What makes a successful Olympic city? | Lawrence Nield and Philip Thalis
This week marks 25 years since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games – an event that reshaped the city through an ambitious masterplan developed by a team of built environment professionals, including architects Lawrence Nield and Philip Thalis. Lawrence, a founding director of BVN and the 2012 Gold Medallist, has contributed to three Olympic Games: Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Philip, founding principal of Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects and the 2024 Gold Medallist, also played a significant role in the Sydney masterplan.
In today’s episode, they discuss the city-making potential of the Olympics, the planning and design thinking behind a successful games, and how the profession might shape the urban legacy of Brisbane 2032.
Further reading:
Olympics Update
https://architectureau.com/articles/olympics-update/
Sydney’s Olympics
https://architectureau.com/articles/sydneys-olympics/
Lawrence Nield on deciphering the meaning of architecture and the role of the architect
https://architectureau.com/articles/lawrence-nield-on-deciphering-the-meaning-of-architecture-and-the-role-of-the-architect/
Avoiding substance abuse
https://architectureau.com/articles/avoiding-substance-abuse/
Built environment institutes call for design input over Brisbane 2032 Olympics
https://architectureau.com/articles/Built-environment-bodies-call-for-design-input-over-Brisbane-2032-Olympics/
Don’t let this opportunity go to waste: A tale of two cities
https://architectureau.com/articles/dont-let-this-opportunity-go-to-waste-a-tale-of-two-cities/
Design review is the missing piece of the Olympics puzzle
https://architectureau.com/articles/design-review-is-the-missing-piece-of-the-olympics-puzzle/
Woolloongabba can win gold
https://architectureau.com/articles/woolloongabba-can-win-gold/
Brisbane 2032: pathways to legacy
https://architectureau.com/articles/brisbane-2032-pathways-to-legacy/
The complicated Olympics planning process
https://architectureau.com/articles/the-complicated-olympics-planning-process/
The Brisbane olympics: a marathon or a sprint?
https://architectureau.com/articles/the-brisbane-olympics-a-marathon-or-a-sprint/
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21:00
Trusting the chaos | Simone Bliss
In this episode of Design Speaks Weekly, Emily Wong, editor of Landscape Architecture Australia, is joined by landscape architect and creative director of SBLA Studio Simone Bliss to discuss rethinking the design process in the face of the climate crisis.
Drawing on Richmond High School by SBLA Studio, Simone reflects on the value of open-ended design – a process that embraces uncertainty and leaves room for change.
Further reading:
Concrete thinking: Richmond High School
https://landscapeaustralia.com/articles/concrete-thinking-richmond-high-school/
Landscape Architecture Australia, May 2025
https://landscapeaustralia.com/issues/landscape-architecture-australia-may-jun-2025-186/
Landscape Architecture Australia, May 2025
https://landscapeaustralia.com/articles/reducing-reusing-and-recycling-in-practice/
Material trajectory: Meg Calkins
https://landscapeaustralia.com/articles/material-trajectory-meg-calkins/
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20:28
What is an architect, really? | Timothy Hill
Timothy Hill is the director of architecture studio Partners Hill. In 2025, he was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal in recognition of his exemplary architectural work, as well as his broader contributions to the profession through education, discourse and advocacy.
In this episode of Design Speaks Weekly, Katelin Butler, editorial director at Architecture Media, sits down with Timothy as the national Gold Medal tour gets underway. He reflects on the current state of architectural process and explains his use of the term “little ‘a’ architect” – a term he finds useful when advocating for architecture’s purpose and value.
Further reading:
2025 National Prizes: Gold Medal
https://architectureau.com/articles/2025-national-prizes-gold-medal/
A generative practice
https://architectureau.com/articles/a-generative-practice/
‘Oh my god, it’s not that you’re cynical at all. It’s just that you’re analytic.’
https://architectureau.com/articles/oh-my-god-its-not-that-youre-cynical-at-all-its-just-that-youre-analytic/
On the urbane and analogical lessons of Timothy Hill
https://architectureau.com/articles/on-the-urbane-and-analogical-lessons-of-timothy-hill/#:~:text=Timothy%20Hill's%20architectural%20imagination%20is,a%20commission%20and%20a%20composition.
Living in the plan
https://architectureau.com/articles/living-in-the-plan/
What makes the difference?
https://architectureau.com/articles/what-makes-the-difference/
2025 Gold Medal tour with Timothy Hill
https://architectureau.com/calendar/tour/2025-gold-medal-tour-with-timothy-hill/
Magical sequencing: Daylesford Longhouse
https://architectureau.com/articles/daylesford-longhouse/
Architectural archeology: Install House
https://architectureau.com/articles/install-house/
Revisited: State Library of Queensland
https://architectureau.com/articles/revisited-state-library-of-queensland/
Revisited: HH House by Donovan Hill, 1993
https://architectureau.com/articles/hh-house-by-donovan-hill/
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23:22
Is the competition system failing architects? | Camilla Block
Camilla Block is director of architectural studio Durbach Block Jaggers. In this episode of Design Speaks Weekly, she tackles the state of architecture competitions in Australia, and asks: are they still working as intended? Reflecting on their history, their evolution and their impact on the profession, Camilla considers what an ideal future for the architectural competition system might entail.
Camilla will be addressing the issue at ArchitectureAu Asks in Canberra on Friday 7 November 2025, where she’ll ask a group of industry leaders to respond to the provocation: “The competition system is under scrutiny – how could it be better?” You can learn more and buy tickets at the first link below.
Further reading:
ArchitectureAu Asks | Design Speaks
https://designspeaks.com.au/events/2025/11/07/architectureau-asks
Design competitions: Starting from Country
https://architectureau.com/articles/design-competitions-starting-from-country/
A Year in Competition
https://architectureau.com/articles/a-year-in-competition/
Expressions of interest
https://architectureau.com/articles/expressions-of-interest/
Regaining a competitive edge
https://architectureau.com/articles/regaining-a-competitive-edge/
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17:49
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17:49
Are you paid fairly? | Justine Clark
August 19 is the national Equal Pay Day for 2025. The date marks the 50 additional days from the end of the financial year that women in Australia need to work, on average, to earn the same annual wage as men.
Leading the fight for gender equity in architecture is Parlour, a research-based advocacy group whose work outlines what built-environment professions can – and should – do to help eradicate gender pay gaps.
In today’s episode, Parlour co-founder and director Justine Clark shares Parlour’s findings from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s 2025 pay gap data, and how this information can help architects identify pay inequity in their workplace – and what steps they can take to address it.
Further reading
Pay equity & pay gaps
https://parlour.org.au/guides-toolkits/01-pay-equity-pay-gaps/
Second round of architecture firms’ gender pay gap data released
https://architectureau.com/articles/second-round-of-architecture-firms-gender-pay-gap-data-released/
WGEA Data Explorer
https://www.wgea.gov.au/Data-Explorer
Pay gaps & equal remuneration – 2025 WGEA data
https://parlour.org.au/research/statistics/pay-gaps-and-equal-remuneration-2025-wgea-data/
Design Speaks Weekly brings you the biggest stories in Australian architecture and design. Produced by Architecture Media, each episode explores a key theme shaping the built environment, paired with the latest industry news and analysis. As an extension of the Design Speaks event series, this podcast opens up vital conversations to a wider audience, wherever you are.
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