Designs on Density

Housing in Australia is currently in a period of rapid change, even crisis, due to increasing environmental consciousness, demographic movements, affordability pressures, and new technologies in the building industry, in the workplace and in the house itself. This state of flux has re-invigorated debates about and around general housing.

How will the house of the twenty-first century accommodate new household types? How can new materials and methods of construction be best employed in house building? How can housing assist in helping the country respond to environmental change? How do we design and build better suburban housing? How can density of dwelling be appropriately increased within established areas? What strategies can be developed to make infill housing more palatable? How can design improve housing affordability as Australian cities continue to become the world’s most unaffordable? And, importantly, how can the architectural profession best contribute to this process of change?