#OpenHouseMelb2021 Live Weekend Schedule
Posted Thu 22nd Jul 2021 | Helen Sweatman
The Open House Melbourne Weekend is almost here and we’ve got a raft of brilliant LIVE events for you, despite the plan-altering lockdown we find ourselves in.
While we may not be able to open the physical doors to some of the city’s most significant buildings, we invite you to rediscover, re-engage and reconnect with the spaces, places and ideas that inspire and provoke discussion around the future of our city and our suburbs. This year’s fully digital program stretches from the City of Melbourne, Port Phillip, Stonnington, Boroondara, Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay and beyond — the Open House Weekend is the perfect excuse to discover a new side of the city whilst never leaving your 5km radius.
Read on for our round-up of this year’s LIVE schedule, set to reconnect you with the city you love, launching tomorrow night!
Friday 23 July
9am
Living Cities Forum – The Long View
9am – 4.30pm
Presented by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation
Living Cities Forum 2021 is now online with a new date—and you’re all invited! Tune in to hear renowned urbanism experts delivering thought-provoking keynote lectures on the theme: The Long View.
5.30pm
This is Public
5.30pm – 8.30pm
OPENING EVENT
Our opening event, This Is Public responds to the theme of ‘reconnect’ with speakers from different perspectives seeking to answer big questions about the role of design and policy, rapid density, climate change, public space, access and inclusion and designing on Country in shaping the future of our city.
The event will be broadcast on the Open House Melbourne and The Capitol websites, and later produced as a podcast.
Saturday 24 July
9am
Victorian Archives Centre
9am
A guided video tour through the archival collections will delve into the records that explore immigration, affordable housing and the environment, including the Pritchard Steam-Powered Car of the 1970s and the public housing towers of Flemington and North Melbourne. Tour guide Jack Martin from Public Record Office Victoria will answer audience questions in a live Q&A.
10am
Collins Arch with Woods Bagot
10am – 11am
How do you transform a Melbourne city block into a vibrant mixed-use precinct? Woods Bagot architects will present the journey taken to complete Melbourne’s latest landmark, offering exclusive behind-the scenes-access to the construction and design process. This is your chance to speak directly to the designers themselves.
Neighbourhood Justice Centre
10am – 11am
This online event begins with the history of the site and takes you on a journey through time that ends with a comprehensive understanding of the NJC — Australia’s first community justice centre.
11am
Camberwell Civic Precinct
11am
Boroondara Arts and Library Service invites you to a live online presentation about the Camberwell Civic Precinct. During the presentation we will discuss the evolution of the Camberwell Civic Precinct celebrating the many ways this building has been a part of our community since the 19th century.
Sculptform Design Studio
11am – 11.30am
Hear an exclusive presentation on the studio design concept and delivery, told by Bruno Mendes and Sue Fenton, Woods Bagot Melbourne. The presentation will include a digital tour of the space, commentary by the Sculptform team and Q&A with the architect.
Registrations required.
West Gate Tunnel Project
11am – 11.45am
Join us for a ‘behind the scenes’ live-streamed digital tour of the West Gate Tunnel Project’s westbound exit tunnel portal. Followed by a Q&A session with West Gate Tunnel Project engineers who will reveal insights into this large-scale urban infrastructure project.
Australian Tapestry Workshop
11am – 12pm
Please join ATW Senior Weaver Amy Cornall for a special talk this Weekend. Amy will talk about how ATW’s large-scale tapestries are created in the light filled studio in South Melbourne, a Victorian Free Gothic style building that has a rich history in textiles. The online talk will be moderated by Convener of the Friends of the ATW Caroline Johnston.
Registrations required.
12pm
Carrum Station and Foreshore Precinct
12pm – 1pm
Join representatives from the design team at COX Architecture and WSP Partners to discuss their vision and design process for this award-winning precinct. Saturday’s live seminars (at 12pm and 2pm) will be led by Andy Hayes from Cox Architecture and Justin O’Shea from WSP.
1pm
Architects Talk: Designing an Innovation Precinct with Woods Bagot
Melbourne Connect – Melbourne’s Innovation Precinct
1pm
What is an innovation precinct and how do you approach designing one? Principal Architect from Woods Bagot, Hazel Porter, will speak to the vision of Melbourne Connect, the University of Melbourne’s brand new innovation precinct.
Registrations required.
Melbourne Quakers Centre
1.pm – 1.45pm
Join the project architects Toby Reed from Nervegna Reed Architecture and Peter Hogg from pH architects, as they present the design and construction story behind the new Melbourne Quakers Centre. Hear first-hand how the project has directly impacted members from the Quaker community.
Registrations required.
Hawthorn Art Centre
1pm – 2pm
Boroondara Arts invites you to a live online presentation about the Hawthorn Arts Centre (former Hawthorn Town Hall). During the presentation we will discuss the evolution of the Hawthorn Arts Centre, celebrating the many ways this building has been a part of our community since the 19th century.
Registrations required.
1.30pm
Hey Neighbour – Building Community One Block At A Time
1.30 – 2.30pm
Join us for an online panel discussion which will explore how Immigration Museum is working with The Neighbourhood Circle to reinvigorate their local city neighbourhood.
Panellists include: Jaison Hoernel (Good Cycles), Nene MacWhirter (Port Authority Apartments), Wendy Lasica (the Turning Circle Collective), Alex Smith (Collins Arch) and Rohini Kappadath (Immigration Museum). Moderated by Robert Buckingham (the Turning Circle Collective) with opening remarks from Sally Capp (Lord Mayor of Melbourne).
Registrations required.
2pm
The Victorian Pride Centre
2pm
Join this online broadcast to learn more about the new Victorian Pride Centre – Australia’s first purpose-built LGBTIQ+ Centre. Opening in July 2021 in Melbourne’s bayside tourism precinct St Kilda, the seven story Victorian Pride Centre is home to 15 LGBTIQ+ organisations, a meeting space for LGBTIQ+ clubs and groups and a cultural and social hub with a theatrette, gallery, rooftop event space and bars.
Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design
2pm – 3.15pm
Led by Grimshaw Managing Partner and Design Director, Andrew Cortese and representatives from Monash, this online tour will take viewers through the new, award-winning Monash Woodside Building. Tune in from 2pm and get your questions ready!
Registrations required.
Discover Northbrook and the Stonnington History Centre
2pm – 3pm
Join us for an online presentation about the history of Charles D’Ebro’s Northbrook, and its transformation into the Stonnington History Centre. Stonnington History Centre staff will highlight some of the original fixtures of this former home as well as take you through the treasures in its collection.
Link coming soon.
Carrum Station and Foreshore Precinct
2pm –3pm
Join representatives from the design team at COX Architecture and WSP Partners to discuss their vision and design process for this award-winning precinct. Saturday’s live seminars (at 12pm and 2pm) will be led by Andy Hayes from Cox Architecture and Justin O’Shea from WSP.
3pm
Science Gallery Melbourne
3pm – 4pm
Science Gallery Melbourne (SGM) presents an online session with architect Nicole Leuning of Sydney-based Smart Design Studio. She will talk about the inception, philosophy, building design principles and construction of SGM’s galleries and events spaces.
Registrations required.
Next Hotel — Designers Talk
3pm – 4pm
Woods Bagot’s Bronwyn McColl and Isabel Munro will walk you through their design for Next Hotel’s rooms, communal and dining spaces, unfolding the site’s multi-layered history that inspired its design.
Registrations required.
Sunday 25 July
11am
Designing Policy for People – Online ‘Walking’ Tour
11am – 12pm
Led by Victorian Government Architect Jill Garner with Hamish Lyon, Director of NH Architecture, this online walking tour reveals the stories, ideas and policy decisions behind some of our city’s most prominent urban public spaces and buildings. Including significant projects from leading Melbourne practices such as Lovell Chen, Bates Smart, NH Architecture, ARM, John Wardle Architects and Woods Bagot.
Politics and Utopia in Architecture Series — Indigenous Knowledge Systems
11am – 1pm
This series of panel discussions explores how we can design alternative places that establish strong relationships between architecture and landscape. A discussion on how and what we can learn from a more than 60.000 year culture and its socio-political framework. Panelists: Professor Barbara Glowczewski, Uncle Leonard Clarke, Dr Christine Phillips and Dr Hannah Robertson.
12pm
Carrum Station and Foreshore Precinct
12pm – 2pm
Join representatives from the design team at COX Architecture and WSP Partners to discuss their vision and design process for this award-winning precinct. Sunday’s live seminars (at 12pm and 2pm) will be led by Jonathan Gardiner from Cox and Bernadette Fitzgerald from WSP.
1pm
Politics and Utopia in Architecture Series — Knowing the Anthropocene
1pm – 3pm
This series of panel discussions explores how we can design alternative places that establish strong relationships between architecture and landscape. Hear field stories that demonstrate how we might care for a damaged planet and the future of architecture with the editors of ‘Feral Atlas: The More-Than-Human Anthropocene’ (Stanford University Press 2020). Panelists: Professor Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Dr Alder Keleman Saxena, Professor Hélène Frichot and Charity Edwards.
2pm
Carrum Station and Foreshore Precinct
12pm – 2pm
Join representatives from the design team at COX Architecture and WSP Partners to discuss their vision and design process for this award-winning precinct. Sunday’s live seminars (at 12pm and 2pm) will be led by Jonathan Gardiner from Cox and Bernadette Fitzgerald from WSP.
ArchiTeam: McMahon and Nerlich – Little Richardson
2pm – 2.45pm
Architects Rob Nerlich and Kate McMahon present architectural drawings, still images of the previously existing conditions and the completed project for the residential project: Little Richardson, along with a short film. Tune in and get your questions ready for the Q&A.
3pm
Jane’s Walk: New Quay
3pm – 4pm
This insightful online walking tour will introduce virtual walkers to a less familiar part of Docklands: New Quay. Join your expert guide, Jane Bolitho, as she explores the architecture and urban design of this area’s prominent public buildings and spaces including Docklands Primary School, the Banksia Building, the District Docklands and Ron Barassi snr Park.
Registrations required.
Politics and Utopia in Architecture Series — Shaping Future Cities
3pm – 5pm
Do architecture and architects have the potential to enhance necessary future societal changes, that could address our current crisis, from climate collapse and the loss of biodiversity to social in-justice? A discussion around utopian architecture, utopian societies, historical examples and socio-political experiments. Panelists: Professor Felicity D. Scott, Associate Professor Lee Stickells, Dr Jonathan Lovell, Associate Professor Rochus Hinkel, Dr Peter Raisbeck.
Across the Weekend
Living Cities Forum X Open House Melbourne X ACMI Film Series
Presented by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation with Open House Melbourne and ACMI.
During the Weekend, you can watch Imagined Cities: Urban Futures Prototyped through Film via ACMI Cinema 3.
Later, as restrictions allow, the online films will be accompanied by cinema screenings featuring Björk: Biophillia Live, Last and First Men, Homo Sapiens (with a live score by ARIA award-winning composer Heinz Riegler).
ArtPlay — Virtual Tour and Video Workshop for Kids
During the Weekend, grab the kids and join ArtPlay for an online workshop with the Polygot artists where you’ll get to bring creations to life with paper and tape. The workshop runs for 20 minutes and is available throughout the Weekend.
Orica House at 1 Nicholson Street – Guided Digital Tour with Bates Smart and Charter Hall Film Screening
Take a guided digital tour of Orica House led by Bates Smart staff, featuring a look into the Bates Smart studio via Instagram Live. You can also view a recent film produced by Charter Hall that takes a look at the memories and cultural contribution of this iconic Melbourne building.
WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Join us on our Instagram and Facebook Stories on Saturday 24 July as we share our favourite building and scientific images and fun facts about the building, going behind the scenes at WEHI.
During the Weekend you can also learn about the history and design of WEHI, take a 360-interactive lab tour, view a presentation from Dr Drew Berry on our new Illuminarium, learn more about our COVID-19 research and experience scientific images coming to life via our augmented reality (AR) app via their event page here.
Virtual Tours
Visit our archive of virtual tours and events at any time ‘on demand’ over the Weekend!
- The Capitol
- Boyd House II, Walsh Street
- futurefoodsystem
- Trades Hall
- Melbourne School of Design Glyn Davis Building
- Australian Islamic Centre
- Footscray Town Hall
Tuesday 27 July
1pm
Reconnecting with the past through architectural objects – An Online Talk from the Miles Lewis Building Heritage Collection
1pm – 2pm
The project to digitise the Miles Lewis Building Heritage collection created over 300 3D scans of historic building materials and objects. Join us for a behind the scenes look at the collection and its transformation. You will get to see and hear some of the stories of the objects collected by Professor Miles Lewis over his professional career. Registrations required.
6pm
2021 Heritage Address – Secrets of the City
6pm – 7.30pm
Presented by Heritage Victoria
Archaeologist and Heritage Council of Victoria member Meg Goulding and Jeremy Smith, Heritage Victoria’s Principal Archaeologist present the 2021 Heritage Address ‘Secrets of the City’.
This year’s online event presents new discoveries from some of the city’s recent archaeological investigations. For the first time, discoveries will be revealed from the Melbourne Metro dig enhancing the city’s reputation as one of the world’s best examples of a 19th century archaeological site.
Explore the entire digital program here.
