Podcast

FEATURED EPISODE

Episode 5: Think Brick with Camilla Block

Interviews

Camilla Block from Durbach Block Jaggers

24/12/2020

Camilla Block is a director of Durbach Block Jaggers, a well-known, multi-award-winning practice committed to searching for the possibilities of architecture itself – its power and poetry; its pleasure and necessity. Camilla Block graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Architecture (Hons) in 1991 and joined Neil Durbach in practice in 1992. In 1998, the office of Durbach Block Architects was established. Camilla has been a design principal in all of the major projects of Durbach Block.

Camilla Block has taught, lectured, exhibited, judged awards and been published both nationally and internationally. In 2014, Camilla received an Honorary Appointment as Adjunct Professor from UTS: University of Technology, Faculty Design Architecture and Building.

Most recently Durbach Block Jaggers were awarded the 2020 National Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture and the Emil Sodersten Award for interior architecture for the Phoenix Central Park Performance Space and Gallery with John Wardle Architects. Earlier in the year project was awarded the NSW Architecture Medallion, the Sir G. Stephenson Award for Commercial Architecture, the John Verge Award for Interior Architecture and the Horbury Hunt Award for brickwork in the commercial category. DBJ have received the Robin Boyd Award three times for the best residential project in Australia, as well as State and National Architecture Awards across all building types, including public, education, commercial, residential, heritage and urban design.

In this episode, your host Elizabeth McIntyre will take you on a journey of Camilla Block's life experiences revealing some intriguing details of her personal and professional development, starting from her early-stage career endeavours to becoming one of the most prominent and established architects in Australia.

Listen to the episode to hear more about:

How her experience in investigating building sites with her mother shaped her interest in architecture
How growing up in South Africa has shaped her architectural vision and material choice
Her continuous involvement with the university and her relationship with her architecture students
How she met Neil Durbach and their professional history with each other from a tutor to co-directors
Her relationship with Neil Durbach and David Jaggers and how they have worked together for over 20 years
How challenges and problems were resolved at Durbach Block Jaggers
The selection, testing and experimentation process of her architectural projects
The conflicting perspectives between the architect and the engineer
The success of her first architectural project, its impact on the public and how it paved her career
Her close history with brick as a building material, its connection with her South African roots and its role in future architecture
The role of women in the architectural space and the challenges they present
Advice to young architects and what to look out for

Mentioned in this episode:

Phoenix Central Park

Droga Apartments (Foster St.)

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower

Middlemarch

Durbach Block Jaggers Website & Instagram

Instagram