Situating the Architecture of John Wardle, an essay

RESEARCH BACKGROUND 'Situating the Architecture of John Wardle' is an essay included in 'This building likes me', a monograph covering the recent work of one of Australia's most significant architectural practices, John Wardle Architects (JWA). Van Schaik situates their practice as being both sensitive to place and working within public and civic interests, qualities essential for responsible and future responsive architecture. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION In this work, van Schaik observes three architecture modes emerging within the extreme ecologies of the current Anthropocene era - that serving the rich and powerful; systematic spatial thinking and use of technologies to adapt cities for the future; and locally situated practices working in the public and civic interests. He places JWA in the latter category, discussing works that demonstrate both responsiveness and adaptability to the specificities of location, while providing a script for 'interactions that bring forth new ideas and that generate cultural innovation'. This work contributes to van Schaik's ongoing research exploring the importance of spatial thinking and intelligence to architectural design, driving a concern for the fundamentals of professional practice, its ethics and its basis for 'knowing, doing and helping' in society. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE 'This building likes me' is a significant monograph offering an extensive overview of the multi-award winning architecture practice of JWA. The book includes essays by other eminent authors - including Rachel Hurst (UniSA) and Rory Hyde (curator V&A) - and is held in the collections of the State Library of Victoria and the National Library of Australia.