Speaking with Sandra Kaji-O'Grady

Professor of Architecture and Head of Discipline, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning

Over the past month Sydney has been enriched by the engaging and magical light sculptures that are part of Vivid Sydney: A Festival of Light, Music and Ideas. We have, literally, seen many of our most treasured and iconic buildings, in a new light. Twenty-four of the light installations were curated by alumni Mary-Anne Kyriakou. Mary-Anne holds a Graduate Degree in Design Science in Illumination from our Faculty and a Masters in Music Composition from the Conservatorium of Music. Mary-Anne is also the recipient of the 2011 Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning Alumni Award for Community Achievement. Like all our Faculty Alumni Award winners, Mary-Anne has demonstrated the capacity to direct the knowledge she gained here into the broader public and professional arena. We are very proud of her success and congratulate her and, indeed, all of our other 2011 Alumni Award winners.

In addition to Mary-Anne’s curation and her own contribution, recent graduate from the Master of Architecture, Andrew Daly, and current Bachelor of Design in Architecture student Katherine Fife, had two installations. Their project, Crystallized, was one of the most compelling installations. Comprised of 4000 edge lit acrylic rods hung from the Cahill Expressway, it was no doubt heavy and difficult to install and make. It appeared though to be made of nothing but weightless, changing coloured light.

Seeing so many architects collaborating with lighting designers, engineers and artists, or simply crossing territory as Andrew and Katherine had, reinforced for me that the current state of the disciplines and professions has shifted dramatically away from one of securely delineated professional territory. More and more we are seeing individuals create hybrid transdisciplinary careers for themselves. Indeed, I recently made the acquaintance of a young man, a writer, whose job description at Arup is ‘foresight specialist’. Our own Faculty is well positioned in regard to the changing professional context. The planning, design and realisation of our built environments is too complex for any singular approach and requires many different knowledge sets and the ability to translate between them. And this is the exciting future for our multi-discipline Faculty.