FB is BIG – Urban Scale Design Research

Contributing  ideas for this new city through design strategies, not masterplans.

• Research Overview
• People
• Outcomes
• Acknowledgements

• Research Overview

  Fishermen’s Bend is an opportunity to create an entirely new city adjacent to the Melbourne’s  CBD.  It will inevitably address contemporary urban issues found both here and internationally. As of 2013, there was no vision for this new part of our city.

  FB is BIG is the third in a series of urban scale research studios undertaken by Simon Whibley in the RMIT University Master of Architecture Program since 2010. Over the first half of 2013 we’ll be adding the developments of the studio and its proposals.

  The drip feeding of information regarding the development of Fishermans Bend, and the so-far opportunistic and ad-hoc approach to its development opens a unique opportunity to provide visions of what this new city can be, and what transformations of Melbourne it might create

  The complexities and difficulties of a Fishermans  Bend- particularly the high level of private ownership of development sites – have been much repeated in the media. There seems to be little ambition other than to avoid the disappointments of Docklands whilst avoiding challenging this very development model.
  
  This studio’s aim is to contribute ideas for this new city through design strategies, not masterplans, considering:

  • What the CBD + FB could be, its programmatic and strategic relationships
  • Landscape + Edge, the extensive waterfront and the transformation of the this edge through climate change
  • Infrastructure + Networks, the local metropolitan and regional affects of  FB
  • Capacities for Re-use

• People

  Research team

  • Simon Whibley
  • Mark Allen
  • Beau  Davis
  • Zenas  Deng
  • Asilah Hj Ishak
  • Mel Lo
  • Amy Hurren
  • Kash Lee
  • Syireen Ismail
  • Mark Trueman
  • Eric Tsang
  • Danielle  Yap

  Guests

  • Ian Nazereth
  • Prue Fea
  • Gretchen Wilkins
  • Lindsay Holland
  • Markus Jung

• Research outcomes

  Exhibitions

  • 2013  RMIT Master of Architecture Exhibition, RMIT Design Hub

• Acknowledgements

  Contributors

  • Ian Nazereth: Background Research and Images