australia house | japan 2011
in collaboration with matthew azzalin
the original australia house, destroyed in the wake of the march 12 earthquake, was an art space where australian artists could work in residence and exhibit their work. a base for cross-cultural exchanges between australia and japan the proposal reflects disaster-prevention and environmental considerations while representing the cultures of both countries.
history is a continuous narrative of past events and this definition evoked the notion of an unbroken space, much like the veranda which wraps the typical "australian house". the unembellished casting of this vernacular external space around the ghost building that occupied the new site inverses the spatial relationship so that the veranda becomes built form and creates a courtyard that is locally reminiscent. the memory of past events and the idea of history repeating itself causes a fracture in the once uninterrupted veranda, breaks the form and the new building pokes its neck out surveying the surrounding landscape.
