Design for Change Collective : Melbourne

17 July

2009-07-01T06:48:00.001-07:00

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Performing the Landscape

2009-06-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

Shaun Gladwell

Certainly one of the most interesting local artists

performing the landscape

view film here:

Pataphysical Man, 2005 by Shaun Gladwell

Roundtable

2009-06-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

blog blog blog

Roundtable blog

research
architecture
exploring the shifting network of spatial practices

Participants
Shumon Basar
Celine Condorelli
Pip Day
Francesca Ferguson
Anselm Franke
Beatrice Gibson
Joseph Grima
Sarah Herda
Manuel Herz
Angela Melitopolous
Markus Miessen
John Palmesino
Andreas Rumpfhuber
Ines Schaber
Florian Schneider
Susan Schuppli
Eyal Sivan
Srdjan Weiss
Paola Yacoub
Philippe Zourgane
Paulo Tavares
Manuel Singer
Eyal Weizman
Irit Rogoff

A Maze

2009-06-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

Amaze, 1971 by Yoko Ono.

A-maze-ing

2009-06-10T09:17:00.001-07:00

Floating Maze, 2007 by Peter Sandbichler.

A Current Map Of The Solar System

2009-06-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

Space re Place

2009-06-10T08:48:00.001-07:00

Look out for our exhibition as part of the 2009 State of Design Festival.

Space re Place is an exhibition introducing Melbourne’s new crop of designers and artists who respond to the current limits of architecture. The work deals with the themes of vacant space re-use in inner-city Melbourne, engaging directly with the exhibition site, the basement of one of the Venetian Gothic-inspired buildings in Melbourne’s west end built in the late 1800s.

The show will include new work from artists Nicholas Ashby, Julia Atkinson, Kristin Green, Giles Fielke, Marti Fooks, Andrew Kupresanin and Belinda Chen, and Andrew T. Møller.

See
Space re Place, 2009 State of Design Festival

Opening Friday 17 July
18 – 31 July, open Mon-Sat 11am-7pm
Location: Donkey Wheel, Basement, 673 Bourke Street, Melbourne (enter from Godfrey Street)

Form and Function Pavilion

2009-06-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

A pavilion for adaptive reuse and everyday vernacular

many thanks to Nicholas and Andy
photos by James

Building Pavilion

2009-05-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Black Sea

D4C on Australian Design Review

2009-05-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

....and more press on AustralianDesignReview.com

Many thanks to ADR and our wonderful media liason Gillian Tozer.

D4C on IndesignLive

2009-05-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

any press is good press....
mmmmm press press press
merci merci IndesignLive

Scaffolding - the New Black

2009-04-21T01:18:00.000-07:00

Come to Form and Function
Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Aril 30 - MAY 02

Creating Pavilion for Form and Function

2009-04-21T00:49:00.001-07:00

D4C Exhibition Application form for 'State of Design 2009'

2009-04-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

We are currently looking for artists/designers to participate in the Design for Change exhibition that will form part of this year's State of Design Festival.

If you are interested in exhibiting in this show please download the application form and artist brief from: http://sites.google.com/site/designforchangecollective

Please Note: Applications due APRIL 27 if you want to be published in the State of Design Advertising booklets.

Form and Function Proposal

2009-03-31T03:19:00.001-07:00

Nicholas Ashby and Andrew T Moller have designed a pavilion for the Form and Function Convention (April 30-May 2 at the Exhibition Centre), to represent Design for Change.

Below is the proposal:

Proposal
For the exhibition we are investigating existing systems that can be adapted to create a pavilion.

We did not want to create or customize materials rather adapt or manipulate an everyday product.
We proposed it to be a flexible system, reusable, temporary, easily assembled and disassembled.

We investigated the use of functional and practical everyday, every-job trade equipment that had potential to be re-used in a formal way.

Because of this, we wanted to use a product that was available for hire, traditionally unrecognised as architectural, and transform it into something that qualifies as functional and formal, touching on thematic instances of sustainability.

Concept

The 2009 Form and Function pavilion
‘A structure of standard every-job construction scaffolding’.

We want to investigate the broader possibilities of scaffolding in terms of its structure, and its ornamental and aesthetic properties.

Our intention is to assemble scaffolding in a way that is both highly designed and ornamental.

Scaffolding is made up of a few standard components and presents lots of options for generating a complex and provocative design.

We see ‘Scaffolding’ utilized at the birth of every new building, and removed at the end.
However, can scaffolding stand as the end product?

We are seeking to transform how scaffolding assists in sculpting the built environment, but more importantly how the material can become the architecture itself.

2009-03-22T23:57:00.000-07:00

Design for Change Collective will be participating in this years Form + Function event in collaboration with SONA (Student Organized Network of Architects) during the national AIA (Australian Institute of Architects) conference. We will have a 4 x 8m stall showcasing our Collective's Ideas and working with two other designers Nicholas Ashby and Andrew Moller to create a pavilion in the space.

ABOUT THE SHOW
Form & Function is Australia’s leading trade event for builders, architects, building designers, specifiers, developers, government and industry personnel. Industry suppliers will showcase the latest products, services and technologies for specification purposes for the building, architecture, construction and design industries. In addition, a series of informative, educational and interactive seminars from some of the top names in the architectural and building industries will run alongside Form & Function. These seminars will highlight some of the key trends and innovations that are shaping the future of the industry. Form & Function is held in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Architects who will hold their 2009 National Architecture Conference Parallax to coincide with the event.Form & Function is co-located with designEX, which is the largest design and interior architecture event in the Southern Hemisphere.

To register for the event (students register FREE) visit http://www.formandfunction.com.au/

Event runs from April 30 - May 2. Come down and see what goodies the Design for Change Collective has for you!

Great Quote: Francis Bacon

2009-03-08T03:46:00.000-07:00

'He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator.'

Figure with Meat, 1954.

State of Design Festival 2009

2009-03-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to announce that our premiere event will appear as part of this years State of Design Festival, Melbourne. Check out the link below to find out more about this years festival and past events:

We are still in the process of reviewing and selecting our exhibiting artists for this Design for Change event and would ask that anyone interested contact us to get involved. You can download our manifesto from our links section in the right column for more information about our event aspirations and expectations.

Design for Change Statement Download

2009-02-12T01:36:00.000-08:00

If you would like to download our information booklet you can find the PDF at the following site:

http://sites.google.com/site/designforchangecollective/

Great Quote: Buckminster Fuller (one of many!)

2009-02-10T03:17:00.001-08:00

'You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.'

Great Quote: Stanley Kubrick

2009-02-10T03:15:00.000-08:00

'The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent. But if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light'

The Collective Booklet!

2009-02-10T02:57:00.001-08:00

Pick your copy up today from Metropolis bookstore: Level 3 Curtin House, 252 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000. (Only a limited number available)

OR, e-mail us and we will send you a PDF copy!

All our details inside as well as a sneak peak of our upcoming event aspirations!

Inspiration: Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior)

2009-01-24T01:45:00.000-08:00

George Miller's Mad Max II 1981

...

Mad Max 2 is a self-consciously mythic film, in an extreme primal landscape. Max has left the suburbs behind – indeed, we’re not sure they even exist anymore, given the film’s prologue about a disastrous oil war that has ruined the earth. The postmodern film is again relevant today - given the disastrous state our world is in right now on so many fronts.

Sustainable Living

2009-01-13T04:19:00.000-08:00

What is this? We hear this word sustainability all the time; it has become the biggest marketing tool of the new millenium. Is what we are purchasing green and what does this even mean - there are so many ways to be green. The customer has been saturated with this notion of responsible living, that making a decision, albeit the right one, has become increasingly difficult in the current climate - and not to mention the cost of these green products are simply out of reach for the average household. Being green has become a trend, a fad, a T-shirt - making it hard to decipher the genuine products. The Collective Melbourne has a focued interest to interpret sustainable living modules as the re-use of space accross Melbourne city.

Inner City Melbourne. The bustling civic centre of our identidy - the core, the pedestrian, the innovative, where rent has continued to sky-rocket. Unfortuately, living in inner city Melbourne is quite simply not feasible for all. Even with the global economic and housing troubles and falling values of late - inner city Melbourne has held its prices well - and not surprisingly. We are lucky enough to have some of the best universities here, close proximity to the beach, the financial centre yet still flurishing with an extremely rich urban culture. Melbourne's street life is far from dull. But do we know this? Really? Do we use our spaces responsibly?

Just today the Collective was exploring the streets of the inner circle and came across many abandoned, forgotten, un-used spaces in the heart of our prime real-esate! New models of living were on display everwhere from the typical cookie-cutter designs we have learnt to tolerate and even accept?! With the challanges we face ahead of us in this consumer-driven society, with the hurdles we are trying to overcome within our environment, with the suffering that is waiting around the corner for so many Australians in the wake of the economic climate - Can we afford to take space for granted?

No. Design for Change are interested in promoting the concept of re-use, responsible development and re-establishing community. We hope to close the gap between academia and profession and restore the consumers trust by promoting an active approach to the ever growing complexities of sustainablity.

What Constitutes a Home?

2009-01-07T04:21:00.000-08:00

Images that appeared in the online Age today taken of the Melbourne University squatters. Thoughts that fill my head: the importance of a home, belonging, community, basic human right. The beautiful images of a young girl watering a makeshift garden, the 'family unit' sharing the days trials - the conversation will doubtless touch on politics, social justice and the environment, active believers making a stand.

Decision Time: Reality Hits Home

2009-01-07T04:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.theage.com.au/national/student-squatters-lose-legal-fight-20090105-7aj3.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/uni-squatters-gear-up-for-evictions-20090107-7bo1.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/point-made-its-time-to-move-on-20090105-7aj1.html

Another Look at Old Ideas: 'a man's home is his castle'

2009-01-06T17:03:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle_(film)

No Frills Melbourne Squatters Guide: Questions and Legalities

2009-01-06T16:38:00.000-08:00

WHAT IS SQUATTING? Squatting is the act of making use of empty, disused and abandoned property. It allows people who cannot otherwise afford to rent or purchase a house or building to put an empty one to productive use.

WHY SQUAT? Because it is obscene for thousands of properties to lie empty when there are people homeless or struggling to pay the rent. Because Ministry of Housing waiting lists are too long. Because housing is a basic human right and sometimes you have to take action to assert your rights.

GETTING ESSENTIAL SERVICES CONNECTED. Services such as electricity, water and gas cannot be legally denied to you as long as the wiring and plumbing, etc is still intact.

OFFENCES TO BE AWARE OF WHEN ATTEMPTING TO SQUAT. Criminal Damage, Wilful Damage, Possession of implements with intent to commit a burgulary, Possession of house breaking implements, Being found within the precincts of a building without legal excuse.

The courts have said that trespass on land is not a crime and so there has to be some unlawful or criminal intent linked to the reason you were found on the premises. This law has been brought in to supposedly punish behaviour linked to a criminal purpose or which "violates community standards of decorum and tranquility that is likely to put the occupiers in fear." Attempting to squat a house for emergency accomodation should not fit this definition.

SQUATTERS TITLE. The law prevents an owner from evicting a person in possession of the property after 15 years from the date of their possession (called "adverse possession"). Once you have occupied a property under adverse possession for 15 years you are entitled to have your name entered on the certificate of the title. You will need to prove your period of possession and cannot claim adverse possession of Government land. Establishing possession gives you a legal right to the property against all other people (including the police) except the owner. One way of proving the date of your possession is to lodge a caveat on the certificate of the title. A caveat is an order preventing the property from being sold, mortgaged, given away, etc unless the "caveator" is given 30 days notification.

COLLECTIVE STATEMENT. This is by no means meant as a 'guide' to assist in establishing a squat. The above information can be found in the Melbourne and Sydney Squatters Handbooks. We are interested in the legalities and grey areas that surround these issues, the basic humanitarian response, and the new design opportunities that can flurish when we question the cultural perception of a 'home' and explore new ideas in sustainable living.

Squat students set to defy uni order

2009-01-03T04:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.theage.com.au/national/squat-students-set-to-defy-uni-order-20081126-6isk.html

Students barricade vacant uni building calling for low-cost housing

2009-01-03T04:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24211861-2862,00.html