Designs on Density
Housing in Australia is currently in a period of rapid change, even crisis, due to increasing environmental consciousness, demographic movements, affordability pressures, and new technologies in the building industry, in the workplace and in the house itself. This state of flux has re-invigorated debates about and around general housing.
How will the house of the twenty-first century accommodate new household types? How can new materials and methods of construction be best employed in house building? How can housing assist in helping the country respond to environmental change? How do we design and build better suburban housing? How can density of dwelling be appropriately increased within established areas? What strategies can be developed to make infill housing more palatable? How can design improve housing affordability as Australian cities continue to become the world’s most unaffordable? And, importantly, how can the architectural profession best contribute to this process of change?
Simon Anderson has taught and practised architecture at The University of Western Australia (UWA) since 1989. He has: won University and national awards and citations for excellence in teaching; won awards, prizes and commendations for buildings and competition designs for residential, multi-residential, institutional and industrial buildings; curated major architectural exhibitions; exhibited buildings and projects internationally; written on contemporary Australian architecture; authored expert opinions; produced competition briefs; been an elected councillor of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) for a decade. He was Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Visual Arts at UWA from 2010-6. From January 2017 the Faculty became the UWA School of Design – UWA Design – in recognition of the central role creativity plays in the disciplines of the School.
Geoffrey London is Professor of Architecture at The University of Western Australia and a Professorial Fellow at The University of Melbourne. He previously held the positions of Victorian Government Architect (2008-14) and Western Australian Government Architect (2004-8). Among his publications are Kerry Hill: Crafting Modernism (2013), Procuring Innovative Architecture (with Leon van Schaik, 2010), and Take 7: Housing Australia (with Simon Anderson, 2008). He is an active researcher in the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities and has a long-term professional and research interest in medium density housing and forms of delivery that provide more affordability and better design.
