FORM section of the September 2013 Adelaide Review

THE ADELAIDE R EVIEW SEP T EMBER 2013

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Smartsoft Architects Ink. Photo: Sam Noonan

D E S I G N • P L A N N I N G • I N N OVAT I O N

PARK(ING) DAY

IDEA 2013

MOTIVATING CHANGE

The popular CBD event returns this month

This year’s Interior Design Excellence Awards rewards two South Australian projects

Motivating Change is a collection of essays on sustainable design, edited by Steffen Lehmann and Robert Crocker

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54 The Adelaide Review September 2013

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Urban Change

The hugely popular Adelaide PARK(ing) Day returns to the CBD this September bringing with it a healthy discussion on the need for more public spaces.

by Leanne Amodeo

T

he need for more public open space in Adelaide’s CBD is an issue the state’s best architects and urban designers are working hard to resolve. In a city that doesn’t have a strong walking culture and whose only real major public space is Rundle Mall, the solution may not come quickly. But there are plans underway to activate the CBD by creating more permanent people-focused spaces. As these plans come to fruition the outcome at an urban level will be a positive one.

In the meantime Adelaide PARK(ing) Day should be celebrated for what it brings to the discussion of public space. Who knew that

plastic pink flamingos, melting ice sculptures and a makeshift trapeze had a place in urban design? The point exactly is that they do and this is why the interactive and accessible nature of a temporary one-day event like Adelaide PARK(ing) Day is so important to the discussion.

This will be the fourth year Adelaide participates in International PARK(ing) Day, which had its origins in San Francisco in 2009.

The Adelaide City Council has allocated 50 parking spaces on a specific route in the CBD for registered participants to take over and transform. The idea is for these participants to

educate as much as it is to entertain and each transformation is a hub of activity, creativity and ideas. If past years are anything to go by this year’s event will be bigger, brighter and better –with the chance for engagement and interaction between participants and passers-by multiplied.

For Alex Hall, one of the Adelaide event’s co-ordinators, the opportunity to take part in this activation is exciting. He is a senior architect at Hassell and works predominantly on large-scale urban design projects so Adelaide PARK(ing) Day is demonstrative of the broader

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issues at hand, while also being a valuable source of data and practical information. “The event generated 60 percent more foot traffic last year, so that means more people in front of shops, more ability to create revenue, more vibrancy and more atmosphere,” he says. “All positive outcomes that take place when spaces become public.”

Adelaide faces a situation typical of many global cities with an urban sprawl that continues to creep out into the suburbs; only a small percentage of residents live in the CBD. “Look at cities like London or New York where there’s greater living density; these cities are vibrant,” says Hall. “If we want to create a city that has a strong culture then it comes down to how many people actually live in the CBD

and if we don’t have public spaces then people aren’t going to want to live there.”

In 2011 International PARK(ing) Day involved 162 cities in 35 countries across six continents.

Of those cities the top ranking in terms of participation were San Francisco, Paris and

Adelaide. Making this top three list is not only promising - it is downright impressive. At its most fundamental level Adelaide PARK(ing) Day is about experiencing the city in a different way. We can learn from this event, and understanding the CBD’s potential for activation as well as people’s desire for new experiences is our first lesson.

» Adelaide PARK(ing) Day 2013 Friday, September 20 adelaideparkingday.com parkingday.org

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56 The Adelaide Review September 2013

Photos: Florian Groehn

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Fine Dining It was just a matter of time before designer Alexander Lotersztain collaborated with the JamFactory. The result is an elegantly stylish tableware collection for Depo, his new Brisbane restaurant.

by Leanne Amodeo

A

lexander Lotersztain has long been aware of the important role the JamFactory plays within the country’s craft and design industry.

The Brisbane-based designer has been invited to give workshops and presentations at its studios and galleries on a number of occasions and he is quick to sing its praises. In the back of his mind has been the idea to collaborate with the Adelaide institution; all he needed was the right excuse.

the idea to collaborate on a range of tableware to be used in the restaurant the proposition was too good to refuse. Within a matter of weeks the designer was meeting with the program manager of the ceramics studio David Pedler and working on prototypes during an intense two-day workshop.

This excuse recently presented itself in the form of Depo, Lotersztain’s newest business venture. The restaurant in the heart of Brisbane’s West End features the designer’s characteristically dynamic aesthetic and impeccable attention to detail. “The game has changed in the hospitality industry,” he says. “As a designer you now have to create environments where customers feel great, they feel loved and they can enjoy an entire experience.” Making good on his promise, Lotersztain has delivered – and then some.

The entire project was a genuinely collaborative process and the outcome resulted in the design of five different plates with a total product manufacture of 500. For Lotersztain the most rewarding aspect of the whole process was learning about a new material and understanding its capabilities. He soon realised that the large number of rejects produced is inevitable; such is the nature of ceramics. Instead of fighting the material’s inherent qualities Lotersztain decided to use them to his advantage.

Alexander Lotersztain

“Honestly, it could have been a very easy exercise for me to go to Ikea and buy some crockery,” he continues. “But it was about seeing Depo as an opportunity to inspire people with everyday objects.” When Lotersztain approached JamFactory CEO Brian Parkes with

“Rather than create a plate that needed to be perfectly round and perfectly proportioned every single time I welcomed those small distortions or warps,” he says. “It actually enhances the product because it made each plate something unique.” By sprinkling sand

onto the clay while it was still wet Lotersztain further heightened the tableware’s handmade qualities. The resulting speckled effect means that each plate has its own individual textured pattern.

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www.adelaideparkingday.com

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Lotersztain may have driven the project from a design perspective but what of the culinary considerations? Head chef and Lotersztain’s business partner Erik van Gederen made everyone aware of the practicalities involved in the design of a plate. “There were such naïve questions that had to be considered,” says Lotersztain.

“But questions that are extremely important for the practicality of the collection: Is it dishwasher safe? What’s the weight of each plate? How will the plate sit on the table?

Will wait staff be able to carry it?” Clean, elegant lines ultimately characterise the collection making each plate’s shape the perfect form upon which van Gederen can present his sophisticated dishes.

Depo has been open since early July and the dining experience is by all means memorable. Lotersztain’s newest venture showcases the country’s best craft and design practitioners in an environment that is easily accessible. It also stands as testament to the exciting potential for national collaboration. With plans to make the tableware available for purchase through the restaurant’s retail outlet the promise of future collaborations is an even grander proposition.

derlot.com jamfactory.com.au the-depot.com

Smart Thinking IDEA 2013 features two shortlisted Adelaide projects that are notable for their intelligent spatial awareness and elegant material palette.

BY LEANNE AMODEO

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number of South Australian projects have stood out at national interior design awards in recent years. Ryan Genesin’s dynamic LAX retail fit out was shortlisted across several prominent awards in 2012 as was Woods Bagot’s relaxed Oxigen office fit out, while Claire Kneebone’s rustic Press Food and Wine also received due recognition. The eastern states may dominate at these awards but the high calibre of Adelaide-based projects does not go unnoticed.

This year’s Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA 2013) recognises two Adelaide projects. Architects Ink’s Smartsoft office fit out is shortlisted in the Workplace Under 1000sqm category and Aesop Burnside by Kerstin Thompson Architects is shortlisted in the Retail category. Both projects are small-scale yet hold tremendous appeal for their intelligent spatial awareness and elegant material palette.

Smartsoft’s most innovative design expression is the glass ‘pods’ that occupy the narrow ground floor CBD office. They effectively zone the open plan and provide adequate privacy while still connecting the front of the fit out to the rear.

“Ultimately the client wanted a space that would

Photos: Sam Noonan

He also gave each plate a twist by designing a base detail that is echoed throughout the whole collection. This handmade sensibility is reiterated within Depo’s relaxed, bespoke interior design, which is an eclectic mix of inviting furnishings and finishes. The tableware’s earthy colour palette also complements the abundant use of timber throughout the fit out.

Smartsoft

allow the staff to collaborate”, says Architects Ink’s interior designer Laura Tisato. “And using an open plan layout meant they could embrace this new way of working.”

The interior’s industrial aesthetic complements the software company’s new cosmopolitan image. Exposed services and brickwork lends a gritty edginess and allows a sense of the building’s history to be on show.

While the raw material palette is softened by an abundance of natural light, warm timber accents and charcoal grey carpet and walls. For Tisato the result is what they set out to achieve: “A space you would really want to be in”.

This consideration for the end user’s comfort is also evident in the design of Aesop Burnside.

Kerstin Thompson Architects has created an intimate retail experience that celebrates the global skincare brand’s artisanal approach.

“The use of timber as the dominant design element intends to represent the craft and care that goes into the making of all Aesop products,” says principal Kerstin Thompson.

The result is an immersive interior that is as inviting as it is intriguing. As with all Aesop stores the products are an integral part of the design and they draw the customer in. Once inside the store the timber’s cocoon-like effect is pleasantly enticing and the desire to never leave is a welcome one. The perforated timber screens that form the shop front’s operable doors are a clever way of still maintaining

Aesop Burnside

a connection to the shopping mall’s sundrenched atrium.

We will have to wait until November 15 to see if Smartsoft and Aesop Burnside are awarded prizes in their respective categories. The designers have already presented their projects to the jury and their live presentations were compelling. However, they have some tough competition. Predictions are never easy, as so much rests upon the individual jurors’ own interpretations and tastes. What stands for certain is that this year’s IDEA 2013 shortlisted entries are all strong, whether from Adelaide, the eastern states or elsewhere.

architectsink.com.au kerstinthompson.com idea-awards.com.au

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Motivating Change Motivating Change is a newly published collection of essays on sustainable design and behaviour in the built environment.

BY ROBERT CROCKER AND STEFFEN LEHMANN

T

he global scale and complexity of the environmental problems we now face has produced circumstances few governments on their own, or even on their own terms, can respond to effectively. This has been made more difficult by a widespread culture of economistic prescription that has tricked out extremely serious environmental threats as calculable risks, as though we can predict what living in a world two to four degrees warmer might look like.

This collective, on-going failure to deal directly with the environmental problems we now face, has been attributed to many factors, but five seem particularly pertinent here: firstly, governments and industries have wasted scarce resources in communication programs trying to ‘individualise’ the causes of our environmental crisis, in an attempt to change behaviours that, in many areas, are shaped not

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by individual actions, but by ambient systems and an absence of viable alternatives. Secondly, most governments and corporations have not invested sufficiently, wisely or consistently in a future ‘green’ or greener economy, often preferring to fund highly visible ‘one off’ green projects to gain reputational rewards, backed up by a confusing, stop-start approach to sustainability policies, that collectively have undermined the confidence and determination of most businesses to embrace the sustainability agenda. Thirdly, governments are still subsidising heavy ‘brown’ industries, in the mistaken belief that as once ‘keystone’ components of national economies their continuing support is essential, a belief assiduously cultivated by apologists for the status quo. These regressive policies are classic examples of a ‘sunk cost effect’, where collectively we become hostage to once rational but now redundant past decisions and their irrecoverable costs. Fourthly, most

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governments and corporations seem happy to overlook the environmentally destructive impacts of the ‘behaviour-editing’ practices of marketing, media, advertising and retail, whose goal is typically to increase the volume and frequency of consumption, regardless of its environmental or social costs. So while manufacturers might be subject to increasing imposts on their carbon emissions, retailers are allowed to sell objects made in heavily polluting factories that are short-lived, ‘made to break,’ or sold in such a way as to encourage the user to replace them soon after purchase. Finally, a growing number of conservative governments, energy corporations, ‘think tanks’ and lobby groups have sought to question, stifle or politicise our growing scientific knowledge about the impact of emissions as ‘disputable’, ‘contradictory’, ‘extremist’ or ‘selfinterested.’ A classic PR strategy, used in the past by ‘big tobacco’ and ‘big oil’, this exploits our preferences for avoiding potential risks induced by change, and for believing in an optimistic future.

To tame and reshape the overconsumption at the heart of the global economy will require us to confront these deeper and more persistent barriers to change more directly, and to seriously re-examine the systemic, apparently ‘compulsory’ behaviours they entail. Motivating Change, a newly published collection of essays on sustainable design and behaviour in the built environment, starts with an acknowledgment of the noticeable failure of the ‘individualisation’ of ‘behaviour change’ initiatives promoted by many governments and corporations over the last twenty years.

Instead the book focuses attention on the various systems shaping behaviour chiefly in and through the urban environment.

The interactions between behaviour and consumption in their many contexts are of particular interest, and the capabilities of design, broadly conceived, to reshape the interdependent relationships involved. This necessarily involves all material scales, which are well represented in these essays: the individual, the household, the neighbourhood, the city, and even the nation, as well as all scales of influence, including values, beliefs, attitudes, media, habitual routines, and the larger socio-technological systems that shape our behaviours individually and collectively.

The book starts with a number of more

general discussions exploring different ways of understanding the broader contexts of motivating change, and then explores three of its most significant perspectives, each of which is suggestive of potential remedial avenues for designers and other ‘change agents’. The first is that of values and beliefs through media and design, and their potential to communicate, reconfigure and shape pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. The second is that of shifting consumption from the costly individual practices of the present and past to more sustainable collective ones, through design-led community-based social innovation programs, and shared use ‘product service systems’. The last section of the book uses the wider lens of the material urban and built environment, where systemic design-led interventions to reduce overconsumption and minimise waste are seen to have the potential to have much larger, longer-term positive impacts.

In these essays the potential role of sustainable design as a behaviour-shaping process is explored, and its potential to ‘motivate change’ at different scales, and in different social, technological and psychological contexts, is demonstrated. From the book’s multidisciplinary perspective, ‘sustainable design’ in this way becomes a process that aims to reconfigure the complex and interdependent relationships that at present contribute, directly or indirectly, to our unsustainable ways of living, and our related environmental crisis.

» Professor Steffen Lehmann is Director of the Zero Waste Centre for Sustainable Design & Behaviour; and Director of the ChinaAustralia Centre on Sustainable Design, at the University of South Australia. Dr Robert Crocker is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Art, Architecture and Design at the University of South Australia. » This is a synopsis taken from the introduction of Motivating Change: Sustainable Design and Behaviour in the Built Environment, edited

by Robert Crocker and Steffen Lehmann (Routledge, London, 2013). It will be launched at the University of South Australia on Thursday, September 5 (6pm), at the Kerry Packer Civic Gallery.

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HIgHLIgHTS FROM THIS YEAR’S PROgRAM

Meeting with

Bodhisattva

AdelAi de Fest i vAl Ce n tre An d le igh wArre n dA nCe pre s e n t

U-THEATRE

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“A SYNTHESIS OF THEATRE, PERCUSSION, MARTIAL ARTS AND MEDITATION…”

According Plan

An extraordinary meeting of dance, music, design and writing

THE TIMES, LONDON

Choreographer: leigh warren Set concept and construction: Khai liew Garment concept and construction: Alistair trung Musician and Poet: Jerome Kugan

13 – 14 SEPTEMbER

World Premiere and Exclusive

20 – 21 SEPTEMbER Space Theatre

AdelAide FestivAl Centre presents, in CooperAtion with show & Arts inC.

Extreme Jump!

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28 – 29 SEPTEMbER

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Jump the hit of the 2010 Jump, ozAsia Festival is back and is bigger than ever, in fact it’s eXtreMe!

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Her Majesty’s Theatre

4 Enjoy delicious hawker style food before the show