A Small House

Research Background: The Small House was a collaborative entry into the international The Lodge on the Lake Design Ideas Competition for a new Prime Ministers Lodge. The competition was part of the Centenary of Canberra initiative by the University of Canberra and the Gallery of Australian Design to celebrate the founding of the capital. Research Significance: GAD is a highly-regarded Canberra gallery established in partnership between the University of Canberra, the Australian Institute of Architects, the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and the National Museum of Australia, and is located prominently at the foot of Parliament hill. The Lodge on the Lake Exhibition collected only 26 (from 242 entries to the international competition) to be exhibited at the Gallery of Australian Design as part of the public celebrations. The competition and thus subsequently the exhibition received significant international and local press coverage. Research Contribution: The Small House addressed a complex program, whilst engaging in the appropriation of literary, cinematic and architectural heritages the foregrounded a critical examination of Australian political narratives at local, national and international levels. It questioned whose identity was at stake in the claim of an architecture that could represent National differences and allegiances. The work placed Spooner's own body of research adjacent to his peers Fahey and Bird for the first time, addressing the meta-narratives of the Melbourne architectural scene.