Outgoing national president of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Warren Kerr, says the appointment of a government architect, Professor Geoff London, was the most tangible legacy of the Year of the Built Environment.
Outgoing national president of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Warren Kerr, says the appointment of a government architect, Professor Geoff London, was the most tangible legacy of the Year of the Built Environment.
“In Australia there is no government policy on the built environment, and the appointment of a government architect to advise ministers on issues to do with built environment such as heritage, procurement, public-private partnerships and pilot projects is a step in the right direction,” Mr Kerr told said.
With this in mind, Mr Kerr said he would be suggesting to the City of Perth that it appoint a city architect, to coordinate and work with developers, architects and the city to create a more cohesive approach to architecture in the city.
“Perth should have a unique identity, there is a huge potential not being capitalised on,” he said.
“The idea of a city architect has been very well received so far.”
Mr Kerr said he hoped the Year of the Built Environment would be viewed as a turning point in the way the public viewed their environment.
“It is a magnificent time to be an architect in Perth because we are building a lot of infrastructure. There is going to be an extension to Parliament House, new court houses, an arts centre and the redevelopment of the old treasury buildings. – all major projects that can leave a mark on Perth,” he said.
“There is the opportunity to create a feel and texture to Perth as well as icons.”
Mr Kerr is a director of Hames Sharley, the firm that designed Perth’s Bell Tower, and personally specialises in hospital design.
He recently designed the new Oral Health Centre of WA on the corner of Monash and Hospital avenues.
Although Perth isn’t in the same league architecturally as some of the bigger cities in Australia, Mr Kerr said it was the often-unknown context of Perth’s buildings that make them unique.
“Council House, for example, was constructed in 1962 and the design was won by design brief. Perth was hosting the Commonwealth Games and architecturally moving into a new phase, and the brief was for a creative building that marked where Perth was at the time, and that is what the building embodies,” he said.
“The Concert Hall is said to have some of the best acoustics in the world and replicated columns from different periods in a very clever way.”
While Mr Kerr acknowledges that a vast understanding of architecture is not needed to appreciate it, there is a need for a public education process to make people appreciate it more fully.
“In Europe, architecture comes under the cultural ministry and is an essential part of the embodiment of culture and aspirations – but there just isn’t that emphasis here. We would just like to raise the general level of awareness of design,” he said.
A further initiative of the Year of the Built Environment is a draft policy on built environment, and if the State Government commits to this, it will be the first government in Australia with such a policy, Mr Kerr said.
