Molonglo

Tall Buildings: their problems and some ideas was a half-day symposium and series of public talks co-curated by the London-based 6a architects, Chilean art and architecture studio Pezo von Ellrichshausen and Molonglo. The program was delivered in collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria as part of Melbourne Design Week 2018.

Tall Buildings interrogated our collective feelings about density by bringing together 30 people from a range of ages and backgrounds (be they architects, writers, gardeners or school children) and asking: What don’t you like about tall buildings? What could they do better? The outcome was a general agreement that skyscrapers don’t represent cultural, artistic or humanitarian ideals and the need for nature. These initial findings and some further exploration are presented in a publication that is available to buy here.

The closing of the Tall Buildings program was marked by a dinner by cook Sandy Ho and cafe Tiggy that played with scale, domesticity, intimacy, density, congregation and isolation. This meal was accompanied by music that explored vastness and great heights, arranged by composer Jeanette Little with piano works performed by  Peter de Jaeger, and took place amidst a series of dining atmospheres that drew on the effects of urbanisation, designed by architecture practice Future Method Studio.