Three of Melbourne’s top architects and academics – Tony Mussen, Blair Gardiner and Paolo Tombesi – have joined forces to launch the nation’s latest word on green architecture, Take 5 Looking Ahead: Defining the terms of a sustainable architectural profession, in Melbourne this week.
The trio now joins a long line of successful Australian architects to publish books in the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Take Series after winning the Institute’s 2005 RAIA Sisalation Prize. Previous recipients include Keith Cottier, Noel Robinson, Ken Woolley, Philip Cox and Colin Still.
Using a combination of theoretical positions, analytical descriptions, and practice-based experiences, Take 5 is designed to help the profession consider whether historical trends and changing supply-demand conditions point to a substantial rethinking of the services provided by architects and of their wider role in Australian society.
RAIA National President Carey Lyon says Take 5 aims to define a platform for active urban, industrial, and environmental policy-making discussion within the architectural profession.
“This publication offers valuable insights based on thoughtful research into the elements that affect the architectural profession’s markets, but which are not often explicitly discussed from a disciplinary perspective: definition of future demand; appropriateness of supply; cost, value and price determinants of building products and design services,” Lyon says.
The RAIA Sisalation Prize is the longest-standing prize offered by the Institute and has been sponsored since its inception in 1956 by Insulation Solutions (formally ACI Insulation). The company has had a long and distinguished history in the building industry and has manufactured Sisalation reflective foil sarking for more than 50 years.
