High Commendation - Entry C4C4
Submission: Gall & Medek Architects with the Queensland College of Art, GU, Masters of Design Futures programme
Team: G&M) Jim Gall, Chris Schofield; (QCA), Dr. Tony Fry, Petra Perolini, Rae Cooper (student), Nora Kinnunen (student), Olivia Mathieson (student).
Company Name: Gall & Medek Architects
Website: Gall & Medek Architects http://www.gallandmedek.com.au/ Masters of Design Futures via http://www17.griffith.edu.au/
Bio: The team core skills are in ecology, architecture, urban design, re-directive design practice and consultation. The team has previously worked together on designing sustainable cites on a metabolic ecological model applied to economy, culture, learning, governance and design as well as technology.
JURY COMMENTARY
This is a highly qualitative response to the Ideas Competition brief offering positive aspirations for the social, cultural, economic and environmental evolution of the subtropical coastal city over coming decades and beyond, using the Evandale site as a catalyst.
Examination of the submission reveals a nuanced outcome that is embedded in responsive communities and local distinctiveness. The importance of an identity based on the lifestyle advantages provided by the location’s natural characteristics is taken into account at a profound level. The result is an approach that provides strong ideas for ‘casting the city of the Gold Coast into a position of global leadership’ in achieving long term care of community and place. Rather than spectacle and short-lived drama, this submission recognises the symbolic values of the site and offers a plausible re-imagining of the Gold Coast city of the future that includes and celebrates the current city.
A conceptual mosaic accommodates future challenges including certain inundation, cultural diversification and reorganised urban patterns that include food production and knowledge industries. The submission demonstrates the authors’ knowledge of the cultural and creative life of the Gold Coast community and proposes ideas for two new kinds of cultural institution: a multiversity and an inter-cultural resort.
This submission adds valuable concepts to the dialogue regarding visions for Evandale and the Gold Coast City’s future. It presents the possibilities of innovative thinking, and suggests actions for directing the incremental changes necessary for transforming the mental map of the city for residents and visitors.
