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Ideas
Tzannes’ Amy Dowse on three golden rules for a viable practice
Tzannes Director Amy Dowse sets out a triangle of three golden rules for a successful practice: leadership, rigour and respect.
Events
Saturday Indesign memories: Escaping the corporate catch-up trap
Cox Architecture’s Remy Chard reminisces about her interstate trip for Saturday Indesign two years ago, writing that such design events can act as catalysts for connection while countering the ‘catch-up trap’.
Ideas
Byera Hadley travelling scholar: What I learned about Autism-friendly design across three continents
Illiana Jones, a graduate at Sam Crawford Architects, reports back from her recent Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship on autism-friendly design from London to Cairo.
Events
Reporting back from a Scandinavian design odyssey
Following a design pilgrimage through Copenhagen, Stockholm and Finland, FK’s Nicky Drobis reflects on 3daysofdesign, the work of Aino and Alvar Aalto, and why great design begins and ends with people.
Events
3daysofdesign diaries with Jason Gibney
The Sydney-based director of Jason Gibney Design Workshop travelled to Copenhagen for this year’s Scandinavian festival of design, reflecting on what makes the event — and the city — so special.
Workplace
Comment: Why the most valuable workplace connections are built offline
Davenport Campbell’s Neill Johanson argues that, in a hybrid era, the office is no longer justified by attendance alone.
Ideas
Comment: The design story behind storytelling spaces
What exactly does a theatre consultant do, and why are they an important part of designing the spaces in which we tell the most dramatic stories? Charcoalblue’s Erin Shepherd tells us more.
Events
Led by designers: Casting a curatorial eye across Melbourne Design Week
Curator, writer and educator Kate Goodwin was in town for Melbourne Design Week. Here, she reflects on how light-touch organising and designer-led spaces created some of the most impactful, distinctive exhibitions.
Ideas
A grand architectural tour of India – from a student’s perspective
What insights, impressions and inspirations does a student of architecture gain from travel? Khushi Chevli, based in Sydney, recently travelled around India, so we asked her to share the experience with us.
Events
Designing density with character in our inner suburbs
Kerstin Thompson of KTA and Neometro Director Lochlan Sinclair discuss density, character and the inner city during a recent gathering in St Kilda East.
Workplace
Comment: Four design principles pushing beyond the office in 2026
As 2026 gathers pace, Davenport Campbell Principal Neill Johanson argues that the people-place-process nexus in workplace design just won’t cut it any longer.
Events
Reframing the vertical: Lessons from Miami, Doha and the Gold Coast
Following the World Architecture Festival (WAF) towards the end of 2025, Plus Studio Director Michael McShanag reflects on high-rise living from Miami to the Gold Coast.
Ideas
Architecture, democracy and feeling at home in our cities
The built environment is all around us; would the average citizen feel less alienated if the education system engaged more explicitly with it?
Workplace
The invisible workforce: Davenport Campbell on the risks and realities of remote work
Neill Johanson, Principal at Davenport Campbell, comments on what we might be losing and gaining with the expansion of remote work.
Ideas
Comment: “Heritage architecture and climate resilience – don’t throw the baby out with the floodwater”
David Gole, principal at leading climate-resilient design practice JDA Co., comments on the intersection between heritage and climate in architecture.
Events
From the rational to the poetic: Reflections on the Murcutt Symposium 2025
Having recently attended the Symposium as the Murcutt Pin-holder, Sydney-based architect Jamileh Jahangiri reflects on the importance of the gathering.
Events
What is the role of design in a world in crisis?
At the World Design Congress in London, a simple idea threaded through two dense days: design is not an island. It moves inside wider systems of economics, policy, finance and ecology.
Events
Architecture as laboratory: Notes from the Venice Biennale with David Holm
In this comment piece, COX Principal David Holm reflects on Carlo Ratti’s curatorship in which climate, colonisation and gender equity took centre stage at the Venice Biennale.
Ideas
Comment: To reach net-zero, we must tackle the ‘too hard’ basket
In this comment piece by Dr Matthias Irger – Head of Sustainability at COX Architecture – he argues for an approach to design that prioritises retrofitting, renovation and reuse.
Events
A fresh take: Inside Adelaide Design Week
The inaugural Adelaide Design Week *everywhere unfolded across five days and nights, bringing together the creative community in a way that hadn’t happened before. Organiser and regular contributor Bronwyn Marshall gives us the inside story.
Workplace
Davenport Campbell: Forget ‘future-proof,’ because your workplace is about to perceive, adapt and evolve
Davenport Campbell’s Neill Johanson shares insights from WORKTECH25 and the impact of AI on the workplace experience.
Ideas
Ross Harding: What about the work-life balance of our cities?
The Finding Infinity Principal comments here on the question of balance in city life, with architecture and design highlighted as the key levers for making change.
Events
Ballarat’s UNESCO Creative City status drives craft renaissance and economic growth
With events such as Craft Lab and The Great Takeaway, the city of Ballarat is centring design and craft for an economic reawakening.
Events
The cultural value of craft: How craft communities strengthen regional identity
As a UNESCO Creative City of Craft and Folk Art, Ballarat is hosting Craft Lab and The Great Takeaway this month. Nicole Durling, Executive Director at Craft Victoria, tells us more.
Ideas
ArtMade Architects’ Director weighs in on NSW Housing Policy
With more NSW Housing Policy rolled out early this year, ArtMade Architects’ Sherif Saad comments on the importance of good design to its success.
Workplace
Comment: The potential of story-telling in understanding neurodiversity
Davenport Campbell’s Anneke Alberto and Kathryn Marshall comment on the fallacy of averages in workplace design.
Ideas
Comment: Buchan on how to harness AI in your practice
Jeames Hanley discusses four ways in which design practices can make the most of AI and automation to boost their design value in 2025.
Ideas
“The opposing priorities of speed and leisure”: Woods Bagot on airport design
With Woods Bagot as Lead Design & Delivery Architect for Western Sydney International Airport (WSI), Ian Lomas comments on the debate between speed and leisure in airports.
Ideas
Comment: Designing for community harmony in mixed-use urban renewal
“The primary objective is to mitigate noise at the source” – this comment piece by Daniele Albanese, Head of Acoustics APAC, Cundall delves into how this pre-emptive solution can be soundly integrated.
Ideas
BLP comment: Can gender separation support mental health recovery?
Tonya Hinde, BLP Principal, comments on the importance of gender separation in the context of mental health design.
Workplace
The Big Calm: 2024 Workplace Futures Report by Hassell
We speak to Dr Daniel Davis, Hassell Head of Research and author of a recent landmark piece of workplace design research.
Ideas
Troy Uleman comment: Sydney Metro and why we need more great stations
The John McAslan + Partners Sydney studio lead and director writes on the importance of transport infrastructure.
Ideas
Balarinji comment: Designing with Country offers a unique opportunity for designers
In this comment piece, Indigenous Creative Lead at Balarinji, Johnny Bridges, discusses designing with Country and the environment.
Ideas
Hayball on inclusivity in education: A diverse range of spaces for a diverse range of students
Hayball Senior Associate Laura Ulph delves into the diverse needs of contemporary education design, with additional comments from Senior Associate Kerlina Bahari and Principal Harry Nicholas.
Workplace
The (slowly) evolving workplace: Hassell releases research on hybrid work
New research by Hassell with Density shows North American tech offices are lagging in adapting to hybrid work, resulting in underutilised spaces.
Ideas
Comment: Innovative playground design sets new benchmark for outdoor play spaces
In response to climate change, landscape architect and TCL Adelaide Director Damian Schultz shares important design evolutions for global play spaces.
Ideas
Richard Francis-Jones: Whose city is it anyway?
Richard Francis-Jones, Design Director at fjcstudio, writes about the search for public space between the consumerism of commercial self-interest and the bureaucratic authoritarianism of the state.
Ideas
Comment: The fight against mould
In this comment piece, Ashburner Francis Mechanical Engineer & ESD expert, Lara Bailey, reflects on her work with Australian architecture practices and the challenges facing design teams in the wake of soaring summers.
Ideas
Comment: Reimagining the Lifestyle Hotel
In this comment piece, James Huntly – founder and creative director of AboundStudio – considers the meaning of really ‘sleeping with the brand.’
Ideas
Comment: FK on designing hotels for the modern age and redefining their place within communities
Angela Biddle, Principal and interior designer at multi-disciplinary international design firm FK, comments on how hotel design is evolving.
Ideas
Comment: Lighting and circular economy on a finite planet
In this comment piece, Matt Marshall, Head of Lighting Design at Cundall Singapore, considers circular thinking and how to make a high impact in the right way.
Articles
Distilling modernity: In conversation with Giulio Cappellini
In an exclusive interview with one of the most iconic figures on the international design scene, Cappellini’s charismatic art director talks about design that transcends time and geographical context, embraces diversity – and captures the elusive essence of our times.
Ideas
Supporting First Nations artists to deliver authentic stories in urban landscapes
Tilt Industrial Design Managing and Creative Director, Tim Phillips, comments on how industrial design intersects with First Nations artists.
Ideas
AD-APT: Deep floorplates and adaptive reuse with Woods Bagot
Matt Stephenson, Principal at Woods Bagot New York, discusses a number of adaptive reuse approaches for deep floorplates.
Ideas
TCL comment: Harnessing the power of design to transform cities
Scott Adams, TCL Director, comments on the power of good urban design and landscape architecture.
Ideas
The dialectic of colonialism: Rethinking maps, remaking our cities
Dallas Rogers, Head of Urban Discipline at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, comments on the history of map-making in our cities.
Ideas
Comment: Encouraging children to thrive in sustainable and inclusive outdoor classrooms
Hamish Dounan, Director of Sydney-based landscape architecture studio, CONTEXT, shares his insights on the possibilities of outdoor learning in education design.
Ideas
Hatch comment: The future of urban regeneration is here
In this comment piece, Mike Day, partner at Hatch, draws on his three decades as an urban design leader to offer insights into how Australian cities could become fit for the future.
Ideas
T.C.L comment: Unlocking the potential of Brisbane’s creek catchments
Deb Robbins, T.C.L Brisbane Studio principal, shares her vision for a series of catchment ‘corridors’ to unify the city.
Events
Kaunitz Yeung Architecture comment: Architecture and The Voice
On the eve of The Voice referendum, David Kaunitz comments on the power of listening and collaboration in Indigenous communities.
Ideas
Plus Architecture comment: What’s next on the Queensland hospitality frontier?
Kate Ockwell, interior design associate at Plus Architecture, comments on the four ideas hoteliers, restaurateurs and their interior designers should be considering when designing their spaces.
Ideas
HDR comment: A decade of data-driven transformation
In this comment piece by Lin (Leo) Meng, computational design lead at HDR, we hear about the interface of data and design.
Ideas
Comment: Why is it important to communicate the value of architecture?
In this comment piece, Lindy Johnson, director of Lindy Johnson Creative, urges architecture to communicate its value. Johnson says that architects are needed more than ever but their value is highly underrated — and that we’re all the poorer for it.