M Pavillion – Home Made: Reinventing How We Live in Melbourne – March 26-27

In 2020 Melbourne Design Week was a casualty of Covid 19.

On March 26th and 27th 2021 we re-surrected our planned Home Made exhibition, which reflected on a series of Melbourne projects both built & unbuilt that adopt new approaches to finance, design, development and operations.

This exhibition explored what a more community-centred, sustainable model of housing might look like, and how it can provide an attractive, generous way of living in our urban centres. Looking at the last decade of private housing model innovation, the exhibition showcased models like Nightingale Housing, Assemble, Property Collectives, Tripple, and the Third Way. Converations explored learnings from these models that point to the potential for a more optimistic and inclusive vision of our city, and how further government support could see further impact being delivered.

Presented by Katherine Sundermann, Andy Fergus, Alexis Kalagas, Lisa Gerstman and New Architects Melbourne, the Home Made: Reinventing How We Live in Melbourne exhibition and events explored the question: Why has Melbourne become the locus of housing innovation in Australia?

On Friday March 26th the focus was a Home Made Panel Discussion which involved:

• a forum with alternative model private developers like ourselves,
• a forum with local and state government officials in the afternoon and
• a panel discussion with residents from Murundaka cohousing,  Assemble's 122 Roseneath St Clifton Hill, Nightingale 1 in Brunswick, and from our Saint George Collective in Northcote (my mum!)

The exhibition was a great showcase of housing innovation in Melbourne over the last 10 years. It was impressive to see 35 different alternative development model projects mapped across the city.

On a personal note it was a nice moment to see our 9 projects mapped and in a wider context of other development models. But in particular, it was a very proud moment to see my mum participate in the resident panel. It was fitting for mum to get a little recognition for the critical role she has played in our achievements to date.