Critical Visions 08
This year's national conference 'Critical Visions' saw over one thousand delegates engage in three days of stimulating debate exploring future directions in architecture in an ever accelerating globalised culture. Read what delegates thought of the various national and international speakers in the reports on each session listed below.

Podcast
Click here to listen to Conference Director Richard Francis-Jones outline the themes that shaped his vision for the conference.

Delgate Reports from the Conference

Thursday 10 April

Keynote: Architecture in the Age of Globalisation
Speaker: Kenneth Frampton

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• explain the term 'Bilbao effect' and its impact
• outline how the role of architects has changed in recent times (according to the speaker)
• describe the implications of globalisation for the quality of architectural work (according to the speaker).

View delegates' reports

On an opening slide in Frampton's lecture, we were presented with a speculative question asking if Capitalism is sustainable, taken from the title of Martin O'Connor's 1994 paper of the same name. Frampton is overtly suspicious of what Lawrence Nield later in the conference referred to as starchitects and globalising influence of their increasingly conic architectural virtuosity. Read more.

Kenneth Frampton initiated his lecture by raising the exploratory question of whether capitalism is sustainable. In a world where there is an increase in the diverse weave of communication available and the ever increasing frequency of air (world) travel, the practice of architecture is diverse and changing. Read more.

Keynote: Site/Situation
Speaker: Brigitte Shim

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• identify examples illustrating how light, water and space are used in the work of Shim-Sutcliffe
• describe how site, programme, construction and place have influenced their projects
• describe the nature of their buildings and the connection with landscape and site.

View delegates' reports

Brigitte raised valuable points in her presentation that I hope to translate into my everyday architectural practices. It is through her thoughts that I feel that my understanding of site has been truly established. Read more.

The presentation by Brigitte Shim looked at a number of projects undertaken by the firm Shim & Sutcliffe in both urban and suburban areas of Toronto, Canada.A number of recurring themes were evident through the various projects which illustrate not only the design philosophy but also the methodology of the practice's work. Read more.

Keynote: Exploring Boundaries
Speaker: Chris Wilkinson

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• briefly define Chris Wilkinson's design philosophy
• describe how this philosophy has impacted on his work as a whole
• provide specific project examples demonstrating how this philosophy has been realised.

View delegates' reports

An architect clearly exploring boundaries of building and urban design, and recognised as such by the receipt of many awards. The practice of Wilkinson sees each new project as an opportunity to explore planning and construction solutions, most with an underlying theme of finding environmentally responsible solutions. Read more.

Friday 11 April

Keynote: The Future is Green
Speaker: Christoph Ingenhoven

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• discuss the place of architects in addressing global issues (according to the speaker)
• outline how Ingenhoven Architects have taken this on board
• describe a number of examples demonstrating their responses to the global ecological challenge.

View delegates' reports

You know you had better pay attention when the presenter Christophe Ingenhoven starts with “Architecture is about our survival on Earth”. This is certainly not an unpopular rhetoric in today’s world of “global warning”, rising food and fuel prices’. However what make you stand up and take notice is that Christophe Ingenhoven is not your average “organic food growing, hemp suit wearing” nay say-er. Read more.

This was a refreshing talk from Ingenhoven. A talk that presented innovative solutions towards sustainability. As this method was ingrained from the inception of the practice, the firm has been able to develop masterful ways of dealing with complex issues. Read more.

Panel Presentation
Form Generation: Digital and Virtual Systems

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• outline how digital technology has influenced architectural production and processes
• describe the impact of the 'digital' on the role of architects
• identify some future possibilities digital technology offers for the profession

View delegates' reports

A rather controversial panel discussion for me, this session produced comments, styles and attitudes that ranged widely. By no means agreeing with the approaches and attitude of some of the speakers, the session was a worthwhile experience in understanding why I dislike some architecture without knowing the why. Read more.

Digital technology has impacted the way we design, document and ultimately create architecture. Adopting digital technology as a tool to assist in the creation of architecture is appropriate. It has the potential to facilitate an interaction between design process, material use and creation of virtual space. However, in the presentation of building examples, it appeared that the technology became the overriding generator of the final building form. Read more.

Jury Session: Dialectical Bridge

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• outline a number of different approaches to the critique of architectural design
• identify some key factors in creating a winning submission
• outline a range of concepts, ideas and issues that are currently important in the profession of architecture.

View delegates' reports

The five bridges selected from the dozens of entries show the variety of thinking amongst students around the country in response to this highly theoretical brief. One major problem of the entries was that many of the synopsis submitted were written in a very obscure language.Read more.

The Panel Presentation of Form Generation / Dialectical Bridge was fascinating in its difference to that which we had been listening to in the previous lectures of the conference. Read more.

Keynote: Morpho-Ecologies
Speaker: Michael Hensel

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• explain (in broad terms) what morpho-ecological design is
• describe the work of OCEAN and discuss how their approach differs from others
• describe how this approach has been realised in a number of specific examples.

View delegates' reports

Hensel’s opening statement was to view architecture as an all encompassing commitment to
experimentation. Subsequently, his approach is to blur the traditional lines of division between
research, education and practice by looking at how any designed solution to a problem can be based
in how it performs. Read more.

Although Michael Henseland Defne Sunguroglu spoke at different times during the Conference, I have combined a report because each dealt with theoretical / experimental research of building materials, challenging current pre-conceptions relating to materials use in architecture. Read more.

Keynote: Dutch Mountains
Speaker: Francine Houben

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• outline the key elements of Houben's concept of 'Dutch Mountains'
• discuss the influence of landscape, culture and climate on Mecanoo's design approach
• describe how their approach has been translated in a variety of projects.

Francine Houben’s Delft University Library was being heavily publicised when I started my architecture degree. In almost every magazine I looked at there were projects by Mecanoo Architecten. While there was much said about “starchitects” at the CV08 I would rate Francine Houben among those who has benefitted greatly from the architectural media while at the same time managing to keep her design intent clear and her integrity intact. Read more.

“Dutch Mountains” refer to the buildings of the Netherlands, which in the relentlessly flat landscape signify the “mountains” that are present in other places. Houben stated that “people have their country in their DNA”, and it is significant that people of a flat land look to higher elements for identity. The initial response to an architectural design is to “start with a dream”. Read more.

Panel Presentation
Form Generation: Materiality, Sensory and Assembly

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• describe some ways in which the constructed nature and sensory experience of architecture generate architectural form
• explain what role human perception, the human body and materiality can play in creating meaningful design
• identify specific examples that illustrate how these concepts have been realised.

View delegates' reports

Jill Garner presented a body of evolving works demonstrating where their practice was at early in its life, and how it morphed into a different realm of architecture as they took on more commercial projects and ideas. Originally they were influenced by the minimalism of the 1960’s. Then they became more aware of site. Their materials and form generation responded to these influences and, in doing so, changed the thinking within the office. Read more.

Jury Session: Future Vision Australian Architecture

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• discuss alternative visions for the future of Australian architecture
• describe some ways in which environmental, technological, societal and economic factors are impacting on Australian architecture
• identify implications of these factors for the role of architects.

View delegates' reports

A number of challenging and wide ranging issues were put forward as challenges to the future of architecture in Australia during the jury session which reflected upon what could be a future vision for Australian architecture. Read more.

Keynote Panel Discussion: Form Generation and Civic Representation

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• outline key contemporary concepts, issues and challenges for the profession
• outline alternative perspectives on form, generation and civic representation
• provide specific examples that illustrate the ideas, issues and challenges presented.

Saturday 12 April

Keynote: Resistance
Speaker: Billie Tsien

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• provide a brief explanation of the three levels discussed by the presenter
• describe how the material, spatial and global levels have influenced the presenter's practice of architecture
• identify specific examples of the presenter's work that illustrate the ideas discussed.

View delegates' reports

Billie Tsien’s presentation was about the tactile, the physical and overwhelmingly the human experience of architecture. Along with her partner, Todd Williams, she has created some exceptional projects that concentrate three primary forces. She spoke about the power of space within an object, the understanding of scale through the internal relationships between space as well as the experience of material within a building in a physical way. Read more.

Billie Tsien’s presentation was, in my opinion, one of the most interesting ones during the whole conference. Later on Saturday, Leon van Schaik made a valid point about the exportation of our own mental space. This ties in very well with Billie Tsien’s opening presentation of her and her family’s apartment in New York, which I particularly enjoyed. Read more.

Panel Presentation: Cultural Export or Exploitation
John Denton, Lawrence Nield, Leon van Schaik

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• outline some cultural consequences of the globalised production of architecture
• describe some differing perspectives on the impact - benefits/negative consequences - of globalised production
• identify key implications for the role of architects now and in the future.

View delegates' reports

The Billie Tsien talk prior was prescient in the challenge of global export of ideas and the idea of context and
sustainability. Tsien’s emphasis is on locality and local crafts integrated into their essentially western
interpretation of the brief. The three talks were interesting in their contrast and emphasis. Read more.

The speakers in this session presented very interesting perspectives on the cultural consequences and impact of globalisation. In John Denton’s opinion, it is the architect, who is exploited the most, working under highly pressured conditions in countries like China, for example. Read more.

Jury Session: Sydney Future Visions: City Centre

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• discuss alternative visions for Sydney and urban centres in Australia more broadly
• describe some ways in which climate change, intensifying urbanisation, social inequity and cultural conflict are impacting on urban architecture
• outline some specific responses/approaches to the issues presented.

View delegates' reports

There were three presentations in this session. The first described a digital database that contained and filtered all information required to organise urban environments, and for all inhabitants to be able to live seamlessly within these environments. This optimistic view of the direction that technology is headed, has a missing piece which was brought up by the panel. There is a need for a master curator and moderator who resolves all conflicts within this database. Read more.

Keynote: Curatorial City
Speaker: Qingyun Ma

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• explain (in broad terms) the presenter's concept of a 'curatorial city'
• outline some implications for the practice of architecture and design outcomes
• describe specific project examples that illustrate the concept.

Qingyun Ma’s concept of the ‘Curatorial City’ is his understanding of the relationship we need to have with our cities. Rather than owning a city one belongs to it by simply living it. By having a curatorial relationship with the ‘city’, we can ‘organise it, reorganise it and disorganise it to maximise its vitality’. Read more.

Quintessentially Chinese, this architect is the modern face of China. Throughout his presentation, the impression of a strong sense of a national history mixed with fast and pressing change pervaded. Importantly Ma makes the point that architects should regard their role as one of a curator of the city (not just built environment). Ma believes there are four main characteristics of a city, those being individual action, flexibility of action, adaptability to change, and the encouragement of group creativity. Read more.

Keynote: Pioneering Sustainable Architecture
Speaker: Thomas Herzog

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• outline some impacts of the built environment on the environment more broadly
• discuss the role of architecture in addressing issues of sustainable energy use
• describe specific projects that demonstrate effective responses to the issues.

Thomas Herzog’s presentation entitled ‘Pioneering Sustainable Architecture’ demonstrated the need for a rethinking of approaches to energy generation and consumption, particularly in the processes of constructing and occupying buildings. The quality of Herzog’s work generally, and particularly in terms of sustainability and use of solar energy, was demonstrated. Other aspects of his work were also thought provoking. Read more.

Thomas Herzog is an international pioneer in ecologically-minded, energy-conscious buildings long before it was fashionable. The facts he presents are all now well known: buildings consume roughly half the annual worldwide energy output. The energy is primarily generated by non-renewable fossil fuels and this fuel is fast being depleted. A fact, although well known, still does not diminish its dire message every time it is presented. Read more.

Panel Presentation: Crisis: Climate Inequity Urbanism

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• outline alternative perspectives on the consequences of climate change, urbanisation, consumption and social inequity for architecture
• discuss some ways in which architects can respond to the issues presented
• describe specific projects/interventions that offer responses to the issues.

This panel presentation covered the broad context of global warming, sustainability, and the responsibility of architects to integrate sustainability principles into building design. It also examined the role of architects in bringing about a more equitable sharing of resources and services with disadvantaged communities. Read more

The session was a panel presentation on different problems that impact on urban living. Mark Diesendorf added facts and figures to the comments on the energy crisis made by Richard Francis-Jones at the beginning of the conference. Read more.

Jury Session: Sydney Future Visions: Suburban Region

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• discuss some alternative ways of thinking about our approach to urban centres of the future
• describe the potential role for architects in a range of future scenarios
• identify some key strengths and weaknesses of the approaches/options proposed.

This session was a fascinating peek into the future of the city of Sydney. Being a local who no longer lives in Sydney, I think I had a refreshed view of the city and was also probably more open to the schemes presented. Read more.

In this panel presentation, we were provided 3 very different views of the future of Sydney’s suburbia. The three were all unfounded in reality and I felt that their hypothetical nature only served to highlight the problems associated with our suburban development issues, not present possible solutions. Read more.

Keynote Panel Discussion: The Culture of Locale and the Architectural of Globalisation

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, delegates should be able to:

• outline key issues facing the profession in the context of the expanding cultural globalisation of architectural production
• discuss potentially effective ways in which architects and architecture could respond
• provide specific examples of projects, processes and approaches that illustrate responses to the issues presented.