These inaugural appointments bring leading practitioners into the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, giving postgraduate students rare insight into professional life while creating space for residents to reflect on their practice and share research-driven perspectives.
Dr Michael Zanardo is a registered architect, urban designer and director of Studio Zanardo, an independent and collaborative design consultancy working at the intersection of policy and built form and specialising in the design of housing, particularly social and affordable housing.
Michael is a member of the City of Sydney Design Advisory Panel Residential Subcommittee, Ku-ring-gai Urban Design Consultants Panel and Inner West Architectural Excellence and Design Review Panel, provides urban design advice to the NSW Land and Housing Corporation, has chaired and been a panellist for a number of design excellence competitions, and acts as an urban design expert witness in the NSW Land and Environment Court.聽He has also recently been appointed to the City of Sydney Housing For All Working Group as well as the Australian Institute of Architects NSW Housing Working Group to help shape advocacy on housing design, policy and affordability.
Michael actively combines practice with a dedication to research and teaching. His investigations focus on the central role that housing has in making the fabric of our cities and how the everyday 鈥榦rdinariness鈥 of housing can, and should, be elevated through design.
Zanardo, M., Sisson, A., Logan, C., & McLaughlan, R. (2024). Sydney鈥檚 largest public housing estate is being redeveloped, but not all these homes need to be demolished.聽The Conversation聽
Zanardo, M., Sisson, A., Logan, C., & McLaughlan, R. (2024). Wilful ignorance at Waterloo: public housing quality and political stigma in Sydney鈥檚 largest estate renewal.聽Planning Perspectives, 1鈥33.聽鈥
Dr Michael Zanardo has collaborated with faculty members Associate Professor Cameron Logan and Dr Rebecca McLaughlan along with Dr Alistair Sisson of Macquarie University to produce a cross-disciplinary journal article examining the design quality of the Waterloo public housing estate and the political stigma surrounding it. The paper builds on Michael鈥檚 architectural and historical research prepared to guide the 鈥楬ousing for All鈥 Masters of Architecture design studio and makes the case that a more fulsome assessment of the existing housing stock at Waterloo might instead suggest an approach of retention and renovation of existing buildings with infill housing and that this could produce better outcomes for residents from a wellbeing perspective.鈥櫬
Following the successful presentation of their Master of Architecture 鈥楬ousing For All鈥 design studio at Sydney Town Hall in February, students Irene Bai, Ivy Chen, Sid Shewade and Vivian Su were invited to present their work on the Waterloo South redevelopment masterplan at Homes NSW in Parramatta in May.聽
The presentation and discussion was attended by the Hon. Rose Jackson Minister for Housing and Homes NSW CEO Rebecca Pinkstone as well as Homes NSW staff.聽
Dr Michael Zanardo gave a brief introduction to the studio and the students shared their insights on the masterplan speaking to their research and drawings and the large-scale group model which was specially聽transported and assembled for the presentation.聽Congratulations聽to all involved!
The 鈥楬ousing for All鈥 design studio was developed and run as a part of Dr Michael Zanardo鈥檚 Rothwell Residency in Architecture.
Brief leader 鈥 Dr Michael Zanardo () and Alexander Koll ()
Coordinator 鈥 Dr Maren Koehler聽聽MARC5010/MARC5020 Architectural Studio 1/2 Master of Architecture聽聽
The Master of Architecture students from the 鈥楬ousing for All鈥 design studio exhibited and presented their projects at Sydney Town Hall on Thursday 22 February. Their work explored the proposed Waterloo South redevelopment masterplan for mixed-use, mixed-tenure public and affordable housing.
The event was kindly hosted by Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore and was well attended by members and staff of Council, senior representatives from State Government, industry guests, colleagues and students.
An opening address was given by studio brief leader Dr Michael Zanardo and closing comments were generously provided by special guest Paul Karakusevic, one of the leading social and public housing architects in Europe.
The student groups each gave an illustrated talk and displayed their design drawings, case studies and a large-scale 1:200 group model which became a talking point of the event.
The 鈥楬ousing for All鈥 design studio was developed and run as a part of Dr Michael Zanardo鈥檚 Rothwell Residency in Architecture.
Brief leader 鈥 Dr Michael Zanardo () and Alexander Koll ()
Coordinator 鈥 Dr Maren Koehler聽聽MARC5010/MARC5020 Architectural Studio 1/2 Master of Architecture
Dr Catherine Gilbert and Dr Michael Zanardo have completed a research report聽commissioned by peak housing advocacy body Shelter NSW to constructively critique the provisions of the new affordable housing density bonus policy in NSW and to consider more broadly how inclusionary housing policies could be designed going forward to ensure they deliver meaningful public benefit outcomes. The report draws upon international practice and research evidence of the effectiveness of different planning policy design features to make recommendations for how inclusionary housing policies can be implemented and scaled up to deliver more affordable housing.
A site model produced for 鈥楬ousing for All鈥 studio.聽Photo and time lapse video courtesy of聽
鈥楬ousing for All鈥櫬
Brief leader 鈥 Dr Michael Zanardo (Studio Zanardo) and Alexander Koll (MAKO Architecture)
Guest聽Lectures 鈥 Ken Baird (City of Sydney) and John Gregory (formerly Housing NSW)
Guest Critics 鈥 Ken Baird (City of Sydney), Jesse聽McNicoll (City of Sydney), Laura Harding (Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects), and Ben Guthrie (The Guthrie Project)
Coordinator 鈥 Maren Koehler聽
MARC5010/MARC5020 Architectural Studio 1/2聽
Master of Architecture聽
鈥楬ousing for All鈥 explored the development of the new Waterloo South masterplan for mixed-use mixed-tenure housing. Students designed thirteen city blocks of combining public, affordable and market housing, together negotiating and cooperating to complete the urban layout and realise the masterplan collectively.聽
The large-scale 1:200 group model became the focus of the studio, first filled with envelopes, then with buildings to become a valuable tool to help visual the urban place being created.聽
This 鈥榩ractice-focused鈥 studio was developed and run by Dr Michael Zanardo as a part of his聽Rothwell Residency in Architecture.聽
The model was co-ordinated on behalf of the group by student Vivian Su.聽
The students鈥 work was very well-received within the Council and broader forum and demonstrated the value of direct connection between teaching, research, and practice.
Callantha Brigham is an Architect and Urban Design professional with over 20 years鈥 experience working in State and Local Government. Most recently Callantha led the City Transformation Team at the City of Parramatta where she was responsible for a multidisciplinary team guiding the strategy, design and implementation of large-scale, city-shaping projects.
Callantha is also the current NSW Vice President and a NSW Chapter Councillor of the Australian Institute of Architects where her focus has been on advocating for gender equity, reconciliation and supporting the work of designers within government.
Callantha is passionate about the potential of public and community-based projects to drive positive social, cultural and environmental impact. Her Rothwell Residency in Urban Design will consider principles of equity, diversity and democracy (Susan Fainstein鈥檚 concept of the 鈥楯ust City鈥) and the role designers can play as advocates and agents of change.
This paper captures the research outcomes of my appointment as the Rothwell Resident in Urban Design at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney in 2022.聽
鈥楾his research study explores the roles and responsibilities of architects, landscape architects and urban designers (referred to throughout this report as designers) within NSW local government. Its aim is to shine a light on the organisational context and nature of their work and gain insights into their impact.
The study was informed by a series of interviews undertaken with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), General Managers (GMs), and senior designers in local government, together with the review of literature, census data, case studies, and the author鈥檚 ongoing participation in the designers in government (DiG) group, established in 2021.
Improving the quality of design within places was identified as a key driver for inhouse designers. Designers鈥 ability to 鈥榡oin dots鈥, spatially integrate, problem solve, provide design leadership and direction 鈥 to places and within organisations 鈥 fills an important skills and functional gap within Councils.
This gap coincides with the place-shaping role that communities value most from local government (Ryan et al., 2015, p.ii). While external design panels and consultants can service specific needs, they cannot replace the unique role designers can play within Councils.
While the argument for 鈥榞ood design鈥 adding social, environmental and economic value to places has been made for at least 20 years (CABE, 2000), interviews demonstrated different levels of understanding, and varying levels of design maturity within local government. The concept of guiding design outcomes 鈥 known as 鈥渄esign governance鈥 (Carmona, 2016) 鈥 is not new, however the benefits of design, known as the 鈥渄esign dividend鈥 (Freestone et al., 2019, p. 81) are only recognised in a limited number of Councils. While the value is clear to the leaders interviewed, the value of design governance is not consistently known or understood at senior levels of local government.
Hidden Practice of Design in Government (ARCH 9085), an intensive elective held in December 2022, taught to a group of architecture and urban design students
Students learnt how designers within government are helping to set transformative visions, influence delivery processes and advocate for great public outcomes across diverse areas.
This experience was invaluable for the students, as many of them were unaware this type of work existed, and they also had not realised how much of their education had been shaped by a particular view of practice.
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