Urban collaborations

In an essay in The Endless City: The Urban Age Project (2007), Deyan Sudjic proposes that the problems of our cities can be understood and managed through collaboration between three groups: policymakers, builders and theorists. This model is being explored through collaborative design research by the School of Architecture & Design at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and the Monash Architecture Design and Art (MADA) that links the academy – as theorists – with local government – the policymakers and city builders. Projects involve direct engagement with municipal councils to examine urban issues in small towns and cities, developing collaborative processes that examine the specific nature of design issues that are socially, culturally and/or situationally conditioned. Research through the medium of design provides a process of iterative thinking, and the crossover between the disciplines of architecture, urban design and planning provide fertile ground for research investigations.