VISION 33 — THE ROSSETTI STONE
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What began as a sketch of left over rubbish stacked against a backyard fence , emerges as an artful assembly of lightweight polystyrene panels and Viridian glazing . The panel-system ’ s high insulation values and lateral strength contribute to passive solar heating of the house . The roof comprises these panels supported by a structural steel curtain wall comprised of Viridian SuperClear™ . The curtainwall and glazing pattern is derived from the surface effects found in pottery . Rossetti explains that these etched ‘ fault lines ’ define the form and create a very rigid structure .
After much to do and form reversal by council , Rossetti was recently recognised in a council-run competition for benchmark urban design . He met with Vision ’ s Peter Hyatt to discuss the challenges of architect as self-healer and designer :
VISION Are you the better client , or architect ?
CRAIG ROSSETTI This is a classic scenario . Really , the majority
of the time the problem is not with the architect . If I ’ ve been told once I ’ ve been told a thousand times by both my wife and my children , extremely directly , what I ’ ve done right and wrong . That ’ s always the issue .
What about the architect in you that said ‘ spend more ’ and the client in you that said ‘ spend less ’? It ’ s a hard one because I ’ ve got to live in whatever I make a decision on . Sometimes you ’ ve got to make a decision and be the real architect , rather than be the corporate architect where you do the right thing by everyone . You ’ ve got to just sit back there because at times , what happens is you make a decision to get it right for everyone , and yes , they need to live with it . You ’ re more frustrated than anything and you ’ re told about what went wrong , which was their decision . It ’ s hard work .
There ’ s a certain extroverted and fearless quality to this design . When you do a glass wall you really do a glass wall . It ’ s not half-hearted or half-baked . You ’ ve had a real go . That ’ s so admirable that you ’ ve said , “ Let ’ s paint a big canvas of glass on this wall . It ’ s a strong idea . Let ’ s not go in half-cocked with a window of say two by one and a half metres . Let ’ s do big ” That ’ s one reason why this works as the good idea magnified with an expanded power and energy . That ’ s an important part of the architect ’ s role : to assess what needs emphasising , what needs shielding or fewer funds directed at . The feature window is really critical to the success of this house . I can ’ t imagine it without it and while there are plenty of other contributing elements in that hierarchy of special moments that is probably the one that leads the way here .