BUILDINGS are a reflection of culture and society, and Australia is sadly lacking social skills of other older cultures, Stutchbury & Pape principal Peter Stutchbury told a recent Royal Australian Institute of Architect audience.
He said clients who had owned brick and tile homes never looked back after living in a more environmentally friendly house.
Mr Stutchbury brings ideas from his experiences on a family farm and time spent with the local natives to help with the design of his houses.
The emphasis is on providing open living where the outdoors becomes part of the living experience rather than being removed from nature as occurs with the more traditional way of living.
“We say we are civilised but we are certainly not civilised in the way in which we address the elderly. In the past the elderly were always respected for their knowledge which they had gained.” he said.
He said mirror-glass high rise buildings reflect an inward looking society and one which was exclusive rather then inclusive for people.
He believes buildings should be made efficient using recycled materials where possible.
“We need to become a lot more clever in how we make buildings,” he said.
But while making buildings out of simple structures is important, using fewer materials is not necessarily better, Mr Stutchbury said.
While Mr Stutchbury’s housing designs are fairly open, he believes it is important that each house has its “cave” where people could have private space where they could feel cosy.
