Biscuit bridges, sponge skyscrapers and icing infrastructure are just some of the treats on offer in Melbourne this week at the Baking Architecture exhibition. Run by the Australian Institute of Architects, the event will showcase unbuilt projects in a novel way. Architects and chefs will work together to create cake versions of buildings, as part of the 2009 State of Design Festival, which kicked off today.
An initiative of the Victorian government, the festival features more than 100 interactive events, exhibitions, workshops and talks and will run until 25 July.
“We believe that good design has the ability to generate valuable commercial, ecological and social outcomes, creating new experiences for all to interact with and learn from,” creative director Ewan McEoin said.
Architectural highlights include Evolutionary Architecture, an evening session hosted by Spacelab founder Niels Jonkhans and Hernan Diaz Alonso, the principal and founder of LA-based practice Xefirotarch.
Visitors can take an architectural bus tour with architecture and design writer Stephen Crafti, chip in at a round table that discusses stories of the recession and engage in ‘Art Chat’ with Don Bates and Peter Davidson, directors of LAB architecture studio.
The Festival holds four major programs focused around the 2009 theme ‘Sampling the Future’: Design Capital business program, Design for Everyone public program, an industry fair Design:Made:Trade, and the biennial Premier’s Design
Awards (next held in 2010).
The organizers are claiming the 2009 program offers “50 per cent more content” to business and public audiences than in 2008.
