Director of Lab Architecture Studio, Donald Bates has been appointed Director of Architectural Design at the University of Melbourne.
Lab is the firm behind one of Melbourne's most famous and controversial buildings- Federation Square as well as holding a strong presence internationally with buildings in China, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Bates, a Texan by origin, said that his international networks will be an advantage to the students.
"I think it helps having had experience doing a lot of work overseas and travelling overseas and it helps more than anything just in terms of a network, and allowing students to become part of that network of knowing who is doing work in different parts of the world but also being able to work with other people," Bates said.
A number of these graduates will be join the growing trend for Australian firms collaborating internationally, Bates predicts.
"I think increasingly it'll be a lot more collaborative work it won't just be one architecture office doing something, it'll be different offices working in tandem on different scales of projects whether it's architects here going overseas or whether it's overseas architects coming here to work with local practices."
When asked what direction he thinks the university should direct students in he said:
"I think they need to have an ability to think critically and not just learn tasks, they need to be able to think across different types of opportunities as I think that is what's going to happen in architecture; it's not purely just an apprenticeship, it's actually a particular way of thinking."
The trend for Australians becoming a more prominent part of the world stage is due to the smaller market here and also the high quality and motivation of graduates being produced, said Bates.
"At the end of the day it's a fairly small market and Australia has a very advanced architectural culture and there is just not enough opportunities for the number of graduates as well as the kind of ambitions of the graduates that come out of Australia, so travelling overseas whether it's the Middle East or South East Asia, or back to Europe or maybe Latin America, it is part of the desire to deal with new projects and have the opportunities that don't exist here."
In terms of what Bates wants to see as focal points within the curriculum he said that a bigger emphasis on design and theory would beneficial for students.
"...in terms of exposure of students to different trends in design and architecture, in terms of maybe a more critical relationship to the work so that it's not just about fulfilling certain requirements but it's about the quality and sort of seriousness of the ideas that come out of the work- having that permeate a bit more through the studios and through the designs being developed within the faculty," he said.
The Dean of Architecture, Building and Planning, Professor Tom Kvan, said Bates’ blend of industry and academic experience would provide new opportunities for the faculty and its students.
“Donald’s appointment will provide vision and leadership in architectural design for the faculty at a time when we are not only working towards transforming our facilities, but the way we deliver teaching and research across the built environment and design disciplines,” he said.
