Zoë Geyer reviews our year of Sydney events.
A warm night on Friday 13 March saw myself and fellow ArchiTeam director Warwick Mihaly leap off a cold Melbourne flight and descend on the urban jungle of Surry Hills, NSW. Our first Sydney event for 2018 was a member night, a talented line-up gathered together by (and including) Eoghan Lewis. The event was held in the infamous Studio 5 co-habited by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, with Philip Thalis another of our speakers (not forgetting Phil was also an ArchiTeam Awards judge AND current independent councillor of City of Sydney). It was an inspiring night hearing from Anita Panov and Andrew Scott of Panov Scott; Amelia Holliday of Aileen Sage Architects; Peter McGregor of McGregor Westlake Architecture; Clinton Cole of CplusC Architectural Workshop; and Jennifer McMaster of TRIAS Studio. We were fortunate to hear the stories of some truly exceptional contemporary projects in NSW. We said farewell after dinner and much laughter, eager to revisit our Sydney architectural community again soon.
On a crisp evening in early May we gathered together in the Chippendale showroom of DesignByThem to discuss the Future of Architecture in Media. We were joined by moderator for the evening Ben Morgan, a journalist and co-founder of BowerBird. Ben led a discussion of industry greats – Holly Cunneen, Editor of Habitus Magazine; Chloe de Ridder, Managing Editor of realestate.com/lifestyle; Katherine Lu, photographer extraordinaire; and Verity Campbell of Verity Campbell Communication. A broad discussion captured the changing world of media, self-publication, and just WHAT stories are important to tell. Katherine Lu spoke of the need for honesty and storytelling in project photography. Chole de Ridder focused on finding the point of difference for the project – not everything has to be ‘crazy out-there’ to get attention. Verity Campbell suggested we need to get back to a more authentic way of presenting projects, where the medium isn’t distracting the message; work with what you’re about. Holly Cunneen discussed how journalists are often overwhelmed with opportunities to publish, so think laterally; perhaps going analogue and giving a tour of your project could provide that point of difference. Ben Morgan summed it up perfectly: the true meaning of media is connecting with people. We were pleased to bring together the architectural community for this CPD event.
Our third Sydney spectacular member night was in late September, organised by one of ArchiTeam’s own founding directors David McCrae at the Cosentino showroom in Alexandria. Speaking this evening was Drew Heath of Drew Heath Architects, well known for his zig-zag cabin, building his own freestanding building at the age of 28, and in more recent years as a host of channel 7’s House Rules. Drew talked about learning and making, about non-traditional architecture and an appreciation of simple materials tested as a framework for light, shadows, and reflection. He talked briefly of his celebrity fame with humour and understanding of how to stay true to yourself even in new situations. We were reluctant to leave at the end of the evening, and to our surprise Sydney airport delivered one more adventure with a cancelled flight and an unexpected overnight stay. Next time Sydney, we’ll pack pyjamas.
On Friday 31 October, we look forward to hosting our final Sydney event for the year – Sydney Project Night featuring Sam Marshall of Marshall Architects best known for being the architects of the recently completed Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. This event will again be hosted by the team at Consentino. Book now
ArchiTeam have loved running more events in Sydney this year and it’s been amazing to put names to faces AND see what amazing work this sparkly city is currently producing. We look forward to more future events in 2019!
Zoë Geyer is a Director of ArchiTeam and oversees the Advocacy and Awards portfolios. She also co-hosts The Naked Architect series, a collaboration between ArchiTeam and Open House Melbourne. Zoë is the principal architect of ZGA STUDIO in Melbourne.