Kalgoorlie Super Pit Inspires National Architecture Conference Competition
Architects Christina Cho and Jenna Campbell have won an unusual competition to design and construct a major foyer feature at the 2014 National Architecture Conference in Perth.
Architects Christina Cho and Jenna Campbell have won an unusual competition to design and construct a major foyer feature at the 2014 National Architecture Conference in Perth.
Young practitioners and students were invited to design a pop-up book shop for Architext, the publication division of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA).
The brief was to make the pop-up reflective of the Western Australian landscape.
Cho and Campbell used an aerial photograph of Kalgoorlie's Super Pit, Australia's largest open cut gold mine, and inverted it to provide the contours for the shelving and shape of the pop-up book shop.
They used a sporadic patterning of BlueScope's new COLORBOND® steel colours - Basalt™, Wallaby™, Gully™, Cove™, Mangrove™ and Terrain™ fixed onto a plywood structure to form a representation of the rich texture of the outback.
Shelving was formed using a LYSAGHT® gutter profile and four LED pendant lights were contrived from a LYSAGHT Quad Gutter profile to provide the intimate feeling of a library.
Judges from the AIA praised not only the originality of the design, but also its method of construction and reusability.
Eleven modules, capable of holding the weight of a library, were easily assembled and could be dissembled for re-use.
Cho, a registered architect and Campbell, a graduate, both from Cox Architecture, used the project to inspire other young practitioners within their company.
Ten of Cox Architecture's young Perth staff worked on the construction of the pop-up book shop over the weekend and nights leading up to the National Architecture Conference.
Architext's manager - Melbourne, Michael Appleby, a contest judge, said the Cho-Campbell design attracted substantial attention in the foyer of Perth's striking Convention and Exhibition centre, with the Swan River as a backdrop.
"Their approach was novel, sympathetic with the environment, and most importantly, robust," Appleby said.
"Failing to allow for the sheer mass of the library is a trap people fall into when designing pop-ups, but this one was practical and useable."
Cho and Campbell won $2,000 for their project as well as conference tickets and entry to the BlueScope VIP area.
"The theme of the conference was 'Making' and we wanted young architects in our office to collaborate in the unique experience of detailing and constructing a bespoke installation," Cho said.
"Small projects like this allow us to explore the fun and quirky side of Architectural design."
Cox Architecture architect Christina Cho and graduate Jenna Campbell - winners of the Architext pop-up bookshop competition - with BlueScope national business development manager, John Rosette, at the 2014 National Architecture Conference in Perth.