USYD Architecture students propose plans for sea level rise.

The sustainabability team at Master of Architecture in University of Sydney – who set students the challenge of tackling global issues as part of their academic assignments – have taken a bold new step in sustainablity education.

Glen Hill and Daniel Ryan – coordinators of the Sustainable Architecture Research Studio – seized a different approach last semester when they introduced a real project for students to get their teeth into.

Students were challenged to propose architectural ideas to adapt to sea level rise in Lake Macquarie, as a response to one of the most critical impacts of global warming.

Considered one of the richest programs in the final 2 years of Architecture in the University of Sydney, the focus of the project is to develop a range of architectural design solutions that are adaptable over time and have the capacity to transform and respond to the incremental process of sea level rise.

“It is rethinking an architecture of the essential, a playfulness of the essential, and this program is a good challenge for that,” commented well-known architect Nick Murcutt.

Selected projects from a number of students were proposed to the Lake Macquarie City Council on 3 December 2009, and were exhibited for a week in the Swansea Library hoping that the proposals can help Lake Macquarie adapt to sea level rise.

University of Sydney
usyd.edu.au