Questions relating to your area of work:

1. What needs to be considered when working on a brief such as this one? e.g rules
and regs. What perspective or method would an architect take to respond to this
brief? What stages would you go through in order to fulfil this brief?

2. How does the process of an architect or a designer differ from an engineer or a

facilities manager in the case of Grosvenor Place?

3. Being a facilities manager, what changes to Grosvenor place do you see imminent
in the near future? And what elements have lead to these changes being
necessary?

4. Are you aware of the refurbishment having just recently been completed on
Grosvenor Place. How do refurbishments like these change the face or the
personality of the building and the way people interact with it?

5. Speaking from your line of work and expertise; how imperative is it in

architectural design to desire to improve the human condition and to produce built
environments that respond to aspirations of society.

5a) Firstly – how do you see these aspirations depicted in Harry’s work and in
particular Grosvenor Place? after the war - social engineering.

5b) Secondly – What methods are taken to create an environment that interacts with
humans in such a way. Does the society we live in effect to what extent this is
emphasised?

((In re-designing Grosvenor Place is that relevant to our building?))

Seidler

1. Seidler quoted in a magazine almost 50 years ago now that "the art of living is
being lost in this crowded hotch-potch that we call a city". Considering your areas
of expertise, how do you view this statement 50 years later? Do you believe we have
progressed further from this – positively or negatively.

- As a student studying Grosvenor Place I believe that Seidler’s design

attempts to create a haven for commuters amongst chaotic atmosphere of
George street.

2. I briefly looked up some of Seidler’s buildings you mentioned before; it is evident

they share similarities – as an architect do you believe Seidler’s methods of creating
buildings to a similar style is inginuitive or quite the opposite?

2a) Do you see Grosvenor place as being truly representative of Seidler’s

architectural style – what is the same, what differs from other projects?

2b) How has our group harnessed these differences into our project?
3. Architect and critic Neville Gruzman labelled Harry Seidler’s work as ‘urban
destruction’ – what is your perception of this type of criticism that harry seidler
indeed did encounter several times throughout his career? Was Harry’s modernist
approach too stark for Australian architecture?

4. Developed what he calls the visual vocabulary of architecture, obsession with

heritage – should be stamped out – cultural insecurity – heritage mania –
mindless junk. How important is it to have an understanding of how cities grown
and develop?. In terms of seidlers inability to understand working with
constraints – heritage and conservation in particular.

5. is harry’s architecture still considered modern - has it started to date? What style
is reflective of the architecure today - is harry’s work closer to this or locked into
a period previous to contemporary architecture.

- comparitively do you see the changes our group has made as being modern and a
step forward or taking to seidler’s style and period.