life greenfield site, located in one of Melbourne’s growth corridors.

Greenfield suburban expansion is often a process of erasure, treating sites as a blank slate to be overlayed with a network of new roads, paths, and suburban lots for homogenous low-rise housing. In this studio greenfield sites are not considered ‘empty,’ rather, recognising layered, deeper histories, ecologies, and First Nation narratives.

The detailed analysis of an actual site will be used to inform a more enriched greenfield subdivision design approach, exploring more liveable, sustainable solutions.

Studio Outcomes

This is an ambitious studio that challenges the status quo and takes the approach that growth areas are sites of opportunity for new and alternative forms of suburban development with the potential to play a critical role in the future shape of our cities. More flexible, regenerative, higher-density forms of suburban development are needed to ‘stop the sprawl’ and mitigate further expansion.

Over the semester students will develop a research-led project that traverses a range of scales from the macro: exploring and testing broader master planning design considerations and subdivision approaches for the overall site, to the micro: an exploration of flexible, diverse ranges of housing models, including spatial and siting strategies. Students will be encouraged to challenge traditional settlement patterns and investigate new forms of sustainable and regenerative suburban development.

• Learn the importance of detailed analysis and explore precedents to your work.
• Investigate environmental and climate responsive design, which considers the landscape and resources.
• Investigate medium density housing typologies including flexible and adaptable household types.
• Understand the planning, policy, and economics of current greenfield practice.
• Understand concepts of Caring for Country, and Connecting to Country, in a suburban context, and ways to design architecture that is for and of place.

STUDIO CONNECTION TO PRACTICE

This is a live practice project. Students will have the opportunity to undertake on-site research and fieldwork, interact with key stakeholders, and gain a deeper understanding of First Nation perspectives.

Studio Leader/s

Delia is director of Delia Teschendorff Architecture Studio, an award winning Naarm/Melbourne practice founded in 2009. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and a Lecturer in Architectural Design, Creative Practitioner at Melbourne School of Design, Melbourne University. Delia recently completed a practice based, design research PhD at Monash University. Her research focus examined the need for more climate resilient, alternative housing and subdivision approaches for Melbourne’s growth areas.

For more info:

https://www.deliateschendorff.com.au/
Instagram: @deliateschendorff

Alan Pert was appointed Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning in 2021. He previously served the Faculty as Director of Melbourne School of Design from October 2012. Alan is the Faculty lead for the University's new campus at Fishermans Bend, due to open in 2025. His appointments at the University of Melbourne followed 6 years as Professor of Architecture and Director of Research at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Alan is currently the Chair of the Affordable Housing Hallmark Initiative and Lens Leader, Design Innovation. Alan is also an acclaimed architect. As Director of NORD (Northern Office for Research by Design) Alan aims to carry out practice-based research, analysing and forging propositions across writing, discourse, exhibitions, education and building.

Readings & References

Studio sessions will include a series of invited guest talks. Weekly tasks and readings will be provided.

Schedule:
Thursday 9am-1pm in MSD 141
Thursday 2pm-4pm in MSD 141 

Off-site Activities:
TBA

Contact Handbook