Frank Stanisic
Stanisic Associates Architects
Level 3, 346 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
www.stanisic.com.au
| Frank Stanisic is a Sydney-based architect and urbanist. He founded Stanisic Associates in 1990 and since that time has designed residential and commercial projects, hybrids, interiors, streets, master plans and competition briefs. His completed projects are spread throughout metro-Sydney, Newcastle and mainland China. His buildings have won many awards including the RAIA Premier’s, Wilkinson and Special Jury, and numerous green awards.
Acknowledged as being in the vanguard of collective housing design, his projects include Mondrian, Edo, Zone, Spectrum and Rose, all focused on ideas of ‘eco-minimalism’ to create unplugged, breathing and permeable environments. Frank was the master planner for the transformation of Green Square, a mixed-use urban renewal project in Sydney, based on a vision of sustainability. His work is fuelled by an evolving interest in the diagram and frame as a basis for architectural invention, and the aesthetics of operability. He teaches regularly in Design Studio and has been published nationally and internationally.Keith Cottier's architectural projects and activities mark significant achievements on many levels. A director of Allen Jack + Cottier, his manifold experience is attested to by the many architectural, building, construction and environmental design awards his projects have won. An active member of the Sydney Cove Authority, City West Development Corporation and the Heritage Council of New South Wales, Cottier's diverse activities reflect his concern for environmental and heritage issues, and his philosophy that buildings should be considered beyond their location, in the context of a wider world.
Why did you decide to become an architect?
To escape the boredom of the suburbs. What is your most treasured possession?
Mezzanine by Massive Attack, especially Inertia Creeps. If you weren’t an architect, what would you be?
Mafiosa or QC.
Your favourite subject at high school?
English. Satre changed my life forever.
What books do you have on your bedside table?
The Atheist Manifesto by Michel Onfray, Experimenta and DBook.
In your opinion, what personal qualities make a good architect?
Ability to swim with the sharks, play with the dolphins.
Who would you most like to design something for?
100 lawyers, including my long suffering partner Dita Logar.
Favourite tool(s) of the trade?
Blue pentel pen and Mac Powerbook G4
Your greatest extravagance?
Overland trek through Romania, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to visit Corb’s master work in Chandighar - try doing that today without a bodyguard!
Your greatest achievement?
Staying alive till the age of 50, without a (major) stroke.
What is the best moment of the day?
Watching the replay of the replay of the AFL replay at two am in the morning on cable TV.
Greatest architectural hero?
Wolfgang Prix for reclaiming occupied architectural territory.
An upcoming international architectural project that excites you is?
Rem Koolhaas’ CCTV headquarters in mainland China.
Do you have a favourite architectural website?
Yes, you guessed it: www.stanisic.com.au. We designed it ourselves.
What is the biggest challenge you face in the architectural industry?
Staying suspicious in an age of sustainability, reason and faith.
Can you describe an evolution in your work?
Removing the artificial life support systems of buildings.
Best vista?
The curve of the shoreline across the rock pool from the Bondi Icebergs.
Worst blight?
The ‘toaster’ and colonnade on the approach to the Opera House.
Do you discuss your work with other architects or designers?
Only with members of the dead architects’ society and the great pretenders.
If you could meet one person alive?
Mark Wahlberg.
One artwork that inspires you is?
The adventures of Dallas and Bradley - a cartoon series about two boys that roam the galaxy looking for global refuse.
Straight line or curved?
Walk the line, move with the curve.
Perfect happiness is . . .
Sleeping through the night. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since I started my practice
17 years ago.
Any advice for the young?
Don’t do architecture if you want to sleep at night and escape a tormented life.
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