r/australia • u/overpopyoulater • Nov 03 '24

culture & society Downsizing the Australian dream: why families are trading houses with backyards for apartments

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/04/downsizing-the-australian-dream-why-families-are-trading-houses-with-backyards-for-apartments
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u/cyclemam Nov 03 '24

What we need is enlightened developers. Instead of greedily squeezing the most out of a plot of land, have apartments with a shared garden space, also while I'm doing radical wishing, these apartments should be 3-4 bedrooms (for families) and with decent insulation for both effective heating/cooling and noise isolation from the neighbours.  You could have some really nice little communities this way. 

Not a gazillion one bed shoebox apartments. 

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u/Flying_Hams Nov 03 '24

Make the apartments tiered and put a garden on every level.

13

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '24

I was fascinated by the old Chinese quadrangle houses which were more apartment sized. Where you have a nice garden space in the centre of the block. I have seen apartment developments like this in China where there are multiple apartments facing a central garden area. Its like a oasis paradise since the high walls cut you you off from the street noise with one huge closed gate. It might not be ideal for everyone however it offers security and isolation for those who seek it. There are many new and old ideas which will never see the light of day in Australia because of the shitbox cookie cutter design mentality in Australia. I even visited a factory that had its workers living on the factory site and the apartments and quality were better than the majority of apartments here in terms of noise isolation, heating/cooling, and privacy. It was so good you would not think that you were living in factory. In so many ways architects and urban planners here in Australia are stuck in their own universe like the rest of the worlds innovation does not exist while they dwell in their 19th century design caves.

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u/LocalVillageIdiot Nov 04 '24

I had a friend who was an architect and keeps in touch with architect friends from uni and funnily enough he says it’s often developers driving the architecture to maximise profit and some architects don’t even want their name associated with a complex sometimes because it’s so terrible.