DSIGNED compendium of written articles about architecture

, DSIGNED compendium of written articles about architecture

SEPTEMBER 2025

different questions that could be asked for a controversial proposal

there can be times when the "crash through or crash" approach is a winner. usually, however, circumstances are far more complex and benefit from nuance and gentle movements.

MARCH 2025

tree canopy requirements- yet another planning policy acting contrarily

the tree canopy requirement introduced by the victorian government is well-meaning, but its reliance on a simplistic metric will result in poorer outcomes

DECEMBER 2024

how relevant is iso9001 quality assurance to architectural design?

understanding the complexity of architectural design and the way in which the act of design is also the act of discovering the questions necessary to better comprehend influences on that design, does the "one size fits all" approach of iso 9001 quality assurance fail when applied to that task? is it possible for process-driven quality assurance to have relevance for the sometimes idiosyncratic and highly individualised performance of design?

NOVEMBER 2024

are apartments design guidelines more bad than good?

in australia apartment design guidelines typically make apartments more expensive. therefore while shutting down the exploration of different and potentially better solutions, the design standards for apartments have led to less affordable housing. while attempting to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings those guides have almost certainly resulted in more energy consumption overall.

AUGUST 2024

will 'good enough' design produced by ai simply be good enough?

Will the increasing use of AI in the design of architectural and urban environments inevitably lead to the resultant 'good enough' designs produced by AI being regarded as good enough compared with the potentially more innovative but slower design produced by humans?

JULY 2024

a delightful interruption to my day

The long gestation periods that large and complex projects typically experience can at times provide unexpected and delightful interruptions to my reveries. As happened last week, when the news arrived that the Hellenic Club in Canberra had succeeded in purchasing the Woden Village site adjacent its club facilities.

JULY 2024

should AI support for architectural design show its reasoning?

Your AI assistant has provided you with many design options. You now need to premiate an option. It is the moment of choice that gives direction to the project. But understanding how we arrive at a design decision can be as important as the design outcome itself so that the best decision can be made at our moment of choice. How do you do that?

JUNE 2024

is our participation necessary to counteract backward-looking AI?

In iterative design we need to canvass widely for propositions so that we can discover possibilities we haven't thought of. Having done that we then need to decide the best direction to take. Is it us humans who then decide which solution represents the path forward? Or do we harness AI to help us do that?

MAY 2024

reimagining where we live aged care design competition

Last year the Australian Government held a design competition to illuminate the design guidelines which came out of the Royal Commision into Aged Care. In May 2024 the winners of that competition were announced. Here is a look at the highly commended scheme Jacqueline Bartholomeusz, Lorraine Calder, Peta Miskovich and I submitted.

MAY 2024

could ai lead to better collaboration for architects?

Having experienced significant change in the way we explore and represent our designs, leaving behind the abstraction of 2D drawings to embrace data-rich 3D virtual environments, we are now seeing artificial intelligence finesse the underlying technology by making it more efficient and self-generating. However we will need a way of assessing the information provided by AI and so specialists will find their role changing accordingly.

MAY 2024

my life with input devices

When I start as an architect, four and a half decades or so ago, I have no inkling that for much of that time my work will be done through input devices. At the time I don't realise I am using input devices; I call them pens and pencils, and their fluid movement is a natural extension of thought and action. Little did I know at the time that input devices would become so integral to my work.

MAY 2024

new beginnings

MAY 2020

canberra times/ david sutherland interview and article

An article from the canberra times following an in-depth interview with david sutherland exploring the work he was doing in canberra as a director of the architectural and urban design practice fender katsalidis.

FEBRUARY 2019

the unexpected utopia

For an intriguing start to a book, this is right up there. "My wife and I got married right out of college, in 1978. We were young and naive and unashamedly idealistic, and we decided to make our first home in a utopian environmentalist community in New York State." The "utopian environmentalist community" the author is referring to is Manhattan.

JANUARY 2019

are we thinking more positively about australian cities?

Some years ago I found myself at the National Press Club in Canberra listening to Clover Moore, the mayor of Sydney, speak about that city. "Should Cities Rule the World?" was the title of Moore's lecture, a topic that was seemingly calculated to attract me. Not long before I had enjoyed reading Edward Glaeser's book "Triumph of the City", and I was interested to see if similar themes would be followed.

JANUARY 2019

will our image of cities change in the digital era?

Walking in the Melbourne CBD the other day I was asked for directions. Those I gave in a way that humans have been doing so for, no doubt, thousands of years. In giving directions as I did, I was mentally unstitching my memories of the place that is Melbourne. Is that becoming outdated- in this digital era are our traditional ways of thinking about the legibility and qualities of our environments being overtaken by a new digital abstraction?

JUNE 2004

aecbytes usa/ david sutherland interview and article

following his presentation in san francisco on building information modelling, the eureka tower, and implications for the practice of architecture, lachmi khemlani of aecbytes interviewed david sutherland and subsequently published this article.

MAY 2004

architosh review of david sutherland presentation of eureka tower and building information modelling

after attending david sutherland's presentation on eureka tower and the use of building information on this very large project, the inline magaizine architosh published this review of the presentation.

OCTOBER 2002

architects' journal UK/ david sutherland interview and article

following his keynote presentation to the 2002 international union of architects congress in berlin on the then nascent building information modelling, the eureka tower, and implications for the practice of architecture, the british architects journal interviewed david sutherland in london and subsequently published this article.