Evolution: The Work of Grimshaw Architects at Melbourne Design Week 2020
Neil Stonell, Managing Partner of Grimshaw’s Melbourne studio, announced today Grimshaw’s involvement in Melbourne Design Week 2020 comprising the exhibition Evolution: The Work of Grimshaw Architects which features fifty years of significant projects from Australia and the world and The Learning City, a keynote presentation by Andrew Cortese, Managing Partner of Grimshaw’s Sydney studio delivering a vision for the future of creative cities as interconnected places of work, learning, living and production.
Andrew Whalley, Chairman of Grimshaw said: “Grimshaw is delighted to present the debut of the Evolution exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere at Melbourne Design Week 2020. Featuring a unique focus on Grimshaw’s principles of humane, enduring and sustainable design, we’re inviting audiences to experience our projects and how we place great importance on innovative and progressive architecture which will be an essential approach to tackle the climate crisis that we now all face.”
Evolution: The Work of Grimshaw Architects first opened in London on the occasion of Sir Nicholas Grimshaw’s award of the Royal Gold Medal, the Royal Institute of British Architect’s prize recognising lifetime achievement in January 2019. The exhibition is now traveling the world, most recently visiting Dubai and Shanghai.
Evolution traces the trajectory and showcases the principals which have characterised the firm since it was founded by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw. The version of the exhibition which will appear in Melbourne has been especially curated for this occasion, and will include more Australian projects both delivered and in construction. Timed to coincide with Melbourne Design Week 2020 it will be presented to the public from March 12-22 at the KSR Art Bar in Melbourne’s Collins Street.
Starting with Grimshaw’s earliest projects in the eighties, the exhibition takes its audience on a journey from origins to the future. Evolution charts the practice’s history and includes details of current and future projects including Eden Project in Cornwall, Waterloo Station, London, Fulton Street Station New York, and the 2020 Sustainability Pavilion in Dubai. Large scale models of the RIBA National Award winning London Bridge Station, Istanbul Airport, Shanghai Disney Resort Tomorrowland. Australian projects include models of Southern Cross Station and Martin Place Metro, and the Mernda Rail Extension Station, recently commended in the Transport category of the 2019 WAF Awards. Our workplace and education projects include Olderfleet House at 477 Collins Street, 210 George Street, Sydney, also commended in 2019 WAF awards, Monash Woodside Technology Engineering and Design Building, Arthur Phillip High School, USYD F23 Building and the UNSW Hilmer and SEB Buildings.
Neil Stonell, Managing Partner of the Melbourne Studio, said: “As more than five important Australian projects in education, workplace and transport are being delivered at this time, we are pleased to show our audience the early work of Grimshaw, the practice’s international projects – and reveal the details and our thinking behind the most recent Melbourne and Sydney projects.”
Another highlight of the Melbourne Design Week program, The Learning City keynote on March 18 at NGV’s Clemenger Theatre will be an in-depth examination of design addressing the need for critical infrastructure in growing cities: smart learning environments, next-generation blended working and learning spaces, transport, and place and production related carbon positive communities.
The Learning City will be presented by Andrew Cortese, Managing Partner, Sydney, Grimshaw and moderated by Stephen Todd, Design Editor, Australian Financial Review with a panel including Clare Newton, University of Melbourne, Abbie Galvin, NSW Government Architect, Associate Professor Seamus O’Hanlon of Monash and Dr. Paul Toyne, Practice Leader, Sustainability, Grimshaw. The Learning City reveals how design can shape the lives of urban citizens as they develop and flourish in the future creative city, this presentation contextualises the evolution of learning, working and living typologies alongside broader urban developments in production and infrastructure – driven by the demands for life-long and life-wide learning and the imperative for increased fluidity in what were once distinct places of school, university, work and home.
Andrew Cortese, Managing Partner of the Sydney Studio, said: “The Learning City is an in-depth examination of design addressing the need for critical infrastructure in growing cities: smart learning environments, next-generation blended working and learning spaces, transport, and place and production related carbon positive communities”.
Grimshaw values Melbourne as one of the most important cities in the world for design conversations and design thinking; the practice welcomes the opportunity to engage audiences through Melbourne Design Week 2020. Evolution: The Work of Grimshaw Architects and The Learning City keynote will acknowledge Grimshaw’s past projects while addressing key concerns about sustainable practice in architecture and the built environment.
Ahead of Melbourne Design Week, the recently appointed Global Practice Leader for Sustainability, Dr. Paul Toyne will present a keynote on February 17 at Melbourne’s MPavilion for their MMeets program, Grimshaw presents – Design Solutions: Three Decades of Sustainability, Regeneration and the Challenge to do More . Paul Toyne will return to Melbourne in March as a panel participant for The Learning City at Melbourne Design Week.
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