BLUE MOUNTAINS, 19TH-21ST SEPTEMBER 2024.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEEP HILL MEDIA, with FURNITURE MAKING WORKSHOP IMAGES BY TAHLIA GARLAND & sketches by hannah blumberg

“For me, the main word I would use to describe the event was “refreshing”. It was a time to stop, remove my mind from checklists, controls, and to-do lists, and take stock of what we do as architects.”

PERIPHERAL: AROUND THE EDGES OF CREATIVITY was my first experience of a Regional Architecture Association event, and I certainly hope to be a repeat attendee! I work at Integrated Design Group, alongside the event creative directors Tahlia Garland and Andrew Elia. It has been exciting overhearing snippets over the last few months of what they were planning, and where they saw the theme of the event going. Heading into the weekend, the line-up of speakers and fringe events was looking very strong. I was very keen, and it did not disappoint! So first up, thank you to Tahlia and Andrew, along with the RAA committee and Rhiannon Slatter who conceived and delivered this event. Thank you also to all the speakers, and hosts of the fringe events. It was clear how much went into the weekend in terms of creative energy, careful thought, logistics and communication, and it was an incredible display of what RAA has to offer.

For me, the main word I would use to describe the event was “refreshing”. It was a time to stop, remove my mind from checklists, controls, and to-do lists, and take stock of what we do as architects. It was inspiring to hear from so many speakers, so much more creative than myself, and from all different backgrounds and inclinations. For a short time, we got to view the world as they do, with its constraints and possibilities, to perceive people and places through their eyes, and to see how they’ve responded through their creations. Much like the cool mountains breeze it was a breath of fresh air.

Activities kicked off at Natural Brick in Warragamba, where Will, Sarah, and the team hand-craft air-dried bricks, using techniques first encountered by them when on exchange in Africa. It was striking how ancient and hands-on the process is, and yet they can get structural, exposure-grade bricks, for contemporary architecture. The other thing, that seems obvious but was impactful to physically see, is just how much more efficient rectangular bricks are compared to curved ones—seeing the curved ones taking up three times the space really drove home the material cost involved in the latest curved-wall trend, though there’s no denying how beautiful they look. After touring the factory, we got the chance to try our hand at making terrazzo. Our group got very enthusiastic about crushing our aggregate quite small – I’m looking forward to seeing it polished up and finding out if the effort was worth it! It was great to get our hands dirty and connect with the materials up close.

We left our drying terrazzo tiles behind and wound our way up to Katoomba for the welcome to country and yarning with Aunty Carol. We gathered under the branches of a large gum tree, looking out over the Gully where Aunty Carol and her community used to live, before they were moved out in the 1950’s to make way for a racetrack. Aunty Carol has recently taken on the role of Elder, from her elder sister before her, and her mother before that. She spoke quietly and gently about her and her siblings’ experiences growing up in Katoomba, of separation, humiliation, and even physical attack. She spoke also about the example of her parents, who always kept their chin up, and who taught them that despite what people around them might say and do, that they were “somebody”. She encouraged us that we were all “somebody” too, and that is the blessing that we can carry to others, to let them feel seen and heard.

On Friday the Everglades House and Gardens in Leura welcomed us with an incredible display of blossoms and tulips, fresh breeze, dappled sunlight and views across the purple valley. We kicked off the morning with a screening of the short film APERTURE: Artie Smith Oval, looking at the design and realisation of the oval and facilities in Bomaderry by Ayling & Drury Landscape Architecture, Barnacle Studio, and LocalArchitect South Coast. They beautifully described the oval as the melting pot for communities, cultures, and generations. The sports centre sits as the backdrop to this activity, with the layers of gum trees and the escarpment beyond. The film explored the response to site, the collaboration, and the impact of the project on the community.

Brett Boardman took us on a journey of peripheral vision in his photography, through projects in the Mountains, architecture, the theatre, Japan, art, and portraiture. I loved his description of approaching photography of architecture like a wild animal, slowly circling in, exercising patience, documenting the context. His photographic techniques are largely inspired by art, rather than photography, as he wants to find ways to be “close to the idea”. Very humbly, as his talk progressed, Brett slowly talked himself out of a job, wishing the magazines were full of our sketches not glossy photos. It is the sketch that captures the idea. He encouraged us to stay close to the idea – and to develop not a good set of eyes, but rather a good set of ears – listen, and observe, and our work will be better.

James Stockwell took us through an array of Australian and NZ landscapes with his architectural explorations. He challenged us “there is no such thing as bad weather; just bad clothing choices” - how do we make architecture that is fit for its surroundings? Each project was unique in style, material and form, responding to the wind, sun, snow, client. He managed to simplify a few of his discoveries into single sentences which I hurriedly scribbled down. “A tapering building shares the landscape.” “Every time you can find the patience to do a model it will be invaluable to improving your building because you see it in a different way.” “A North-South crest is far more successful that an E-W trough.” – a reference to public spaces and the relative success of evolved spaces such as Crown St in Surrey Hills as against formally planned spaces such as Martin Place, due to their orientation. I believe Rick Leplastrier later in the day described James affectionately as “crazy” – his presentation was an inspirational dip into the way he thinks and responds with design.

At about that point we were all extremely grateful for some sunshine over morning tea, to defrost from the chilly Leura air, and get some blood back in the toes! I was extremely grateful for my woollen coat, and the glorious stream of sun coming in the back of the marquee. It also gave us a chance to wander through the beautiful grounds, and check out the products from RAA’s Technical Members Weathertex, AWS, Stormtech, Arcpanel, Danpal, Tait, Natural Brick, Savage Design, Artedomus along with local business Against the Grain.

We then entered the world where art meets architecture in bamboo with Juan Pablo Pinto. He and the team at Cave Urban have built up a business of creating building-scale bamboo art installations and follies, asking questions like “how permanent does architecture have to be?” Their pieces aren’t treated, so they might only last 2 to 4 years. Over their time working with bamboo they have got to know it’s properties and developed techniques of bending and weaving to achieve the forms. Every plantation and type of bamboo is different, and there is no building code, so every project starts with testing the limits of the specimen, feeding this information back to the engineers, and pushing the limits of what can be achieved. They work flexibly, non-linearly, with no fixed connections, just tangling and matting the material together. They are the designers, the artists, the craftsmen, and the labourers. I had the pleasure of chatting with JP over dinner about how the hands-on way they work with bamboo carries over in their approach to architecture, choosing to document less and be on site, working through design solutions with the craftsmen in real time.

Hannah Tribe wowed us with her easy manner, and her generous honesty in sharing the failures that have led to their successes, and even failures that haven’t led anywhere much at all… Through various examples of Tribe Studio’s work, and the stories that shaped the projects, Hannah talked to us about the process of design, of dreaming up ideas with a group of people, of holding the ideas lightly and leaning into not knowing where you’re going. She talked about the need for a counterpart to the creativity, to give push back and limitations that elevate the design. They approach houses as portraiture, allowing them as designers to hold the space between the ideas and the client. One of the most refreshing things from Hannah’s talk was hearing her talk about the need for different types of people in architectural practice. There’s the labrador pup, energetically pumping out ideas without control or direction; the Italian greyhound, the critical voice and risk assessor who comes in to assess the labradors work; and then the Aussie sheepdogs, who tirelessly problem solve, and see the design through to the end. The sheepdogs get undersold at uni, but they actually make up 75% of the work in practice.

Lunch was again delicious – provided by the awesome Finn & Co. After some nourishment, and glad that the day was warming up, we excitedly settled back into the marquee to listen to Richard Leplastrier. I’m trying to distil what I learnt from Richard… but it’s very difficult. It felt a lot less like a presentation of points, and more like sitting at the feet of a master, or a grandparent, and just trying to soak up their ethos, the way they see the world, the things they notice. He spoke to us about the great teachers in his life: his parents and free childhood in Tasmania; drawing master Lloyd Reece; architectural master Jørn Utzon; philosopher and architectural professor Masuda Tomoya; and Aboriginal Elder Uncle Max. We rise or fall on the backs of others he reminded us. He took us through a series of “beautiful ideas” as he called them, all the while referring back to sketches and the power of drawing. He was calm, humble, and peaceful.

Bernadette (B) Hardy and Genevieve Murray jointly closed out the day for us. B is a spatial designer and PHD researcher, focusing on the way that design can allow us to connect with each other and with Country. She is an advisor and champion for Country as well as autistic communities. Genevieve is an architect, who now lives in the mountains, and has built deep connections with the First Nations community there, and also partners with B on various projects. Together they brought us back to the tales told by Aunty Carol the day before, and to an awareness of all the people who might come into contact with our designs. They encouraged us to create opportunities for people on the edges to join the mainstream, places that aren’t conditional, and allow people from all walks and experiences to partake.

Dinner at Bowery Kitchen and Bar was not only delicious, but a lovely opportunity to connect with more people from the event.

The next morning, some early risers made it to a look-out walk… I took the opportunity for a little bit more sleep, before re-joining the group for the tour of 3 wonderful mountains houses. The first was Domicelj House by Richard Leplastrier, or “Joan’s House” as it was more affectionately referred to. Followed by two houses by James Stockwell which could not have been more different from each other – one in Leura, exploring the Japanese concept of “discontinuous unity”, and the other a concrete bunker partner to the art-deco house adjacent, Moirai in Katoomba. We had the privilege of having Richard and James respectively at the sites with us to describe the intent, the decisions, the challenges of the projects. After having engaged with the “conceptual” for all of Friday, it was really enjoyable to see the translation of theory into reality – the way the houses responded to the energy of the landscape, offered protection, offered connection, each in their own way. The boisterous grandeur of Moirai sat in contrast to the much lighter touch of Joan’s House and the Leura House. Each were beautifully conceived and crafted and as Hannah Tribe had put it, a portrait of their owners.

I got on the Blue Mountains train somewhat exhausted, yet invigorated, and very much enjoyed the solitude of the ride home to rest and reflect on the events of the past couple of days.

We look forward to seeing you all on 21st March 2025 for our next event in Canberra.

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