Principal Director, PTW Architects Pty Ltd
BSc(Arch), BArch(Hons) (UNSW), MArch (UT Austin), ARAIA

Diane Jones addressed graduates from the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at the Great Hall, City campus, Monday 4 May 2009, 5.30pm.

About the speaker

Diane Jones is Principal Director for PTW Architects, a position that she has held since 2004. She is an Adjunct Professor here at the UTS.

Diane has a strong grounding in heritage, design and working with civic buildings. She has extensive experience in managing large and diverse consultant teams and working with multi-user clients such as local councils, state government departments and educational institutions to establish and maintain clear design goals and quality for the project duration. She is recognised as a Conservation Architect in New South Wales, Queensland and Hong Kong.

Diane is a Member of the Approvals Committee of the Heritage Council of NSW; and a Member of the NSW Supreme Court Heritage Committee Court of the Future (research) Network. She was the Chair of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) Awards Jury; and a member of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) Education Committee.

Diane has won many awards, including:

  • In 2008 — Premiers Award AIA (NSW) — Prince Henry at Little Bay;
  • In 2008 — UDIA Masterplanned Residential Lifestyle Development — Prince Henry at Little Bay; and in
  • 2006 — Housing Industry of Australia Awards National — Special Purpose Housing — Jarrah House, Prince Henry at Little Bay

In 1979 Diane was awarded the Wormald International Scholarship; and a Fulbright Postgraduate Student Grant.

Speech

Chancellor, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Members of the University Council, Dean of the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen.

Graduates,

Many warm congratulations on your achievements.

Congratulations also to your family and friends who have supported you during many years of disciplined studies.

Today is one of great celebration and joy. I am very honoured to have been asked to share this important day with you.

My association with UTS goes back almost 20 years when I was invited by a colleague to give a series of workshops on drawing to architecture students. Since that time I have been fortunate to have been invited back to UTS and have greatly enjoyed teaching in the architecture school. With tremendous admiration, I see how students here combine the pressures of work, study and family life.

My career in architecture is a product of the hazards of the Roman alphabet. I clearly recall how, having left the selection of my university preferences until the last possible moment, I rushed to the old UniSearch House where I was confronted with what looked like a very long and complex form. Having three faculties that held equal attraction for me, following the alphabet seemed as reasonable an approach as any other — No 1, A for Architecture, followed by No 2, L for Law and No 3, M for Medicine. Fortune and the 'System' also adhered to alphabetical order and I thus found myself headed towards the Faculty of Architecture.

Like you, I graduated at a time of economic uncertainty and declining activity in the construction sector. I have witnessed several such periods of "doom and gloom" over the time that I've been practising. I believe that our education in the field of design imbues us with a sense of optimism that carries us through the highs and lows.

In the book 'Remember Who You Are', Dr Jeffrey Rayport amusingly recounts an examination where zoology students were required to demonstrate what they had learnt during the semester through the examination of a stuffed bird which was almost completely hidden by a hessian bag — except for its legs. Dr Rayport's moral is that there are no certainties in life, no guarantees about outcomes — that often in a career we are asked to make critical decisions on the basis of incomplete or even erroneous data. He says that "when that happens, you will need courage and faith — faith in your own talents... faith in the potential for innovation, and faith in the possibilities for the world".

Indeed, this is what, in essence, design is all about.

For us as designers, the faith that Dr Rayport is referring to lies in the confident knowledge that we are able to create objects (be they clothes, textiles, machines, furniture, rooms) which are not only aesthetically appealing but are also able to convey meaning. In the words of the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa, significant design makes us 'experience ourselves as complete embodied and spiritual beings'.

That potential is both marvellous and laden with responsibility.

In times like these, we are able to stand back and reflect about our role in the creation of significant objects and spaces.

My studio team is currently working with a collaborating firm on the design for a new research centre. The design process with another team is serving to highlight what I believe is a critically important part of practice — that we need to take the time to constantly re-examine what we are doing and to have the courage to say to ourselves: 'stop — this is not working; it is not going to give us the best outcome; we need to start again'.

Isamu Noguchi, the Japanese-American artist, said towards the end of his life: 'I have come to feel less and less disappointed if a stone does not crack the way I want to... it happens because I follow myself instead of listening to the stone. When I make a mistake the gods are knocking [at] my door. They are telling me to listen.'

Within the insistent framework of pressing deadlines, shrinking budgets and fierce competition for work, we need to listen, to ignore the noise, to shy away from the hype — if we are to truly fulfil the possibilities offered by our chosen fields of design.

Sometimes this means persuading our clients that a significant change needs to occur — perhaps with great inconvenience to program or project plans.

Research over the last 10 to 15 years is increasingly showing the powerful effects of our environment (buildings, objects, costumes) on people's well-being, on their ability to think, their ability to relate to others, to feel joy, to feel empathy and compassion, to feel cared for. We know or believe this intuitively — but should not forget that our political and ethical responsibilities demand that we embrace this role to enhance people's lives and dreams.

We also need to take an active role in this form of research and to initiate greater collaborative research between disciplines. The links between the design fields of textiles, fashion, industrial and interior design are well articulated within the historic continuum. But to make our voices resound beyond the clamour of time and money, to be truly innovative, we must devote more of our energy and skills to collaboration between practice, industry and academia. This will enable our advocacy for a better designed environment to be based on quantifiable data.

Used with generosity and integrity, your passion and talents will lead you towards new forms of practice offering real opportunities to enhance the human condition in all its dimensions — real, virtual and imaginary.

All of you graduating today are equipped with the skills and flair that will enable you to contribute creatively to our professions. Those of you graduating with postgraduate degrees have demonstrated a commitment to the on-going learning and research which, if pursued throughout your careers, will bring their own rewards.

Once again, my congratulations to you all on your graduation.

Please enjoy the careers and lives which lie ahead of you, and ... lead well!