Antony Moulis is Associate Professor in the School of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Queensland, where he teaches and researches across the fields of architecture, urbanism and design. His current research focuses on productive cities and urban retrofit as drivers of positive community change.
Before Australian architect John Andrews began his eponymous practice in Canada with the much lau... more Before Australian architect John Andrews began his eponymous practice in Canada with the much lauded project for Scarborough College, he worked for the Toronto-based John B Parkin Associates for a brief period between 1959 and 1961. Andrews came into the practice as senior designer, a major role for the then 25 year-old Australian, who had only graduated from the Master of Architecture program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design the previous year. Andrews’ work in the Parkin office reveals his early interest in prescribing relationships between spatial pattern and structural form – a design approach that would become a mainstay of his later practice. Under closer examination the Parkin work also reveals Andrews’ use of founding precedents, projects by other architects which act as a point of reference. Yet any such claims need to be carefully presented and argued. Andrews was not one to quote sources for himself in the work of others, preferring to see his practice as based on ...
On a major fluvial territory between the Great Dividing Range and the Australian eastern coast si... more On a major fluvial territory between the Great Dividing Range and the Australian eastern coast sits Brisbane’s urban agglomeration – a city spread across a 1, 340 square-kilometre area with a population currently standing at 2.4 million. The extent of the city’s growth over the 190 years since European settlement is a story of rapid change. Familiar urban patterns now intersect the landscape, creating the image of a city dovetailed neatly into its natural setting. Yet this vision of a benign subtropical environment, host to a vibrant ‘liveable’ city, overlooks the intermittent crises that have affected urban infrastructure and populations in the city from its earliest beginnings until now. Flood has been the main factor. The Brisbane River has been in major flood on at least four occasions since settlement: 1857, 1893, 1974 and 2011. Drought has also affected the city, the latest between 2003 and 2010. This accumulation of occurrences indicates a broad pattern of extreme climate events spanning across time and landscape. Such events point to an essential and underlying dynamic latent in the larger territory – its formation occurring through the complex interactions of landform and water. This longer view of territory over time invites attention to prior natural conditions but also to patterns of human occupation – the custodianship of the Yuggera and Turrbal Aboriginal clans – and what this may tell of the pre-existent landscape erased by the waves of urban expansion that constitute the current city. Research towards understanding natural and human systems at greater timescales provides important conceptual tools for architecture, landscape and urban design in rethinking Brisbane’s future development – with water an a priori consideration. This chapter presents a critical approach to design for population rise and urban growth in the context of Brisbane. The initial step is to define the city within greater territorial limits and understand the network of connections this implies. Those limits and networks are made visible through an integrated research study of the deep structure of an environment – factoring in geology and geomorphology, topography and hydrology, including ground and surface water systems – to gather a multilayered account of a specific natural context. This data and its interpretation are then offered back to the thinking of designers who will frame Brisbane’s potential as an urban landscape developed through an understanding of water. The complex geomorphology and hydrology of this territory – framed by the Great Dividing Range and the Pacific Ocean – shape undulating landscapes with similar water cycles: the upper natural watershed as a reserve of water, the transitional landscape with recharge potential and the plains where increasing human occupation demands design responses for water resilience. For this reason, the investigation spans three interrelated scales: territorial, meso and micro scale. The territorial scale is defined by the South East Queensland catchment boundary, referred to by SEQ water and the Brisbane City Council in planning for water security including flood and drought management. At the meso scale, the Brisbane River becomes the focus: the analysis of this reverse delta system reveals spatial and temporal constraints that could inform more sustainable development of the floodplains. Finally, at the micro scale, the investigation focuses on an area of the city also demarcated by natural boundaries – the water catchment of Norman Creek. Linked to the edge of the Brisbane River across from the city centre and rising to the south, the catchment is under pressure for more urban development. The current urban condition of Norman Creek is affected by the presence of water in diverse ways – the consequence of river flood and tidal movements to the north and patterns of overland flow to the south. Norman Creek is an effective testing ground for concepts and approaches drawn from thinking at the larger territorial scale. It is a virtual microcosm of this larger scale, as seen through the similar kinds of conditions that arise between its ridges and lower floodplain. Bringing these ideas to the situation of a discrete catchment, the design research aims to embrace water as an element revalued within the urban condition.
The first Iranian to graduate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris was Mohsen Foroughi. A leadi... more The first Iranian to graduate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris was Mohsen Foroughi. A leading architect and educator who played a key role in the professionalisation of architecture in Iran, Foroughi maintained his status as a respected national and international figure in the architectural discipline from the early 1960s until the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Through a focused investigation of Foroughi’s teaching and architectural works from the 1930s to the 1960s, this article foregrounds a convergence that occurred between Beaux-Arts practices and the Iranian will towards a nationalist expression. This convergence was not simply an exportation of the Beaux-Arts methods abroad; it explicitly began in the setting of the Beaux-Arts in France where such a convergence found a productive ‘testing ground’ before its eventual transfer to Iran. The article’s findings are based on archival research conducted in Paris and Tehran, and a close comparative analysis of Foroughi’s student projects at the École with his significant architectural projects in Iran. What emerges is a surprisingly subtle transformation of architectural expression from one context to the other, made possible by the particular operations of the Beaux-Arts methods within the Iranian context.
Brisbane's Queen Street Mall and South Bank cultural precinct are being reconfigured with arc... more Brisbane's Queen Street Mall and South Bank cultural precinct are being reconfigured with architect-designed pergolas. Antony Moulis investigates these sun responsive civic improvements
As a result of climate change, cities around the world need to adapt to extreme weather. Brisbane... more As a result of climate change, cities around the world need to adapt to extreme weather. Brisbane, Australian subtropical city in South East Queensland (SEQ), has witnessed numerous floods in its history. Most recently the city experienced severe drought for seven years prior to the devastating 2011 flood. Due to these threats, coupled with the rapid population rise – 55,000 new comers annually –, the demand for liveable public space, resilient green infrastructure and sustainable urban development becomes more significant. Recent studies also demonstrate the need for a clear vision to better implement water sensitive urban design (WSUD) features in public spaces and buildings which are currently lacking in many of the city’s local neighbourhood plans. This paper presents a water-potential-mapping methodology that uses Geographic Information System (GIS) as a tool to identify new design opportunities in response to Brisbane’s increasing population and associated pressure for new urb...
Before Australian architect John Andrews began his eponymous practice in Canada with the much lau... more Before Australian architect John Andrews began his eponymous practice in Canada with the much lauded project for Scarborough College, he worked for the Toronto-based John B Parkin Associates for a brief period between 1959 and 1961. Andrews came into the practice as senior designer, a major role for the then 25 year-old Australian, who had only graduated from the Master of Architecture program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design the previous year. Andrews’ work in the Parkin office reveals his early interest in prescribing relationships between spatial pattern and structural form – a design approach that would become a mainstay of his later practice. Under closer examination the Parkin work also reveals Andrews’ use of founding precedents, projects by other architects which act as a point of reference. Yet any such claims need to be carefully presented and argued. Andrews was not one to quote sources for himself in the work of others, preferring to see his practice as based on ...
On a major fluvial territory between the Great Dividing Range and the Australian eastern coast si... more On a major fluvial territory between the Great Dividing Range and the Australian eastern coast sits Brisbane’s urban agglomeration – a city spread across a 1, 340 square-kilometre area with a population currently standing at 2.4 million. The extent of the city’s growth over the 190 years since European settlement is a story of rapid change. Familiar urban patterns now intersect the landscape, creating the image of a city dovetailed neatly into its natural setting. Yet this vision of a benign subtropical environment, host to a vibrant ‘liveable’ city, overlooks the intermittent crises that have affected urban infrastructure and populations in the city from its earliest beginnings until now. Flood has been the main factor. The Brisbane River has been in major flood on at least four occasions since settlement: 1857, 1893, 1974 and 2011. Drought has also affected the city, the latest between 2003 and 2010. This accumulation of occurrences indicates a broad pattern of extreme climate events spanning across time and landscape. Such events point to an essential and underlying dynamic latent in the larger territory – its formation occurring through the complex interactions of landform and water. This longer view of territory over time invites attention to prior natural conditions but also to patterns of human occupation – the custodianship of the Yuggera and Turrbal Aboriginal clans – and what this may tell of the pre-existent landscape erased by the waves of urban expansion that constitute the current city. Research towards understanding natural and human systems at greater timescales provides important conceptual tools for architecture, landscape and urban design in rethinking Brisbane’s future development – with water an a priori consideration. This chapter presents a critical approach to design for population rise and urban growth in the context of Brisbane. The initial step is to define the city within greater territorial limits and understand the network of connections this implies. Those limits and networks are made visible through an integrated research study of the deep structure of an environment – factoring in geology and geomorphology, topography and hydrology, including ground and surface water systems – to gather a multilayered account of a specific natural context. This data and its interpretation are then offered back to the thinking of designers who will frame Brisbane’s potential as an urban landscape developed through an understanding of water. The complex geomorphology and hydrology of this territory – framed by the Great Dividing Range and the Pacific Ocean – shape undulating landscapes with similar water cycles: the upper natural watershed as a reserve of water, the transitional landscape with recharge potential and the plains where increasing human occupation demands design responses for water resilience. For this reason, the investigation spans three interrelated scales: territorial, meso and micro scale. The territorial scale is defined by the South East Queensland catchment boundary, referred to by SEQ water and the Brisbane City Council in planning for water security including flood and drought management. At the meso scale, the Brisbane River becomes the focus: the analysis of this reverse delta system reveals spatial and temporal constraints that could inform more sustainable development of the floodplains. Finally, at the micro scale, the investigation focuses on an area of the city also demarcated by natural boundaries – the water catchment of Norman Creek. Linked to the edge of the Brisbane River across from the city centre and rising to the south, the catchment is under pressure for more urban development. The current urban condition of Norman Creek is affected by the presence of water in diverse ways – the consequence of river flood and tidal movements to the north and patterns of overland flow to the south. Norman Creek is an effective testing ground for concepts and approaches drawn from thinking at the larger territorial scale. It is a virtual microcosm of this larger scale, as seen through the similar kinds of conditions that arise between its ridges and lower floodplain. Bringing these ideas to the situation of a discrete catchment, the design research aims to embrace water as an element revalued within the urban condition.
The first Iranian to graduate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris was Mohsen Foroughi. A leadi... more The first Iranian to graduate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris was Mohsen Foroughi. A leading architect and educator who played a key role in the professionalisation of architecture in Iran, Foroughi maintained his status as a respected national and international figure in the architectural discipline from the early 1960s until the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Through a focused investigation of Foroughi’s teaching and architectural works from the 1930s to the 1960s, this article foregrounds a convergence that occurred between Beaux-Arts practices and the Iranian will towards a nationalist expression. This convergence was not simply an exportation of the Beaux-Arts methods abroad; it explicitly began in the setting of the Beaux-Arts in France where such a convergence found a productive ‘testing ground’ before its eventual transfer to Iran. The article’s findings are based on archival research conducted in Paris and Tehran, and a close comparative analysis of Foroughi’s student projects at the École with his significant architectural projects in Iran. What emerges is a surprisingly subtle transformation of architectural expression from one context to the other, made possible by the particular operations of the Beaux-Arts methods within the Iranian context.
Brisbane's Queen Street Mall and South Bank cultural precinct are being reconfigured with arc... more Brisbane's Queen Street Mall and South Bank cultural precinct are being reconfigured with architect-designed pergolas. Antony Moulis investigates these sun responsive civic improvements
As a result of climate change, cities around the world need to adapt to extreme weather. Brisbane... more As a result of climate change, cities around the world need to adapt to extreme weather. Brisbane, Australian subtropical city in South East Queensland (SEQ), has witnessed numerous floods in its history. Most recently the city experienced severe drought for seven years prior to the devastating 2011 flood. Due to these threats, coupled with the rapid population rise – 55,000 new comers annually –, the demand for liveable public space, resilient green infrastructure and sustainable urban development becomes more significant. Recent studies also demonstrate the need for a clear vision to better implement water sensitive urban design (WSUD) features in public spaces and buildings which are currently lacking in many of the city’s local neighbourhood plans. This paper presents a water-potential-mapping methodology that uses Geographic Information System (GIS) as a tool to identify new design opportunities in response to Brisbane’s increasing population and associated pressure for new urb...
Conference: International Conference on Changing Cities III: Spatial, Design, Landscape & Socio-Economic dimensionsAt: Syros-Delos-Mykonos Islands, Greece, 2017
As a result of climate change, cities around the world need to adapt to extreme weather. Brisbane... more As a result of climate change, cities around the world need to adapt to extreme weather. Brisbane, Australian subtropical city in South East Queensland (SEQ), has witnessed numerous floods in its history. Most recently the city experienced severe drought for seven years prior to the devastating 2011 flood. Due to these threats, coupled with the rapid population rise-55,000 new comers annually-, the demand for liveable public space, resilient green infrastructure and sustainable urban development becomes more significant. Recent studies also demonstrate the need for a clear vision to better implement water sensitive urban design (WSUD) features in public spaces and buildings which are currently lacking in many of the city's local neighbourhood plans. This paper presents a water-potential-mapping methodology that uses Geographic Information System (GIS) as a tool to identify new design opportunities in response to Brisbane's increasing population and associated pressure for new urban development. Specifically, the study aims to foster ideas developed and implemented by the SEQ private sector which supports liveable and resilient small-lot infill development. In the light of this objective, the paper introduces a holistic approach to sustainable spatial planning and design, a practical procedure for the Brisbane City Council (BCC) to effectively mitigate the impact of flood and drought on urban development. The paper studies the Norman Creek catchment within the city boundary and presents exemplary urban analyses focusing on storm water, ground water, and open spaces. To frame the WSUD implications throughout the catchment, the paper considers specific water management strategies related to water surface movement (WSM), direct infiltration, filtration and Aquifer Storage and Recharge (ASR), and identifies suitable locations within the study area. Contaminated land parcels, slope, salinity, acid sulphate soil type, street and open space network data, and residential lots for each sub-catchment are mapped to inform WSM, and filtration strategies. The remaining areas qualify for direct infiltration as well as local water storage hot spots within the catchment for further design and planning purposes. This paper presents the first part of a larger study carried out at the University of Queensland's School of Architecture. It lays the groundwork to further analyse urban environmental quality of green-blue infrastructure's hot spots identified in this phase. Future research will then combine current findings with socioeconomic data to substantiate future development zones: this will support the priority plan of the BCC, guiding implementation strategies and new sustainable development within the catchment.
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Papers by Antony Moulis