I
try to escape the city most weekends –
there is nothing better than recharging
in nature. But to enjoy these natural
environments we need to look after
them, and building in them adds another
layer of responsibility.
This year’s Australian contribution to
the Venice Biennale is under the creative
direction of Baracco and Wright (profiled
in Houses 119) with artist Linda Tegg.
Entitled Repair, the exhibition will create a
physical dialogue between architecture and
endangered plant communities to showcase
Australian architecture that engages with
rehabilitation of the natural environment.
It’s heartening to discover that the clients of
many projects in this issue are giving back
to the sites on which their houses stand.
CHROFI’s Lune de Sang Pavilion
(page 58) in northern New South Wales is
part of an intergenerational venture that
will see the transformation of a former
dairy property into a sustainably harvested
forest, with trees that take up to three
hundred years to mature. The pavilion itself
is intended to last millennia and caters
to a couple and their extensive extended
family, including four children and nine
grandchildren. The dwelling is stitched into
the site and offers breathtaking views of
the landscape.
Possum Shoot Shed in Byron Bay’s
hinterland by Dominic Finlay Jones
Architects (page 116) is also part of a
regeneration scheme. This new temporary
dwelling, a place for “elegant camping”
while the more permanent home is
constructed up the hill, is located on an
old banana farm that has been taken over
by weeds since cultivation ceased. The new
owners have since started “considered
clearing and rehabilitation, having already
planted 3,500 indigenous trees.” The shed
itself is on a levelled contour, on the site
of the original structure.
In Noosa’s bushy hinterland,
Tinbeerwah House by Teeland Architects
(page 94) is another project that has
involved necessary rehabilitation of the
land. The owners of this house inherited
a site that had undergone a substantial
amount of clearing. A denuded building
platform had been established, but “much
necessary intervention in stabilization,
retention and drainage followed.”
A vital ingredient in taking a genuinely
sustainable approach to architecture is
considering how our work contributes to
the broader ecology of a site, and my hope
is that we will continue to see more of this.
Katelin Butler, editor02
01
WELCOME01 Australia’s exhibition for
the 2018 Venice Biennale,
Repair by Baracco and
Wright with Linda Tegg,
will comprise thousands
of Western Plains
Grassland plants. The
plants are being grown
in Sanremo, Italy, and will
be installed in Australia’s
pavilion. The 2018 Venice
Biennale will be held from
26 May to 25 November- Photograph:
Louise Wright.
02 Aerial view of the Lune de
Sang Pavilion by CHROFI
(page 58), which is part
of a venture that will see
the transformation of a
former dairy property into
a sustainably harvested
forest with trees that take
up to three hundred years
to mature. Photograph:
Brett Boardman.Write to us at
[email protected]
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