Australians enjoy an enviable lifestyle, with indulgent habits of entertaining, aided by an incomparable cuisine, easy access to beach and bush retreats, and frequent travel overseas.
Though this picture of a privileged society may be easily discarded as idealized and unrealistic, there is some truth in the claim that a greater proportion of the nation's population has access to a wide range of leisure and cultural activities than ever before.
MIDWEST FARM STYLE
What better to welcome visitors to a working 1890s farmstead than an exhibit hall suggesting traditional forms. With an economy reminiscent of 19th-century Illinois farm life, the Chicago firm of Teng & Associates, Inc. has designed a barn-like structure for Kline Creek Farm . The new visitors center has an outward appearance appropriate for the historic farm context, but on closer inspection it reveals modern construction techniques and sensibilities.
ERICKSON'S URBAN WATERFALL
"You can't fight City Hall," goes the old adage. Yet the Waterfall Building, an innovative urban live/ work development in Vancouver, British Columbia, is proof that you can fight City Hall — and win. In this case, the city wins too. Zoning laws that were relaxed to permit the unconventional design will pave the way for similar projects in the future.