public architecture?

andrew*

<p><b>m3arch at Brisbane Girls Grammar School is a piece of commercial architecture. JW at Melbourne Boys Grammar is  a piece of commercial architecture. Do you think the PTA sat around and discussed how much a new library would help their child's education? no. they sat around and chatted about how much a new facility would attract new students and new money. can i walk off the streets into these facilities without being accused of being bill henson scouting schools for nude models? no i can't. because thay ain't public.

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sod

<p>they don't pass the 24hr public access test but they're public building types.</p>
<p>is the MCG a public building?- paid entry is the only way in to many so called public buildings. maybe there should be semi public / institutional or a free/paid entry distinction in the award category but i reckon too many buildings get awards as it is.</p>
<p>bill henson looks like a pedaophile (not that i don't admire his work) so i reckon he'd get dragged out of any public or private schoolyard. he'd get the shit kicked out of him if he was seen anywere near phooey's childrens activity centre.</p>
<p>i don't think this issue is as cut and dried as you quietly state</p>
<p>and the social concseince guilt exhibited by some of the judging panel was laughable given their privellaged background.</p>

hairdresser

they are public buildings for sure.
the public is very private. the legacy of howard. clearly the nation is a series of privileged places and sectors. The buildings can/should be discussed precisely through that problem.
Distasteful as it seems (and it is to me - I was educated in a govt. school) its possible that these buildings might be examined in order to mount a criticism of govt. education infrastructure.

I'd add that the Catholic Church has run a private education system alternative to the govt. which spans all the way from what we could consider the poor and underprivileged through to the elite. Possibly the only universal education provider (in terms of class) in the nation. Contrast this with protestant institutions (purely elitist) and Govt. (anti elitist) dichotomy. Elite streaming in the govt. sector is a fragile concept that has always been under threat. like sod says - its a complex issue.

@ sod - yes, too many awards and the catagories are stupid.
- its possible that in any one year all the award winners might come from just one catagory.
thats the reality of patronage, the flow of money and where interest tends to be at any one period in time.

info

The AIA is a commercial entity - and its awards a commercial endeavour
For the most part, its commercial members navigate their way into architecture strictly through the BCA
It follows that the categories must be re-calibrated to the BCA classification of building to ensure relevance -ie class 1, 2, 3 .....