"For people with a passion for sustainability there's never been a better time to be alive." - Andre Egan. This podcast our guest is Andrew Egan, who, fascinatingly, operates a commercial asset management company that focuses on circularity. Have you ever thought about the lifespan of office furniture? How many chairs, desks, cubicles and kitchens exist in offices worldwide? And, crucially, how many materials were mined, forged and sewn together to make a single chair, only for modern corporate culture to reduce its lifespan to seven years. This enormous and often unseen issue is what Egans ..read more

Author, Professor and recently, Poet Brendan Gleeson joins LCA to discuss the gravitational power and development of cities, with a focus on Melbourne. With a background in geography and urban planning, Brendan is interested in the human relationships developed through planning and architecture. He is a member of the Melbourne Centre for Cities within the University of Melbourne and is the author of 14 books, most recently "Records of The Loss Property Department of Gardiner Reserve. I am excited to dive in and hear his perspective on the past, present, and future of Melbourne, and urban ..read more

This episode I invite esteemed author and Professor of Architecture Mirjana Lozanovska, a good friend of mine on to the podcast to talk about post-war southern European migrant housing in the 50's and 60's. Mirjana's extensive expertise sheds light on the architectural landscape of Melbourne, particularly the houses in our local neighbourhoods. Migrant housing holds a personal connection for me, as my parents moved to Mildura from Italy after World War II, and Mirjana's research resonates with the memories of homes from my childhood. Mirjana, Professor at Deakin University, focuses her researc ..read more

From this episode onwards, we are introducing a new discussion point on which we will invite speakers to contribute - Design More to Consume Less. This topic will introduce and interrogate the concept that design can aid us in reducing how much we consume. Whether that be through well produced items that last a lifetime to scrutinising the supply chain of everything we buy, can design and designers be the authorities on consumption? Can we truly consume less and design more? In this episode we invite Damien Wright - designer, furniture maker, and activist, to discuss with us the ways in which ..read more

After a hiatus of 8 months Jackson and Antony are back talking Light, Cities and Architecture.  In this episode they talk about The Light and Space movement emanating from California in the 1960’s.  Together they discuss the work of Robert Irwin, Helen Pashgian and James Turrell.  With obvious links to architecture these artists redefined art in the 20th century to be a sensory experience that broke free of the boundaries of the canvas and became installation pieces in different locations around the world. The impact is still being felt today with artists like Olafur Eliasson an ..read more

In this bonus episode Jackson and Antony depart from Aalto that was discussed in last episode and discuss the role of daylight design in contemporary buildings.  We venture into the meaning of architecture, the art of daylighting and the rise of electric lighting to satisfy people’s needs for light and control in spaces.  The future of daylight might be less obvious as lighting design and lighting controls give greater certainty to lighting outcomes.  But can electric lighting ever give us what daylight gives us in architecture?  Find out what Jackson and Antony think will ..read more

In this episode Jackson and Antony look at the work of Alvar Aalto.  Specifically, we look at his library buildings and the relationship to lighting design and daylight.  Aalto’s work spans over 5 decades and each of his library buildings we see an evolution of the way he uses daylight to create spaces.  We explore the influences of luminaire design on his architecture and how he created a model of nature and the environment that inspired his interior architecture ..read more

In Episode 5 Antony and Jackson delve into the delights and mysteries of the night time sky and the impact that light pollution is having on our connection to the stars and colours of the sky at night.  Since the advent of electric lighting and urbanisation of our cities we have slowly filled our cities with more and more outdoor electric lights.  Increasingly we rely on lighting, advertising, technology for entertainment, human connection and storytelling.  However, our evolution has for millennia relied on the simple day night rhythm that is deeply embedded in our DNA.  B ..read more

In episode 4, we explore the daylight in the urban context of big cities and the backlash that happens when we build tall buildings in close proximity.  The urban realm at ground level is compromised and the effects are felt for generations.  New York has progressively tried to provide planning regulations to limit the effect of daylight at ground level and the story of New York involves those who wish to see development thrive and those who want to see the public realm retained as a livable healthy place for people to thrive ..read more

Podcast 3 explores the origins of Christmas lighting. There are many interpretations of how the Christmas tradition evolved, and what most of these versions have in common is that Christmas came about as a way of bringing people together during the coldest & darkest days of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In this episode Antony and Jackson discuss how the traditions have been adopted by different communities all over the world, the rivalries between neighbours that play out during this time, and how the advent of electricity transformed the celebration into a cacophony of glowing light ..read more