Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
@hillthalisaup.bsky.social
310 followers 350 following 98 posts
Australian independent architecture and urban design practice. RTs are not endorsements.
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hillthalisaup.bsky.social
Ah Barangaroo …
One of the rare successes there is the stone-lined harbour pool - created by enlightened community advocacy & action.
But the fenced car park beside remains such a blight & lost opportunity.
More #publicsydney please!
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...
This Sydney spot was touted as public space. Instead, it’s a car park with harbour views
There were plans to transform the inner city site with an outdoor cafe and markets. Nothing has eventuated.
www.smh.com.au
hillthalisaup.bsky.social
The exquisite banded sandstone detailing of the base of the Chief Secretary’s Building on Bridge St in Sydney.
Designed by NSW Colonial Architect #JamesBarnet in 1870’s
A jewel of #publicsydney
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
philipthalis.bsky.social
Up close to the multi-coloured battened screen of our Campbelltown Commuter Carpark.
This is the main entry & primary facade facing across the station to the centre of Campbelltown.
4 screened stairs, yellow inside, anchor the corners.
How to give functional buildings a civic character
#publicsydney
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
lhsyd.bsky.social
Mike Hewson’s The Key is Under the Mat - occupying the Tank at AGNSW for the next year - water, play, steam, sauna, bbq…in the gallery…
Park sign Detail of paving from reused materials The shower….after the steam/sauna Instant landscape
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
philipthalis.bsky.social
Yet again, so limited view of economists on city making. No mention of;
-huge stock of approved but unbuilt projects
-existing capacity available
-acute public & affordable housing shortfalls
Bank-imposed restrictions
Some of us critical of retardant planning for decades, but it’s all much harder
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
strategic-cities.com
Delighted to be featured in this starter pack, and in such great company - including some friends I didn’t even know had joined 🦋
Thanks @brenttoderian.bsky.social

bsky.app/profile/bren...
brenttoderian.bsky.social
NEW STARTER PACK! This time I’m hoping to encourage and support global urbanists from OUTSIDE North America here on Bluesky, so hopefully this will help! Who’ve I missed? Just joined? Let me know! I’ll keep updating, so please keep checking & sharing this pack! And let’s try using #GlobalUrbanists.
Urbanists OUTSIDE North America Worth Following!
Join the conversation
go.bsky.app
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
lhsyd.bsky.social
A provocation at a lecture last week - to think about how to be more aware of Country. You don’t necessarily need to head bush! A walk in my fairly dense, inner urban area reveals an extraordinary urban family…tallowwoods, lacebarks and melaleucas. Streets are for trees…they will keep us alive.
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
ptcbr.bsky.social
It's slower. It costs more. It delivers fewer transport benefits for Canberrans.

Read PTCBR Deputy Chair Ryan Hemsley argue why it's time to bury the "Barton dogleg" route for light rail to Woden.
It’s time to bury the “Barton Dogleg” | Public Transport Association of Canberra
The case against the slower, costlier alignment for Light Rail Stage 2B.
ptcbr.org
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
philipthalis.bsky.social
Here’s a list to follow!
Already 50% of world’s people live in cities, soon it will be 70%
So their design, environmental performance, energy use, social equity & resilience matter - to us all.
& risks of climate change, societal dislocation & conflict will be most felt in our cities.
It matters!
brenttoderian.bsky.social
NEW STARTER PACK! This time I’m hoping to encourage and support global urbanists from OUTSIDE North America here on Bluesky, so hopefully this will help! Who’ve I missed? Just joined? Let me know! I’ll keep updating, so please keep checking & sharing this pack! And let’s try using #GlobalUrbanists.
Urbanists OUTSIDE North America Worth Following!
Join the conversation
go.bsky.app
hillthalisaup.bsky.social
The square & the circular tower at Australia Square.
Perhaps the best example of the tower/plaza type.
Almost 60 years young, Harry Seidler’s masterpiece still as striking as ever.
Later Frank Stella artwork added in foyer so beautiful.
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
ambermac.bsky.social
I have to say, after talking to @brenttoderian.bsky.social about how to make our cities better, I've been working to reduce my short car trips (biking / taking TTC more).

Car-dependent cities are not the future.

Get our full podcast conversation here. Loved Brent's bluntness!
bio.site/ambermac
hillthalisaup.bsky.social
The coloured louvres in the circulation slot in our Llandaff St apartments in Bondi Junction (designed with @petermcgregor.bsky.social)

Colours change from floor to floor, between east & west sides, but always allowing air, light, outlook & play to every lobby
#architectureofhousing
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
philipthalis.bsky.social
The mercurial, animated, peripatetic architect Timothy Hill, now at #partnershill, delivering a brilliant @institute_architects_aus 2025 Gold Medal speech in Sydney.
So much great work, explained architecturally, with lots of asides & overdue areas for reform of practice & urban culture
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
humantransit.bsky.social
Morning rush-hour near London's Oval station. Trains pass underground every few minutes and there's a continuous flood of bicycles, but still there's one lane of gridlocked traffic. Your city will always have exactly as much gridlock as it makes room for.
hillthalisaup.bsky.social
The compact delights of St. Mary Woolnoth, one of 6 London churches designed between 1712 & 1733 by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (1662-1736).
Urbane, well adapted to site, eccentric exterior, tightly organised cubic interior - so much to admire!
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
lhsyd.bsky.social
Why should apartments be thin cross section? Because light, shadow, and the passing of the day, is a beautiful, essential human thing…
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
philipthalis.bsky.social
Ethereal night shots of almost complete new public school in Green Square, designed by BVN architects.
Fabulous model of an urban primary school, land transfer by City of Sydney for public use of ground floor spaces & facilities, which face outward to the streets.
Such a positive for #publicsydney
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
lorennacleary.bsky.social
MY GOD, I HAVE A NEW HERO. SHE HAD THEM SO HOOKED AND THEN BAM, SHE ATE THEM, BONES AND ALL.
hillthalisaup.bsky.social
Surprised to see our Majestic Theatre conversion listed amongst 5 favourite housing projects by Neometro Director Lochlan Sinclair - leading Melbourne apartment designer.
The complex & quirky 2009 adaptation still a favourite of ours too #architectureofhousing
architectureau.com/articles/loc...
Lochlan Sinclair's five favourite apartment buildings
The Neometro director shares his favourite apartments from around the world.
architectureau.com
Reposted by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
peterkhill.bsky.social
‘cooperative housing can help forestall the extreme segregation of rich and poor and help a city live “at peace with itself”.’

It’s great that the SMH has reprinted this article on Swiss cooperative housing.

Well worth reading

www.smh.com.au/national/doe...
Does the solution to the housing crisis lie in this upmarket Swiss neighbourhood?
What if home ownership had no profit motive and no capital gains? A “third way” between renting and buying could be the answer.
www.smh.com.au
hillthalisaup.bsky.social
El dorado?
Or just real estate on steroids?
The shimmering, shiny Gold Coast as seen from the beach at Coolangatta
hillthalisaup.bsky.social
“We need to radically transform our average emissions limit for new housing…ensure that National Construction Code’s emission limits align with climate science, working within planetary boundaries via cascading targeted reductions, thus contributing to Aust’s commitment to Paris Agreement’s goals.
cityofsound.bsky.social
If we build our housing targets, we will use almost 200% of our national emissions budget for everything on those new houses. Here’s how, why, and what we might do. Following Denmark’s lead, here’s some of the thinking behind the Australian Reduction Roadmap medium.com/dark-matter-...
Behind the Reduction Roadmap Australia—and beyond The Number
We need a 98% drop in greenhouse gas emissions per sqm of new housing. Building our housing targets will use 200% of our national budget
medium.com