Visiting Architect: Grace Mortlock from Other Architects
This September, the Faculty of Architecture and Design at Victoria University of Wellington is hosting Grace Mortlock as the 2018 Visiting Architect.
Grace is a director of Other Architects, a Sydney-based architectural practice that seeks out ‘other’ approaches beyond conventional wisdom, popular opinion and architectural trends. Established in 2012, the practice was recently awarded the 2018 INDE ‘Prodigy’ award for most promising design practice in the Asia-Pacific region.
Other Architects' work was exhibited at the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial and the 2017 NGV Triennial and has featured in numerous international publications. Grace and co-director David Neustein have been invited speakers at the Venice Architecture Biennale, MIT Media Lab and the New Cities, Future Ruins convening in Dallas, Texas. In collaboration with Retallack Thompson, Other Architects was awarded a commendation in the 2018 Victorian Institute of Architects awards for the temporary public installation ‘Garden Wall’.
‘At This Stage’, an exhibition that provides insight into Other Architects' current work and thinking, will open on 14 September at the Faculty of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington, 139 Vivian Street.
Grace will be joined by David to present public lectures in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch in September.
Exhibition – 14 to 23 September
This exhibition takes place at a critical stage in the work Other Architects. To date, realised projects have been stage-sets: temporary installations at architectural scale but without the complex demands of long term use. With construction due to commence on several larger projects—including a pair of cemetery pavilions, a country house and an apartment building—the exhibition presents Other Architects with a platform for speculating about how its interests in framing, enclosure and informality will translate to permanent buildings.
The opening event will be on 14 September at 5.30 pm, Faculty of Architecture and Design, 139 Vivian Street. Refreshments will be provided.
Public lectures
Grace Mortlock and David Neustein believe that architecture can go beyond its brick-and-mortar purpose to provide a form of commentary on the world around us.
Architecture can make us aware of wastefulness or excess, alert us to the presence of undervalued places, or help us question behavioural rules and restrictions. Common to Other Architects’ diverse projects – which include funerary and civic design, private residences and apartment buildings, exhibitions and installations – is an attempt to question prevailing practices and norms for communal gain.
- Auckland: 10 September, 6.30pm, University of Auckland, Design Theatre Conference Centre, Building 423
- Wellington: 18 September, 6pm, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington, 139 Vivian Street
- Christchurch: 20 September, 6pm, Warren and Mahoney Studio, 254 Montreal Street
The Visiting Architect Programme is generously funded by The Warren Architects' Education Charitable Trust and former Associate Professor John Daish. The School of Architecture gratefully acknowledges their support. Individuals and organisations interested in making a gift to support lectures, fellowships, or other unique initiatives in the Faculty of Architecture and Design are encouraged to contact Allison Groves, Senior Development Manager.