Some buildings can make us happy, joyful and relaxed. Others tend to make us feel agitated and stifled, even slightly depressed.
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Reasons for this will be explored in a free public talk, titled Architecture's Elusive Impact on Vitality, to be held in Newcastle on Thursday.
Professor Pia Ednie-Brown, will discuss how thinking differently about architecture can help create spaces that boost wellbeing, creativity and cultural vitality.
The professor is part of University of Newcastle's School of Architecture and the Built Environment.
She also has her own creative research practice, Onomatopoeia.
One of her research projects involved a small terrace house in Melbourne.
This led to the strange and interesting question of, can a building be a person?
The renovation of the terrace was part of a process that involved getting to know the house as a kind of "person".
Topics: "When you ask, can a building be a person? What do you mean?"
Professor Ednie-Brown: "A person is not necessarily a human. I am asking us to think about personhood - which implies agency and rights - as not just belonging to humans. If we think of any entity as having personhood, this affects our relationship with it, and that is the key".
The professor has written that an important step in the architectural transformation of the terrace was giving it a name. She chose Avery Green. [We get what she's saying here. We've named our car Trent. Our previous car was named Lance].
In her work, the professor aims to move away from the idea of anthropocentrism.
"Anthropocentrism is about believing humans to be at the centre of the world and more important than anything else.
"This is proving to be a very destructive mindset and lies at the core of our problem with biodiversity loss and rapid climate change."
Topics: "Do you think a lot of architecture is boring, bland, soulless etc?"
Professor Ednie-Brown: "Yes and no. I know plenty of humans who appear boring and bland at first, until you get to know them and their stories. Buildings are like that, too. They start to open up if you try to get to know them."
She added: "Boring and bland environments are the product of a lack of care, love and attention. Any building that is part of a community of care has meaning, purpose and some form of beauty."
Professor Ednie-Brown's lecture is part of the university's New Professors Talk series, which features public lectures on topics of community relevance.
The free lecture will be held at Newcastle Conservatorium at 6pm on Thursday. Register through the Eventbrite website.
In Threes
It was sad to hear about the Awaba House fire. Now that's a place that could also be considered to have personhood.
It's in a magic location out there on the lakefront at Booragul, alongside Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery.
NBN newsreader and journalist Jane Goldsmith tweeted this about the fire: "Milano's collapsed into the lake, Squid's Ink was gutted by fire and now beautiful Awaba House destroyed ... it hasn't been a good run for wedding/function centres in Lake Macquarie over the last few years".
That should be the last of the bad news for wedding and function centres on the lake, surely. Bad things happen in threes, right?
VB Tea
Cricket tragics have been putting in the hard yards in recent weeks, watching the Ashes into the wee hours.
The late-night sessions of absorbing broadcasts from the Old Dart can be hard to sustain.
Alcohol is definitely a no-no if you want to stay up. Caffeine is what's needed.
Beer brand VB has cottoned on to this. It created an ad with one of its signature rhymes: "You're in your jarmies, giving it to the Barmy Army, whispering howzat, so you don't wake your flat. When it feels like the ball's cursed, you've sure got a thirst. An early morning thirst needs a nice hot cuppa. And the best hot cuppa is tea. VB tea."
VB Tea is non-alcoholic but made with ceylon black tea and VB hops.
Guess the point is, no self-respecting Aussie wants to drink English Breakfast tea during the Ashes.