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As I write, architects around Australia and further afield are submitting their entries in the competition for a major extension to the Art Gallery of Queensland in Brisbane. Talking to [...]

How did the artificial division arise between research and practice in architecture, why is it a problem, and how can it be reversed? The RMIT University School of Architecture and Urban Design in Melbourne, Australia has been pioneering practice‐embedded research for three decades, with a PhD programme that has inspired similar approaches at other institutions across the world. Having identified five continuums between research and practice that are required to maximise the potential of architecture, Emeritus Professor Leon van Schaik, who initiated the programme, explores its impact through the work of some of its participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aside from the additions and alterations that are the average architectural office's staple, the classic practice model is of low turnover and high unit cost. The articles in this issue of 3 offer an alternative vision, but do they go far enough? Reflecting on their arguments and on his own experience of five decades in practice across continents, Leon van Schaik – Professor Emeritus at the School of Architecture and Urban Design, RMIT University, Melbourne – offers his vision of what architects' role is and could be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the more interesting innovations of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) is the farming out of their annual conference to the curatorship of individual practices. The first of [...]

An introduction is presented in which the guest editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the design of virtual pavilions, temporary architecture in cities, and pavilions, pop-ups and parasols as temporary shelter after natural disasters.

Is code entirely incompatible with an intuitive exploration of space? Leon van Schaik, Professor of Architecture (Innovation Chair) at RMIT University thinks so. He contests the usefulness of the data-crunching capacity of the computer to truthfully model human flows. Moreover, he flags up a concern that an overemphasis on computation could lead architects to neglect an awareness of the place of their own spatial histories in the world, causing them to impose their own subconscious preferences on their clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most influential figures in architectural education and practice today, Leon van Schaik, Professor of Architecture (Chair of Innovation) at RMIT in Melbourne, has dedicated the last two decades of his career to the promotion of local and international architectural culture through design practice research and the commissioning of building. Here he describes how he has nurtured a research-oriented approach through his engagement with a network of 'vital' practitioners worldwide who are interested in strong ideas and pushing the questioning of the status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes architect Minifie Nixon's experimental Australian Wildlife Health Centre located in Healesville Sanctuary, just outside Melbourne, Victoria. This hospital for wild animals has an exterior made up of two different concrete blocks arranged in pattern produced in a cellular automata process.

The article examines the relevance of Modernism in the cultural and contemporary society of Australia. According to the author, Modernism could not be applicable in Australia since it has an enriched broadening of the cultural mix and antipodean itinerant condition. In addition, Modernism abandoned layering in Australia that characterises the new Asian urbanism.

The article offers information about the Napier Street Housing in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, and its architectural design. It was designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects. It ranks as one of the many projects produced by the current inner-city housing boom. The structure's interiors and exteriors as well as other architectural details are discussed. Its intelligent design is said to be remarkably different from the styling that trumps so many other contemporary developments.

The article discusses various issues published within the March 2002 issue of the magazine "Poetics in Architecture," including the exploration on the links between words and spatial experience by Gaston Bachelard, and other various issues related to architecture.

A letter to Australian landscape painter Philip Hunter is presented. In this letter, the author expresses gratitude to Hunter for his generosity during the author's visit to his studio, describes Hunter's ambitious campaign as filled with momentous potential for architecture and landscape architecture in Australia, and talks about two framed pictures by Hunter.

Information about several papers discussed at a forum sponsored by Hylar on architecture. Topics include the development of high rise building, economics of building, and importance of architectural works to a particular region. It also features several architects as speakers including ken Yeang and Carey Lyon.

The article profiles the architect and artist, Stephen Bram and discusses his works. According to the author, the writer Carolyn Barnes has characterized Bram's works as architectural paintings. However, the author adds that Bram's works are not architectural but are art that uses perspective. Furthermore, the author adds that architecture is an art about the space where the scale model is the medium. The author concludes the Bram is an intellectual who made art and architecture intersect. Photographs of the art architectures of Bram are also included in the article.

The article reports on the architectural works of Ushida Findlay Partnership, a partnership between Eisaku Ushida and Kathryn Findlay, which is characterized by practice and fascination with "shape that flows." The author notes that Ushida Findlay's virtuosity in space-making has took them onto the stage of international architecture discourse. It also mentions that their partnership seems to find a common ground that bridges Japanese and Anglophone sensibilities. Discussion related to Chaos Theory is also mentioned. Photographs of these architectural works are presented in the article.

The article profiles Slovenian-born Australian architect Tom Kovac. His contemporary designs are comparable to those of Niemeyer and Gehry which are described to be fresh and dynamic and denies the architecture of planes. His works have spatial plasticity which is a conscious response to his conception of the Australian condition.

The article focuses on Melbourne, Victoria-based architectural firm Wood Marsh. According to the author, the firm have been the most prolific in reflective practice. From the beginning they have exhibited in furniture shows at the National Gallery of Victoria. Their infamous Venice Biennale organ was a legendary companion to Lawrence Wallen's ground-breaking video of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) Architecture works. It is noted that the firm uses photography, silk screening and film to seek out the essential nature of their work.

The article offers information about guest editors Leon van Schaik and Fleur Watson.

The article describes the light installation works by Stephen Bram for Liberty Tower in Melbourne, Australia. The installation creates an axis for debate between artist and space-makers. According to the author, Bram's artistry with a space have a low architectural resistance supports. Through its reflections it becomes a piece of decorative art indistinguishable from the room within settings up shimmers and shifts. The specific layout of the installation is specifically described.

The article focuses on the technique used by artists to create a captivating installation at the Conical gallery in Melbourne, Victoria. The author states that by combining simple layers of light, sound, performance, and urban history, artists have established a unique exhibition at the gallery. He also stresses that such technique allows visitors to be aware of the history of development from an organic brickwork of the 19th century to the aseptic surface whiteness of the 20th century.

The article reflects about the UIA Congress in Barcelona in 1996. The author also provides information about the said conference, including insights on some of the topics discussed during the event. The conference, which was organized by "Quaderns," a Spanish journal founded in 1944, gathered a group of publishers, editors and writers to discuss the role of journals in architecture.

A preface for the 1996 issue of the journal "Transition" is presented.

The article reports on the connection between culture and the geography of space in relation to the consciousness of the educated elite in the U.S. Gaston Bachelard, a philosopher, states that communication media render people more aware of the cultural production of other countries which made it possible for them to consider its positive attributes that it may contribute to their lives. His idea on cultural unity is also associated with the energy and the connection between cultures.