The School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle is delighted to be hosting Associate Professor Damian Madigan through our Open Architecture Talk series. These talks are free and open for students, practitioners, and the broader community to come together and ‘open up’ our shared places, practices and projects. This public programming is part of our Visiting Architects and Experts project, that draws in a diversity of voices and perspectives to discuss, workshop and critique the built environment.

Talk Title| Bluefield Housing: Co-Located Infill for the Suburbs

‘Bluefield Housing’ is an urban planning definition created by Damian Madigan to bring the established suburbs into the housing supply conversation alongside green-, brown-, and greyfield housing strategies. It is also a corresponding infill housing model that uses the tactics of suburban alterations and additions to create new houses within the established mix. Through co-location of multiple dwellings on a single lot, the model looks to increase density and diversity while maintaining the low-rise character and suburban tree canopy that together make our neighbourhoods so desirable. Damian will explain the bluefield model and the work being done with South Australia’s State Government and local councils to take it from speculative practice-based design research to real-world planning code innovation.

Associate Professor Damian Madigan, PhD, is a registered architect and urban infill housing researcher at UniSA. His book ‘Bluefield Housing as Alternative Infill for the Suburbs’ (Routledge 2024) has been described as “design research at its best”, and "a grand vision for a future of housing and practical guide for how to achieve it". Damian works with academics, industry, and government, and individually and collaboratively his design research has been recognised through international design competition awards, shortlisting, and commendations from the City of Los Angeles, NSW State Government, the City of Sydney, Architecture Australia, and the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation. Damian’s research, including his book, can be downloaded free at bluefieldhousing.com.au.

Venue| Room X320 Nuspace, Hunter St &, Auckland St, Newcastle NSW 2300

Time| 6pm

We look forward to seeing you there!