Canberra Public Transport Usage

The below map shows the low public transport use 

Canberra Private Car Usage

The below map show the distribution of high car ownership across canberra

Density of Canberra

The below maps show the distribution of urban density across Canberra and the A.C.T with the population per square kilometre reaching 2930 people. Comparing that to the urban density of Brisbane which at its highest houses 5795 people per square kilometre. 

Brisbane Comparison

Identifying problems and issues associated with ACT

Motor vehicle ownership and urban density

http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/145754/Chp_3_ACT_Light_Rail.pdf

Canberra has some of the highest vehicle ownership in the entire world and when viewed against its urban density it becomes apparent how sprawled out and disconnected Canberra as a city is.

Identifying problems and issues associated with Australia

CO2 emissions per capita – selected countries

http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/145754/Chp_3_ACT_Light_Rail.pdf

Surprisingly Australia has some of the highest CO2 emissions per capita and considering the consequences posed by the green house effect and ensuing rising sea levels its in the interest of the entire world to reduce their CO2 emissions.

Flexible Stuff

Flexible furniture which can be built and and dismantled rearranged to form new furniture or easily transported and adapted to most environments

Formable Furniture

Feek Orca Seating

The original flexible furniture

Flexible Space - Open Plan

Open plan spaces provide flexibility in how a space is used and offer the opportunity for various uses. Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier stands out as one of the earliest designs to utilize an open plan arrangement..

Villa Savoye
Architect: Le Corbusier

Farnsworth house

Architect: Mies Van Der Rohe

Flexible Skin - Flexible Services

CH2 Melbourne
Architect: DesignInc. Melbourne

Architecture based on biomimicry. CH2 utilizes a flexible skin for climate response and night purge insures flexible services. Flexible features which contribute to the buildings climatic response include: Shower towers for evaporative cooling, chilled beams through ceilings, displacement air conditioning, vertical planting, wind turbines and photovoltaic cells for energy generation.

Flexible Structure - Flexible Skin

US Pavilion, Osaka Expo 1970
Competition wining design by architects Davis, Brody and Associates

The inflatable outer skin encompasses the internal form and pressurised air maintains the skins full shape.

Flexible Site - Flexible Structure

Dreamspace by Maurice Agis

Inflatable PVC art installation. Pressurised air provides the structure to support the PVC shape and can be deflated or re inflated in various locations 

Flexible Site

Weatherhaven mobile work camp for Arctic conditions

Tent type construction, these mobile structures are suited for the flexibility of Arctic research where scientists work for short durations. The tents can be erected and taken down with relative ease.

6 S's of Flexibility

1. Site
2. Structure
3. Skin
4. Service
5. Space
6. Stuff


(Listed in order of change 1.Least - 6.Most)

E-Democracy, E-Government & Open Governments

The internet has become a powerful tool to facilitate the interaction between government and the public and as a result E-Democracy and E-Governments have emerged. Both E-Democracy, electronic democracy, and E-Governments, electronic governments, operate through the use of information technology in the processes of governance and promotes the participation of active citizens through the use of the internet, wireless networks, bluetooth, mobiles and other electronic devices.  

WikiLeaks and Open Governments

WikiLeaks ignited the issue of open governments by providing a vehicle for independent sources to leak information through their journalists to the public. Had open government doctrine been practiced this information would already have exist in the public eye, available for scrutiny by those the government represents. By shining a light on governments WikiLeaks has already directed society towards an expectation that they are entitled to a transparency of government operations.


Open government essentially provides transparency between government operations and decision making and the public it serves.

Government and Choice

Recently, with the growing strength of the Green Party as well as the election of several independents to parliament the choice of representatives has increased from just the two major parties.


In a hypothetical situation where this trend were to continue and several other parties were to emerge, the parliament could be made entirely of independent representatives. This would mean that issues and bills could be discussed, supported and voted on, in terms of, the merit of the solution rather than by party alliances. (this would provide an obvious architectural opportunity to restructure the parliament seating structure). However there are several issues with this scenario; The parliament would probably operate similarly to a hung parliament and decision making would be slow, which would effect the countries progress ; choosing representatives would be time consuming because each would stand for different ideals ; and when electing new officials it would be difficult to expect different results from the parliament if there wasn't a clear difference in the representatives we elect.  


As it turns out the government and opposition system, currently in place, is pretty successful (except during a hung parliament) where the party  in control is able to drive progress. This also works at election time because we are able to see a clear alternative if we were unhappy with the previous government. 


Maintaining a simple choice of who we elect to govern us supports the idea that too much choice has a negative impact on the individuals who make the decision. Further articulated in the presentation by Sheena Iyengar 'The art of Choosing' 

Transparency in Government

Link to a TED talk by the British Prime Minister David Cameron titled 'The next age of government' which addresses accountability, transparency & choice in government. At 7:15 Cameron describes the Missouri Accountability Portal, a website set-up by the State of Missouri in America to provide the public with access to state expenditure. By making this information freely available to the public the government is held accountable for the money it spends.

Cameron also addresses the importance of choice and giving individuals greater control over the choices they make. Conversely studies suggest that the abundance of choice has a negative effect on individuals well being and is explained in the presentation 'The Paradox of Choice' by Barry Schwartz

Identifying problems and issues associated with government

Link to an article titled 'Principles for Good Governance in the 21st Century' 


The article outlines and explains 5 principles for good governance:
- Legitimacy and Voice
- Direction
- Performance
- Accountability
- Fairness


Improved government in the 21st century requires greater transparency and openness with the Australian public so that the principles of good governance can be observed and scrutinized by the people it serves.

Flexible Architecture

Virtual Architecture

Mobile Architecture

Defining Strategies

Virtual adj Being or acting such though not so called or defined ; for all practical purposes.
Flexible adj Capable of being bent ; supple ; adaptable ; compliant.
Mobile adj Easily moving or moved ; adaptable ; quickly changing.
Distributed adj Shared out among a number of people ; spread out over a space ; dispersed ; deal out

as defined by Garmonsway,G et al(1969) The Penguin English Dictionary, Penguin Books. Great Britian

Post No.1!

A short clip of Carl Sagan reading from his book 'Pale Blue Dot'

An invaluable message and a very real and humbling perspective of our position in the universe.