Greta Thunberg Named Time Person of the Year 2019:
The 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change is the youngest person to be chosen by the magazine, in a tradition that began in 1927.
“Thunberg began a global movement by skipping school: starting in August 2018, she spent her days camped out in front of the Swedish Parliament, holding a sign painted in black letters on a white background that read Skolstrejk för klimatet: ‘School Strike for Climate’,” Charlotte Alter, Suyin Haynes and Justin Worland write for Time.
“In the 16 months since, she has addressed heads of state at the U.N., met with the Pope, sparred with the President of the United States and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike on September 20, 2019, in what was the largest climate demonstration in human history.”
Speaking from the UN climate summit in Madrid, Thunberg said she wanted to dedicate the award to all young activists.
“I was very surprised when I found out because it’s so … I could never have imagined anything like that happening. It’s so unexpected, so I am of course very grateful for that, very honoured,” she said.
“But as I have said before, I should not be the one to be person of the year, it should be everyone in the Fridays for Future movement because what we have done, we have done together.”
Margaret Cribb Early Learning Centre photography by Roger D’Souza.
Early Learning Spaces – Designing for Digital Natives:
The ‘alpha generation’ has never known a world without smartphones. How do we design early learning environments to nurture these digital natives on their own, new-age terms, asks Indesignlive.
“We know that the most successful learning environments for children are highly interactive to encourage physical as well as digital connection. Such spaces are invested with a degree of flexibility to better personalise the experience because current pedagogies acknowledge learning is different for each student,” writes Leanne Amodeo.
She examines a nursery and kindergarten in Milan designed by Rome-based studio Labics, following the Reggio Emilia approach – a student-centred educational philosophy.
The open-plan heart of the space features curved freestanding storage and divider systems that enable flexible configuration of the ground-level. The piazza-like space is designed to foster community and build children’s interpersonal skills.
Flexible partitioned spaces at the Jacaranda nursery and kindergarten.
A second case study, the Margaret Cribb Early Learning Centre (MCELC) at the University of Queensland designed by dwp, encourages discovery.
Again, internal spaces are arranged for flexibility – with the outdoor play space as a Reggio Emilia piazza building connections between children and also nature.
“The children’s connection to nature in this instance is pertinent for self-guided learning,” writes Amodeo.
“To a degree, [the children] have no boundaries and are free to explore, mixing with all age groups and experiencing a diversity of areas (with supervision), from the veggie patch and chicken house to amphitheatre.”
Flexible indoor spaces at the Margaret Cribb Early Learning Centre allow for different levels of interaction and concentration throughout the day.
To celebrate the unveiling of the Piatto Chair at our annual product launch party with AILA NSW in Sydney, Jazz at The Mint, clients were invited to enter this quirky contest. The competition called for teams to incorporate Piatto Chairs into an ‘Awkward Family Photo’ portrait, for a chance to win Piatto Chairs of their very own. Congratulations to the creative crew from Yerrabingin, who delivered the strongest awkward family vibes on the night. Highly commended goes to the entrants below, and the full photo gallery from the event is available for viewing. Please contact marketing@streetfurniture.com if you would like to request a high res file to print and frame for your best room.
Clients from Sydney, Adelaide, California and Texas joined Street Furniture Australia and AILA NSW to celebrate the unveiling of new products on March 14, 2024, with margaritas and live music. Jazz at The Mint is an annual product launch held at The Mint, an iconic site in the heart of the Sydney CBD. It is an elegant affair and a unique opportunity to connect with landscape architects and built environment professionals at a global scale. This year’s party featured the new Linea Planter System and upcoming Piatto Chair, a single-seater hybrid between cafe and robust public space furniture – available now for specifications. The gathering was opened by Uncle Allan Murray, representing the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council, with speeches from: Ben Stockwin, AILA CEO, acknowledged the 10 year relationship with …
The Street Furniture Australia factory, in Regents Park, Western Sydney, is both a manufacturing hub and R&D studio for our Australian-designed and made street furniture products. We run fun and informative group events for customers throughout the year, to share how products are designed, tested and built, and the latest products and projects. This tour is open to design specifiers such as landscape architects and architects, and place custodians including Councils, government agencies, developers and other place managers. Director of Tract Julie Lee said: “It was a great opportunity for our team to look behind the scenes and understand the innovation, research and climate positive outcomes Street Furniture Australia is focusing on. Thank you for having us!” Place Design Group Associate, Liam Isaksen, said: “The factory tour is a fun …
What is the Future of Concrete in Architecture? According to Lucy Rodgers at BBC News, “if the cement industry were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter in the world – behind China and the US. It contributes more CO2 than aviation fuel (2.5%), and is not far behind the global agriculture business (12%).” At the UN 2018 COP24 Climate Change Conference in Poland, it was highlighted that in order to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, annual cement emissions must fall by 16% by 2030. Experts and activists at the Architecture of Emergency climate summit in London in September called upon architects to fight climate change by ditching concrete. Niall Patrick Walsh writes in ArchDaily that designers may not need to avoid concrete altogether – but support innovations to …
Prioritising human experience through ‘soft’ cities: In his new book, called Soft City, Gehl creative director and partner David Sim considers how urban design can help a city feel more accessible and connected – that is, ‘softer.’ “For decades, so much urban planning has been focused on devising ways to reorganize human activity into distinct silos, to separate people and things, and, by doing so, reduce the risk of conflict,” Sim writes. “I would like, instead, to focus on how potentially conflicting aspects of everyday existence can be brought together and connected to deliver quality of life.” In a soft city, grocery stores and cafes are within walkable distance from your front door. The street is filled with people walking, biking and catching transit – not only cars. There are places …
Planting A Forest in a Football Stadium: Swiss curator Klaus Littmann and Enea Landscape Architecture hope to focus public attention on the crisis of deforestation with their public art installation, For Forest: The Unending Attraction of Nature. The project has converted the Wörthersee stadium in Klagenfurt, Austria, into a temporary native European forest. Some 300 trees, many of which are fully grown and some of which weigh nearly 13,227 pounds alone, occupy the stadium’s Astroturf and, together, form the country’s largest public art installation ever. Tree species include silver birch, alder, aspen, white willow, field maple, and common oak, sourced from three nurseries in Italy, Germany and Belgium. It took the team 22 days to ‘plant’ once the trees arrived in Austria. The work is inspired by The Unending Attraction …
