RESEARCH PORTFOLIO

Curriculum Vitae
Before taking up his present position in 2002 at the University of Sydney, Barrie's 30 years of professional experience included teaching, practice, writing and research in a several cities in Australia, Japan, and the British Isles.

More specifically, over the last thirteen years, he has been an urban design consultant (Victoria and Tasmania), Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Urban Design at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Visiting Professor at the University of Central England, and a Japan Foundation Fellow (based at Nagasaki Science University). During the same period, he has at various times been a visiting lecturer at RMIT University, Monash University, Southeast University (Nanjing, China), and the Hanoi Architectural Centre, and spoken at many urban design conferences and seminars in Australia and overseas.

He is author of approximately 100 published items, including books and reports (and sections thereof), journal articles, papers in conference proceedings, exhibition catalogues, etc. on a wide range of design, planning and education subjects. His articles have appeared in both specialist design and cultural journals including Architecture Australia, Australian Planner, Heritage Australia, Built Environment (UK), City (UK), Tokyojin and Kokusai Koryu. Learning from the Japanese City: West meets East In Urban Design (London/NY: Spon/Routledge 1999) is his most substantial recent work and has been reviewed widely and positively overseas.

His special areas of interest and expertise cover urban morphology; city waterfronts, Japanese architecture and urbanism; the preparation of urban design frameworks, concepts and guidelines; design-led planning and urban history and heritage. In these areas, his work has been recognised with a number of awards for p ractice (including urban design competitions) and scholarship at state, national and international levels.

Research
Japanese urban form
Ongoing research concerned with the structure and physical characteristics of Japanese cities (past and present), their relationship with the wider culture, and relevance to urban design. Current focus is on the cross-influences between the written language, art, architecture & city form. This line of enquiry has been supported by:
2001 Visiting Professorship, School of Built Environment, University of Central England
1996-97 Japan Foundation Fellowship based at Nagasaki Science University
Main outcome to date is a widely acclaimed work: Learning from the Japanese City: West meets East in Urban Design – see later “publications” section.

Heritage
1994-97 Research project, C20th Buildings for the National Estate, concerned with the identification and assessment of buildings, art in architecture and urban design in Tasmania worthy of listing on the National Estate: member, RAIA Coordinating Committee, project supervisor and report editor - a funded collaborative University of Tasmania-RAIA project.
Outcome: Volume l, 392pp, 1995 and Volume 2, 432pp, publicly available research reports

Urban Morphology
Ongoing morphological research into the evolution of urban structure and form for urban design purposes - as generator of design proposals. This activity is closely tied to practice – see later “practice” section.

Publications
2003 (book review: Jeffrey E Hanes, “The City as Subject: Seki Hajime and the Reinvention of Modern Osaka” University of Ca. Press 2000) in Japanese Studies (in press)
2003 “Vertical Urbanism” (book review: Ken Yeang, “Reinventing the Skyscraper”) in Built Environment 29 (1), pp 82-83

(2001) ‘States of Mind - from Soweto to Singapore’ (book review: R K Biswas, ed, ‘Metropolis Now’) Built Environment 27 (4), pp 318-319

(2000) ‘Cliff Hanger: Bennison-Read House’ (design review), Architectural Review Australia - Residential 2000 issue, pp 96-101

(2000) ‘Talking to Japanese Architects’ (book review: Knabe & Noenning, eds, ‘Shaking of the Foundations: Japanese Architects in Dialogue’), Built Environment, Vol 26 (1), pp 83-84

1999 Learning from the Japanese City: West meets East in Urban Design London/NY: Spon/Routledge, xi + 210 pp Widely reviewed internationally, e.g “...an intellectual marker in contemporary urban design literature...” - Built Environment (UK). “...an exceptional book. Anyone interested in Japan or...who has returned from Japan bewildered must read this...” - Architectural Review (UK).

(1999) “Fluctuating Fortunes of the Public Realm” in City Edge Conference Transcripts (Ed. E Charlesworth), March 25th & 26th, Melbourne, pp 82-89

(1997) “Probing the Japanese Patchwork Polis” City 7, pp 95-103

(1996) “Patchiwaku toshi no kako to mirai” (“Patchwork City - Past and Future”), Kokusai Koryu (International Forum) July, pp 72-77 (trans: E Okayama)

(1995) Three urban design proposals for Acton Peninsular from the University of Tasmania, in Where the City Meets the Lake, Canberra: NCDC, pp 43-45 (exhibition catalogue)

(1992) “Rethinking Our Images of the Japanese City”, Australian Planner, September, pp 131 -135

(1992) “City Places: Buildings or Spaces” in G Holden (ed), City Image: Putting Urban Design on the Agenda, Proceedings of Conference, Brisbane, April 22-24, pp.45-51

(1991) “Seiyo wa Nihon no toshi ni’ mirai’ o miru” (“ Glimpsing the Future in Japanese Cities”),Tokyojin, April, pp 94-102 (trans: E Okayama)

(1989) “A Centennium of Sitte”, Australian Planner, 27 (4) pp 29-32

Teaching
Current:
Program coordinator:

• Master of Urban Design and associated graduate urban design programs
  Units taught
  
• Urban Design Studio A (coordinator and lecturer)
  
• Urban Design Studio B (coordinator and lecturer)
  
• Methods of Urban Design (coordinator and lecturer) – covers methods and models in urban design since the turn of the Twentieth Century
  
• Urban Design History Theory and Criticism (coordinator and lecturer) – to be renamed “Urban Design – Morphology” – covers the morphology of cities (setting, landform and built form) as a generator of urban structure and form
  
• Japanese Architecture, Cities and Culture (coordinator and lecturer with Prof Tom Heneghan and Dr Peter Armstrong)
  
• Urban Design Reports (supervision)
  
• Post-graduate research theses (supervision)

Previously:

• 1990-97 as Associate Professor and Head, Dept of Urban Design, Univ of Tasmania, Hobart:
  
• Developed the Master of Town Planning (MTP) course with a physical planning/design emphasis & steered it to RAPI accreditation.
  
• Taught "urban design" and "urban form & planning history" units in the MTP course.
  
• Introduced and taught urban design studio units in the B Env Design course. (Teaching rated highly under University’s ‘Student Evaluation of Teaching & Learning’ system)
  
• Introduced a Master of Design by research and supervised Master of Design theses and Master of Town Planning final year research projects.
  
• Established interdisciplinary teaching, research and consultancy team (spanning architecture, planning, geography, engineering, landscape architecture, and art)
  
• Facilitated introduction of professional development programmes for planners, architects and related professionals.

Conferences (selected)
Australian Association of Japanese Studies Conference, Brisbane 2003
Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand annual conference - keynote speaker, 1999
Urban Design Forum national conference, Melbourne - invited speaker, 1999
City Edge conference, Melbourne – invited speaker, 1999
Nagasaki Regional Science Association forum – invited speaker, 1996
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Culturelles, Tokyo – invited speaker, 1996
Putting Place into Perspective conference, Commonwealth Department of Housing and Regional Development, Hobart – invited speaker,1996
City Image 1994 conference, Brisbane – invited speaker
City Image 1992 conference, Brisbane – invited speaker
(All papers on either urban design theory and practice or Japanese urban form)

Practice
2003- cont. Urban Design Consultant/Advisor to Tasmanian Government on Hobart’s waterfront (Hobart Waterfront Project)

2002 Site/Precinct Morphology Study, Kew Cottages, Melbourne (sub-consultant).

1999-2000 Member, Tasmanian Resource Planning Appeals Tribunal

1997- 2000 Private practice. Various (mainly urban design) consultancies from state departments and agencies, and city authorities in Victoria and Tasmania.
Major projects included:

• Tasmanian Department of State Development - 1) Site Development Plan, Princes Wharf, Hobart, and 2) Conservation Plan for Princes Wharf. - Award: RAPI Tasmanian Certificate of Merit for Planning Excellence. (Since released as a public discussion document, Site Development and Conservation Plans for Princes Wharf, Hobart, by the Tasmanian Resource Planning and Development Commission, 82pp.
  
• Tasmanian Resource Management and Planning Commission - Design Assessment of Oceanport Hobart, a mixed use waterfront development in a sensitive heritage context
  
• City of Hobart - review paper of built form/urban detail guidelines/controls of the Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme
  

City of Boroondara (Melbourne) 1) Tooronga/Toorak Roads Precinct Urban Design Framework (a new urban centre for middle ring Melbourne), and 2) Site Development Plan for former gas headquarters within the Tooronga Road Precinct.

1999 Member, Grants Assessment Committee, Pride of Place Program, Victorian Department of Infrastructure grants program for urban design initiatives.

1990 Urban design consultant, review of urban design and planning for Hobart’s waterfront. Published as Sullivans Cove Planning Review by the Tasmania Department of Environment and Planning, A3 format, 118pp. Included major public exhibition. Award:1991 RAPI National Award for Planning Excellence as a model practice document in urban design.
“The report is by any standards ... extraordinary ... and is perhaps the most comprehensive and beautifully presented urban design document of its type in Australia.” - Panel Citation

Other (miscellaneous professional, public and teaching activities)
2002 reviewer, Hong Kong urban regeneration research proposal, HK University
1999-2000 member, Expert Committee, Urban Design Education Programme, UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education, Monash University. (also, module lecturer)
1999 Delivered lecture/seminar course on ‘Japanese Urbanism’ - RMIT University
1998-99 Unit lecturer ,urban design studios - Dept of Architecture, University of Tas. (Hobart)
1996 Member, Reference group, Australian Council of Building Design Professions project for the development of a National Urban Design Strategy
1995 Nagasaki Community Forum, Japan – public lecture
1995 Hanoi Architectural Institute, Vietnam – post graduate lectures
1994 Southeast University (School of Architecture), Nanjing, China – lectures
1994 Speaker, Fukuoka Chamber of Commerce, Japan
1994 & 1992 Nagasaki City Council, Japan, professional development workshops
1993 Nottingham University (Department of Planning), UK – post-grad lectures
1992-99 Lectures and seminars –for annual ‘culture and design’ workshops for visiting Japanese students, Unitas Consulting, Hobart
1992-97 Member, Tasmanian Board of Architectural Education
1986-91 Member, Battery Point Advisory Committee, statutory advisory group to Hobart CC
1988-93 Member, RAPI Tasmanian Divisional Committee
1988 Chairman, RAIA (Tasmania) Architecture Awards

Summary of Awards (or similar recognition):
2000 RAPI (Tas) Merit Award for planning excellence
1997 Certificate of Appreciation from the RAIA (Tasmanian Chapter) - citation expressed “...appreciation for your contribution to the education of architecture students and to the quality of our Tasmanian built environment education through your influence on the architecture profession...”
1996 Japan Foundation Fellowship;
1993 RAPI National Award for planning excellence
1991 RAPI (Tas) Merit Award for planning excellence
1989 International Cities Urban Design Competition, (Milwaukee, USA) - Commendation Prize 1986 Adelaide 2000 Ideas Competition (urban design) - Second Prize
1986 Sullivans Cove Ideas Competition (urban design) - First Prize;
1986 University of Adelaide/RAPI Medal for outstanding research

Summary of expertise:
History and theory of urban design and built form
Urban morphological studies for planning and design purposes
Urban design policy, strategies, frameworks, guidelines, concepts, site plans, and design-led planning
Japanese (and East Asian) architecture and urbanism.

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Barrie Shelton
Position   Senior Lecturer & Coordinator, Graduate Urban Design Program
Function   Teaching & Research  
FTE  100%  
Commenced  1/3/2002

Graduate Supervision

Research theses and general topic areas

1 PhD: Asian architecture - modernisation, globalisation and identity

2 MPhil: Mobile information services and urban design

               Japanese streets - visual order and signs

PUBLICATIONS (since 1999)

Books

(1999) Learning from the Japanese City: West meets East in Urban Design, London/NY: Spon/Routledge 210 pp.

(In 2005 Learning from the Japanese City was made available also in e-format)

Journal articles

(2004)  ‘Reflections on Japanese Writing and Built Form’ – Architectural Theory Review, Vol 9 (1) pp. 82-96

(2003) “The Public Face of Architects”  (Julia Chance and Torsten Schmiedeknecht, eds, ‘Fame and Architecture’ – book review) Built Environment Vol 28 (4), pp. 340-341

(2003) “The City as Subject: Seki Hajime and the Reinvention of Modern Osaka – Jeffrey E Hanes” (book review), Japanese Studies Vol 23 (1),  pp 88-90

(2003) “Vertical Urbanism” (Ken Yeang: - book review) Built Environment Vol 29 (1), pp. 82-83

(2001) ‘States of Mind - from Soweto to Singapore’ (R K Biswas, ed, ‘Metropolis Now’ - book review) Built Environment, Vol 27 (4), pp. 318-319

(2000) ‘Cliff Hanger: Bennison-Read House’ (design review), Architectural Review Australia -Residential 2000 issue, pp 96-101

(2000) ‘Talking to Japanese Architects’ (Knabe & Noenning, eds, ‘Shaking of the Foundations: Japanese Architects in Dialogue’ - book review), Built Environment, Vol 26 (1), pp 83-84

Catalogues

(1999) With J Direen, A Roberts, B Redmond, C Ryan et al: “Kyoto for the Next Millennium – the Plug-in Plan Prescription” p 1197; “Experience is Knowing” p1205; “Bridging the City” p.1247; and “Culture Petrified Will Kill Kyoto – Energising Kyoto Will Vitalise Culture” p 1301; in Kyoto Vision Proposals, City of Kyoto (international competition report/catalogue)

CONFERENCES

Keynote

(1999) “The Deep Foundations of the Ephemeral Japanese City” 16th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ)

Other presentations

(2005) (with Emiko Okayama) “Painting Texts, Writing Pictures in Japan” in Modernization, Globalization and Cross-Cultural Communication, International Assoc for Intercultural Communication Studies Conference CD-Rom:  Taipei, (31 pp)

(2003) “Writing and Built Form in Japan”, Japan Studies Association of Australia Conference, Brisbane,

(1999) “Fluctuating Fortunes of the Public Realm” in City Edge: private development vs the public realm, City Edge conference transcripts (ed. E Charlesworth), Melbourne, pp 82-89

PEER  STANDING

Invitations to referee and review

1999-2005 occasional reviewer, publishing proposals: Alexandrine Press, Spon/Routledge, UK

2003 referee, Architectural Theory Review

2003 internal reviewer, RGC submission, HKU (Faculty of Architecture), Hong Kong

2002 reviewer, Mori Arts Centre, Tokyo (projects for exhibition)

1999 referee, SAHANZ conference

Appointments

2005 Member, Urban Design Panel, Hobart Waterfront Authority

2003-2005. Urban Design Adviser to Tasmanian Government on Hobart Waterfront Urban Design Framework – included documentation, exhibition and media interviews (released May 2004)

2004 Member, Luna Park Design Panel, NSW Department of Infrastructure. Planning & Natural Resources

2000 Visiting Professor, University of Central England (Faculty of the Built Environment)

1999-2000 Member, Expert Committee, Urban Design Education Program (UDEP),

UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education, Monash University.

1999 Honorary Research Fellow, University of Tasmania (Faculty of Architecture)

1999 Member, Grants Assessment Panel, Pride of Place Program. (Victorian State grants program for urban design initiatives).

Invited lectures and teaching

2004 “Japan Urbanism: New Forms, Old Foundation”, public?@lecture?AHong Kong University (Faculty of Architecture)

2003 Key Tutor, “Asian Urbanism” module, Master of Interdisciplinary Design and Management (MIDM) program, Hong Kong University (Faculty of Architecture)

1999-2000 Program lecturer, Urban Design Education Program, Monash University

1999 Open lecture, University of Melbourne (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning))

1999 Special program lecturer/seminar leader - Japanese Urbanism, RMIT University

Awards

2000 RAPI (Tas) Merit Award for Planning Excellence for consulting documents: Site Development Plan, Princes Wharf, Hobart, and Conservation Plan for Princes Wharf.

RESEARCH and Research Impact

My national urban design profile emerged with various articles and a number of successful competition entries in the 1980’s: it followed from a prize-winning Masters thesis (University of Adelaide) that crossed the boundaries between urban design theory and practice. This and other work provided the foundation for numerous articles in Australian journals, and invitations to speak at conferences and overseas universities and institutions (in Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Japan). 

My grounding in western urban theory provided the basis for comparative investigation of Japanese urban morphologies and characteristics. A series of articles (in Australia, UK and Japan) and a Japan Foundation Fellowship (1996) preceded the publication of Learning from the Japanese City: West meets East in Urban Design (1999). The book has been reviewed positively in leading English-language and some foreign language journals across the world - including Architectural Review, Town Planning Review, Urban Design International, Planning Perspectives, Cities, and Geographie et cultures, to name some – to give a substantial international profile. Described in the British journal Built Environment as “an intellectual marker in contemporary urban design literature” and as a ‘classic’ on the Archinect web site, the work contributed to a better understanding of many aspects of Japanese city form and their relevance to contemporary design theory and practice - perhaps in the manner that Taut’s writing in the 1930’s drew attention to the relevance of Japan’s traditional architectural forms to the then emerging Modernism.

Hallmarks of my Japanese work are that it is both interdisciplinary and international. This is reflected in the span of citations by prominent authors across the fields of architecture, urban design, planning, geography and culture. It is also reflected in the places where it is being used as a key source for specialised teaching and commentary on urbanism and Japanese culture - in universities and similar institutions in Asia, Europe, Australia, North and Latin America. A further indication of the influence of my work (beyond professional-cum-academic circles) is a Le Monde report on Japan’s threatened ‘beaute chaotique’ citing my work as a source.

Amongst other things the Japanese work:

• shows a ‘way of seeing’ space that differs from the Western tradition (more areal and patchwork, less linear) and runs through all scales of design - from graphic to urban.
• identifies specific Japanese urban morphologies and component typologies, as well as particular approaches to assembling the city.
• demonstrates that many Japanese urban characteristics assumed to be modern are rooted in traditional forms.
• postulates that many long-established Japanese urban characteristics show affinity with much recent (Western-generated) theory on city form.

It is from this background that my current research areas may be understood:

• Culture, perception and design.

This line of research investigates relationships between spatial and visual dimensions of written language and the wider visual culture, including architecture and city form. Just as many scholars have postulated strong links between language, thought and broader cultural characteristics, this work reveals patterns that recur in both written language and built form. The focus is upon Chinese-influenced East Asian writing. The relationship between script and picture in Japan is becoming the focus this work as this is very relevant to today’s digital world where the mixing of script and picture is increasingly common. (Chapter 2, From ‘Written to City Texts’ of my Learning from the Japanese City first broached this topic.) The work is still in its infancy but has been presented at an international conference and in one journal article, and was well received.

• East Asian Urbanism & the Development of New Models for Urban Density/Complexity.

Familiarity with the structures, organisational patterns and densities of Japanese cities prompted interest and investigation into the microforms and functioning of the denser parts of East Asian cities. It is my belief that these places hold key lessons for the future of urbanism everywhere including Australia, and it is in this context that I welcomed an invitation to join an international research team (based at HKU) that is investigating new transit-related urban morphologies. While contributions have been made to the HKU research report, parallel work has been completed through my post-graduate urban design studios where designing density in Hong Kong and Australia has been a key theme for investigation. Early results are being prepared for exhibition and publication.

• Waterfront Morphology and Urban Design.

The subject of ‘morphology’ spans 1 and 2 – for they are respectively about the morphology of writing and city systems, and their typological components. A third morphological interest is that of urban waterfronts. Here, clear morphological approaches have been applied to analysis and design through my expert advisory role using Hobart as a laboratory. The report (Hobart Waterfront Urban Design Framework 2004) from this project (with myself as the key shaper and contributor) was released to the public in A3, CD and on-line formats, and has been widely read by public and consultants alike across Australia and beyond.  My waterfront investigations have also been extended into the design studios with 4 projects and 14 students gaining PIA (Tas) Planning Excellence Award (2004) certificates for innovatory work on historic Sullivans Cove.