Better than Make-do and Mend

News reaches me of The Architectural Centre putting on a Symposium, and that pleases me greatly. Friday May 15 & Saturday May 16.

Great idea – and well done to Arch Centre and to all involved, including Ken Davis, Frank Stark, Rachel Paschoalin, Rachel MacIntyre, Francisco Carbajal, Rob Tse, Liz Cowey, Arindam Sen, Cansu Inal Kaynar, and Athfield Architects:

This symposium responds to Rachel MacIntyre’s essay The Architect as repairer: the retrofit imperative. Focusing on her suggestion that “a cultural shift among architects” is required, “embracing imperfection, revealing the junctions between old and new, and prioritising reused or low-impact materials.” 

Our symposium asks, ‘when does adaptive reuse produce better architecture than building new?’ countering assumptions that mending a building is just making-do with what we already have, and that retrofit is merely a concession to energy, carbon &/or economic austerity.

We are leaving the definition of ‘better architecture’ deliberately broad because this is where we hope discussion will emerge. Implicitly we are suggesting that reuse and retrofit provides greater potential for things like:

  • continuity in urban space while promoting an enrichment of urban experience
  • spatial and material diversity by mixing existing and new building elements
  • inventiveness, because the complexity of retrofit can challenge the design response.

The symposium will combine recent research, theoretical case studies and built examples to facilitate critical and open-ended discussion.

Schedule

Friday May 15

3:30 to 5:30pm _ Opening Panel

Saturday May 16

9:30 to 11:00am _ The Case for Gordon Wilson Flats

The Gordon Wilson Flats were completed in 1959 and occupied until 2012. The final example of a series of housing innovations by the Office of the Government Architect, the decision to demolish the building was written into the Resources Management Amendment Act, 2025, as ‘section 85AAA.’

11:30 to 1:00pm _ Collage City

In riposte to Modern city planning ideals Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter coined the term ‘collage city’ (1978) to describe an urbanism where old and new buildings could be held in dynamic contrast. Today we might think in terms of sustainability enacted through adaptation, and diversity that supports resilience.

1:30 to 2:30pm _ The Case of 84 Taranaki Street

Built by the Winston Concrete Company in the late 1960s, this building was empty for many years before the Film Archive moved in and adapted it to create archive facilities and public facing venues. This presentation will discuss the process from the perspective of both client and architect/

  • Frank Stark – ‘the client’
  • Ken Davis – ‘the architect’

3:00 – 5:00pm _ propose and debate

This session will start with a quiz.

A student’s provocation will then direct discussion of the vignettes (5-10 min films profiling local and international projects) shown throughout the day.

BOOK HERE

There is a single EventBrite booking for this event. Please send an email after booking if you plan to also, or only, attend on Saturday. This is for catering purposes.

The event is being run on koha.

If you are in a position to financially support please help us out by making a direct payment to AC accounts (eg. $10 per day for catering), or consider joining/renewing you membership.

Account details:

06-0501-0160299-00
THE ARCHITECTURAL CENTRE INC

Fish

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