good media!

Article source; State Library of Queensland Magazine, Spring 2009, page 02

I remember visiting the State Library during high school, in the late 90's, honestly it wasa pretty drab and daunting experience, both times.

I found this article both relevant and important in that it is from the 'buildings users' perspective, purely on a level that is concerned about innovation and people, backed up with real facts and ideas about the buildings usage and success.

SAP Exhibition.... Michael Philips

Another great evening at SAP in the Fortitude Valley, which is seemingly and arguably becoming the new heart of Brisbane!

Consistency in 'design' is crucial! SAP is continually providing a great space for local designer's to exhibtion new and exciting works whilst bringing together a range of brisbonites in a simple way... I particularly like that the bar was shoved out the back!

Michael Philips presented the 'Bean Prints' in a range of mediums... my favourite was the large format in the canvas version...

Michael (Philips) and Peter (Harding) collaborated on the night, adding another layer to the exhibtion and presentation of the space!

Is Brisbane Switched on to Retrofit?

With approximately 50% of the worlds population now living in cities, it makes it easier to understand how buildings currently consume 40% of the worlds energy. The idea of retro fitting our cities for sustainability has come as a welcome change. But hey….that's gonna be one hell of a renovation project!

Map of the world in city lights. Image sourced from www.nasa.gov

Go Brisbane!

Marcus Westbury is a man who wears many hats. You might know him from such ABC docos as ‘Not Quite Art’, and other endeavours such as Renew Newcastle, and the ‘This is not art’ festival. He describes himself as a ‘broadcaster, writer, media maker and festival director’, but he is also actively involved in the creative industries and writes about media, culture and politics for a variety of different publications across Australia.

He is basically the ‘go to’ guy for an opinion on anything related to arts and culture.

On his own blog - http://www.marcuswestbury.net/ – he has recently published his thoughts about the cultural lives 4 Australian cities – Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. He manages to dissect the traditional stereotypes (Brisbane = big country town; Sydney = Busy etc) and provide an informed insight into the state of the cultural pulse which runs through these cities.

Brisbane gets a rave review, which confirms what much of us already know about Brisbane, that it is growing up and there’s alot to be exited about. Here’s a cut & paste:

…Further north, something equally interesting is happening in Brisbane.

Compared with its complacent southern sisters, Brisbane feels young, dynamic and eager to try things. Brisbane is well beyond aspiring to be Sydney or Melbourne and is becoming a city that connects with Asian centres to the north and across the Pacific archipelago. Signature events such as the Asia Pacific Triennial, Multimedia Art Asia Pacific and programs of Chinese and other Asian art at the Gallery of Modern Art all reflect this.

Brisbane is also home to a creative tension and fusion between art and pop culture, culture and technology — itself reflective of an Asian dynamic — that makes for distinctive creative ground.

Read the rest of it here.

Go Brisbane! Woot!

keep it simple! thanks Akira...

As a designer I find it humbling to experience 'design' in such a simple manner, to me it feels more accessible and a whole lot more inspiring!

The Akira Isogawa store in the fortitude valley is so simple it's almost hard to write about - it's a tall well (naturally) lit homely space supplemented with 34 incandescent pendant lights, a few bits of well lived furniture, manual till system, really tall mirrors, oh and amazing clothes! I think that's the point!!

Akira Isogawa is well known throughout the world for his designs, yet when there is a sale on (speaking from experience) he will be there in the store to share the experience with his 'consumers' - good stuff!

“I see craftsmanship as an implement with which to realise one’s vision. Past, present and future; that slogan continues in almost everything around which my work evolves. Timeless beauty and femininity in my design is profound, in a way for the wearer to express their inner soul.”

— Akira Isogawa

Sometimes even the dumbest things can be poetic

Can you guess how many toilets are in this toilet block? I think that once you have studied architecture you start to find beauty in some of the most unlikely places. Maybe there’s something wrong with me though.

Campos Coffee - Adaptive Reuse!

What used to be an electrical storage warehouse is now a great place to enjoy quality coffee / food and hang out on some astro turf and crates (I am pretty sure the crates are 'borrowed' from the neighbouring fish market, they have cushions on them now so it's hard to notice, top marks for innovation!!)

Campos coffee sits in a laneway behind the busy James St markeplace, Fortitude Valley. I have only recently become aware of the ideas around adaptively reusing buildings - to me this is a pretty damn good example, especially considering that the existing building was relatively plain and insignificant.

Before shots  {sourced from Campos}

Now shots {sourced from Studio Plus }