Emergence

Exhibition period: Thursday 17 June - Friday 5th November

Emergence brings together decades of architectural research from the Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship in an interactive exhibition and a series of public talks. A collection of 35 diverse research projects have been unveiled from print and digital archives and curated together for the first time in an engaging physical and digital constellation of ideas.

Established in 1951, the scholarship is based on the belief that travel is key to architects, students and graduates developing new architectural ideas, staying connected with the global community and continuing a strong discourse throughout the architectural profession.

Drawing on this deep trove of knowledge, Emergence showcased a diverse collection of research projects across a field of ‘fragments’. Sometimes abstract, sometimes transparent, participating scholars have carefully distilled a key moment of their research, producing a single fragment that offered the audience a fleeting insight into their unique research journey.

Visitors had the opportunity to physically traverse this assemblage, moving amongst a collection of seemingly disparate ideas and points in time to find places of overlap or friction.

To complement this open exploration of ideas, an interactive ‘resource wall’ allowed audiences to carefully unpick the threads of research from each project and to engage with the physical and digital manifestation of each scholar’s final research report.

The public program aimed to take this further, presenting chances for conversation with and between researchers on their areas of interest, revealing how the travels undertaken in this scholarship have shaped their professional trajectories and architectural practices. 

What had developed was an exhibition of important knowledge and ideas, which provided a space to reflect, converse and plan for new journeys. Emergence hoped to provide a physical forum and digital resource to facilitate these conversations, foster intrigue in architectural research and allow audiences to travel to other communities at this time of restricted movement.

For many recipients, the Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship is just the beginning of a life-long journey of developing and sharing the ideas first formed by their research projects. Emergence aimed to be a catalyst itself, raising the profile of this important work, accommodating previously undiscovered connections and fostering curiosity in new architectural research.

Emergence curatorial team:

- Anna Ewald-Rice: 2018 Scholar

- Doug Hamersley: 2018 Scholar

- Byron Kinnaird: Research and Education Officer (NSW ARB)

- Tiffany Liew: 2015 Scholar

- Eleanor Peres: 2018 Scholar

Contributors:

See a list of contributors here

Follow Emergence on Instagram

@emergence_exhibition

Photos by Maja Baska ©2021