68rethinking cities steffen Lehmann will direct the new Oz-china sustainable urban research centre

66danieL emmathe local design couple on their global achievements

70this mOnthYour guide to this month’s design, planning and innovation events

daniel emma

Australian Instituteof Landscape Architects

DESIGN PLANNING INNOVATION

ThE ADELAIDE REVIEW FEBRuARy 2013

FORM

66 ThE ADELAIDE REVIEW february 2013

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Leanne Amodeo

When daniel emma won the prestigious Bombay sapphire design discovery award (Bsdda) in 2010 it made a lot

of people stand up and take notice; not that anyone should have been surprised. since graduating from the University of south australia’s industrial design course in 2007 the husband and wife design duo of daniel to and emma aiston were already appearing on international design radars. in 2009 Wallpaper* magazine had them picked as emerging designers to watch and in that same year they were runners up in the Bsdda. their 2010 win was a watershed moment from which commissions followed. “Winning the award was a stepping stone for us,” to says. “and it was a goal that we were adamant we needed to achieve.”

it also generated a lot of media interest in the rosewater-based designers, with much of the attention focusing on their decision to remain in adelaide. “We lived in London for two years following graduation and we came back to get married,” aiston explains. “We were going to go away again but stayed. Living in adelaide allows us to have a comfortable lifestyle while still being able to save that little bit of extra money, which means we can travel.” the decision to remain may have been a personal one, but it also serves them professionally by creating a point of difference with international suppliers and manufacturers only familiar with sydney and melbourne.

daniel emmadaniel emma’s other major point of difference

is the scale in which they work. at a time when so many industrial designers are creating larger scale work, to and aiston’s vessels and objects are a refreshing change of pace. amusingly, the choice to design on a small scale may have initially been borne of necessity due to a lack of space. “We lived in a small flat in London and we didn’t have a car, so we had to take the tube everywhere,” to laughs. Whatever the impetus, the savvy design duo soon realised that no-one else was making desk accessories and so they carved out their niche. not to be pigeon-holed, however, to and aiston’s most recent collections are not for the desk.

their Sweets collection, which was exhibited in Vera Chapter 2 at the 2012 London design festival, consists of a vase, container and candlestick. it is an elegantly resolved expression of form and colour that exemplifies what daniel emma does best. each product is breathtaking in its exacting simplicity and surprising in its robust solidity. Sweets also raises questions of influence via its vaguely 1980s postmodern memphis aesthetic. according to aiston, however, daniel emma’s influences are closer to home. “We’re not necessarily influenced by particular international designers or movements. We’re just designing things that we like and the things that influence these designs are from our everyday life.”

to maintain a broad design perspective, to and aiston travel to europe once a year, which also allows them the opportunity to reconnect with their many networks. it means they are

We’re not necessarily

influenced by particular international designers or movements. We’re just designing things that we like and the things that influence these designs are from our everyday life."

“

daniel to and emma aiston

ThE ADELAIDE REVIEW february 2013 67

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regular exhibitors at both the London design festival and milan furniture fair, and it was at the latter that they were invited by Wallpaper* magazine in 2012 to collaborate with guerlain as part of the Handmade exhibition. creating a collection of polished brass and aluminium dressing table accessories allowed to and aiston to design a series of unexpected sculptural casings for the cosmetic giant. “We always like to create some sort of surprise in everything we do,” to says.

But perhaps the biggest surprise is yet to come with daniel emma exhibiting a collection of furniture towards the end of this year. to and aiston will be part of an exhibition curated by the Jacky Winter group and held in the collective’s Lamington drive gallery in melbourne. “Up until recently we haven’t had the space to make anything bigger, but we have a studio now,” says to. daniel emma is also currently working on a number of different projects with local companies and these will come to fruition towards the end of the year. “We also have the London design festival as a goal,” says aiston. “and milan… we only had a six to eight week turnaround period with the guerlain project last year. so we never know, something might come up…” and judging by daniel emma’s recent successes it’s a sure bet to say that something will come up.

daniel-emma.com

68 ThE ADELAIDE REVIEW february 2013

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Steffen Lehmann

When australia’s chief scientist,

Professor ian chubb, recently

launched his national

research investment Plan,

some comments he made strongly resonated with

me. chubb said, “the most pressing concerns

for australian researchers were responding to a

changing planet and the challenges of the asian

century”, and “… we need to be in there right now

seeking solutions to some of these challenges”.

the china–australia centre for sustainable

Urban development at the University of south

australia (Unisa) has been developed to find just

those solutions – to the world’s environmental

concerns and the challenges and opportunities of

the asian century. the centre is part of a strategy

to develop close research and educational links

with top universities and municipalities in

china, with a view to establishing a sustainable

engagement for Unisa in a country that is

becoming increasingly important in science,

technology and design.

rethinking citiesthe University of south australia has teamed up with china’s tianjin University in developing the new china–australia research centre for sustainable Urban development (cac_sUd) to address the challenges and opportunities surrounding urban growth in the 21st century.

The ASiAn CenTury

the asia-Pacific region has seen rapid growth on

an unprecedented scale, drawing focus to a region

that is ambitious for economic advancement. china

has a strong awareness of sustainability issues

and a willingness to address these issues. With

china’s transformation to a knowledge-based

society, the global centre of gravity has started

to shift to the asia-Pacific region. australia is no

longer orientated toward Britain and europe as

it was in the earlier part of the last century. in the

21st century, australia’s relationship with asia is

characterised by an openness to and integration

with the region, which have accelerated over

the past four decades and laid the foundation

for australians to benefit from the opportunities

stemming from the region – such as the surge

in resource demand, rapid urbanisation and the

rising middle class in asia. as china’s middle class

increases, so too does their disposable income and

consumption levels.

CiTieS of Tomorrow

Urbanisation in asian societies involves hundreds

of millions of people—many times the number of

australia’s current population. the scale and pace

of urban growth in china is a defining feature

for many countries in the 21st century, with

profound implications for people everywhere.

it will be crucial how the asia-Pacific transforms

and develops its urban growth and that the region

adopts a sustainable approach to city development.

cities in the asia-Pacific will need to be kept

dynamic, inclusive, complex and vibrant, but also

healthy and resilient, ensuring wellbeing of their

urban citizens, democratic participation processes

of their residents and sustainable flows; these flows

need to go beyond flow of data and money to

include the sustainable flow of resources, materials,

energy, transport, water, biodiversity, nutrients and

food – cycling energy and material (waste) flows.

this goes far beyond the conventional thinking

of aesthetics and functional city form; it is about

the longer-term sustainability of urban settlements.

for forward-looking academics it is essential

to engage in the region and think beyond mere

low value-adding commodity exports. there are

dangers from growing pollution and greenhouse

gas emissions; with ever-growing energy

tianjin

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ThE ADELAIDE REVIEW february 2013 69

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consumption, china now accounts for over a

quarter of all global greenhouse gas emissions.

innovation and expertise in sustainable processes

have become more important than ever for

australia in finding avenues through which to

engage with the asia-Pacific region.

The ChinA–AuSTrALiA CenTre

tianjin University – ranked in the top one per cent in

the country – is in tianjin, a city of 12 million people

located around 30 minutes by high-speed rail from

Beijing, and which the chinese government

identifies as a science ‘cluster’ city. there is a strong

synergy and overlay between both universities

cooperating through the china–australia centre

for sustainable Urban development.

the aim of the centre is to build a world-class

multidisciplinary research-intensive centre,

focusing on sustainable urban development. it

explores strategies to enhance urban sustainability

practices and policies in china, australia and other

cities in the asia-Pacific region. Leading experts

and practitioners in urban sustainability will

engage governments, businesses and other experts

to help solve challenges such as how municipalities

can better incorporate urban sustainability into

their strategic plans. the success of urbanisation

in the asia-Pacific will be critical to its economic

and social development.

governments and municipalities in the asia-Pacific

The aim of the Centre is to build a world-class multidisciplinary research-intensive

centre, focusing on sustainable urban development. It explores strategies to enhance urban sustainability practices and policies in China, Australia and other cities in the Asia-Pacific region.”

“

will need to develop better incentives for people to

take action to protect our ecosystems, which we risk

destroying if we follow the consumption patterns of

the last two decades. this is particularly interesting

with regard to china’s increasing role as consumer

and australia’s as provider of natural resources.

in general, there are two solutions for this: see the

necessity to change ahead of time and adapt by

making changes; or don’t make the changes and

be finally forced to anyway.

technology must always be embedded into a

societal framework to be effective. the collaboration

signifies the universities’ commitment to furthering

china’s socially sustainable urban growth and

to local contributions that tackle global issues.

the role of technology alone is hereby limited.

While technological innovation has served to

reduce the impact of some long-term problems –

for instance, new technologies have dramatically

increased harvests and improved access to

education – technology doesn’t invent itself and

these achievements are always the result of decades

of hard work and investment in research programs.

the aim is also to scale up technologies, from

the building level to low carbon precincts, and

potentially to influence urbanisation activity in our

asian neighbourhood. the biggest opportunity for

emission reductions is in cities and buildings. some

of the biggest challenges are to understand what

drives human behaviour and bottom-up changes

– behaviour change to reduce consumption and

mobilise shifts in consumption patterns.

sharing the commitment to urban sustainability

with tianjin University allows us to develop urban

sustainability training programs through an

integrated collaborative approach.

reSeArCh

a growing proportion of global scientific research

is taking place in asia, countries in the region have

world-class research infrastructure and capabilities

and the scope for mutually beneficial research is

considerable. china has more researchers than any

other country and partnerships with research and

technology communities are crucial to supporting

australia’s ability to access new ideas and to build

our future competitiveness.

the interdisciplinary research program of

the centre focuses on the current state and the

transformative potential of cities in the asia-Pacific

region. the centre investigates the systemic design

and engineering challenges and potentials of the

urban environment in the 21st century.

the centre fosters the exchange of academic

staff and students, joint research projects and the

joint supervision of Phd students, and provides

consultancy services to industry and government.

research areas that relate to urbanisation include:

sustainable buildings, urban ecology, public space,

urban heat stress and the impacts of climate change.

research projects underway include the use of

timber for better high-rise infill developments;

zero waste construction using prefabrication; and

exploring urban heat island mitigation strategies

for cities in china and australia.

architecture, urbanism, environmental

engineering, ecology and landscape architecture

are some of the most potent disciplines available to

us to remake our cities as dynamic, meaningful and

sustainable cultural artefacts. the centre aspires to be

a living laboratory for urban exploration, influenced

by the geographical, cultural and historical position

in relation to the asia-Pacific region.

an urban sustainability training program to be

launched at the centre in 2013 will offer intensive

training in australia and china, and aims to provide

practical knowledge to chinese municipal leaders

on enhancing sustainability efforts. in february

2013 will be the china-australia symposium on

sustainable Urbanisation in adelaide, to be opened

by the Premier of south australia.

steffen Lehmann is Professor of sustainable

design at the University of south australia

and director of the china–australia centre for

sustainable Urban development

70 ThE ADELAIDE REVIEW february 2013

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this mOnthTHe AdelAIde ReVIeW’S gUide tO What’s haPPening

in design, PLanning and innOvatiOn

retail Breakfast - Property Council

wednesday, february 6

propertyoz.com.au

 

retail sales took a hammering in 2012 as

consumer confidence stayed in a post-gfc

ditch. But in some quarters retail property

fundamentals firmed; so what is going on,

and what does 2013 hold? the Property

council’s retail Outlook Breakfast will

supply you with the market intelligence you

need to make your property investment

and management plays. keynote presenter

is renowned economic commentator Paul

Bloxham from hsBc.

 

 

Planning institute of SA - reboot Series

Shaping Policy – Strategic Directions

Thursday, february 21

planning.org.au

 

the reboot training seminar series will

bring together speakers with recognised

expertise in their field in planning to

deliver a series of five lectures in the first

half of 2013. this is an opportunity to

check your practice skills and update your

working knowledge by way of in depth

analysis of issues and practical examples. 

 

Design festival 2013

registrations close monday, february 4

adelaidecitycouncil.com

the new architects and graduates group

(nag) and adelaide city council have formed

a partnership to rethink the way public space is

procured and used in adelaide. a key element

of this partnership is a design competition,

design festival, which will display and promote

adelaide’s emerging design talent. if you are

a designer with strong ideas about how south

australia’s capital city could improve its public

spaces, form a team with other designers – this is

your chance to be heard!

 

 

Splash Adelaide - Vacant Space

Sunday, february 10

splashadelaide.com.au

vacant space is an open-air twilight street

art market that reflects the colour, life and

vibrancy that street art adds to unused spaces.

vacant space has been created as a temporary

artistic hub and marketplace in each inner-

city square. held every second sunday of

the month, check out adelaide’s newest hub

fostering local creativity and talent with a

variety of competitions and performance

spaces that encourage collaborations within

the art community and general public.

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A perfect burst into spring, Design Furniture presents this uplifting colourin an exciting new‘Danish Retro’ collection.

Our award winning collection is beautifully complimented with a retrospect look at the Australian legendary designer Florence Broadhurst, whose life crossed over with the Danish Retro Period.

Florence’s work is in increasing demand as a new generation embraces the talents of such a captivating woman whose legacy will no doubt live on for many years to come.

Visit us at www.designfurniture.com.au.

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72 ThE ADELAIDE REVIEW february 2013

FEATURE

ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

FROM THE TATETHE MAKING OF A MASTER

TURNER

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detail: J.M.W. Turner, Peace – Burial at Sea, exhibited 1842 © Tate, 2013

See the world through the eyes of Britain’s most celebrated painter, J.M.W. Turner. Experience Turner’s powerful and dazzling masterpieces up close in the fi rst major Australian exhibition of his work in almost 20 years.

PART OF THE 2013 ADELAIDE FESTIVAL

8 February – 19 May 2013