The last UDF (no. 96 December 2011) included a country-wide survey of our State and Territory Architects. In January, Peter Poulet resigned after three years in that position in Tasmania, and has been appointed as the NSW State Architect. Peter says, “The Tasmanian Government should consider employing a Tasmanian this time, because there are many good local people who can do the job. In many ways my job was really to establish the position, establish its credentials, and a local person who understands the nuances of doing business in Tasmania could hit the ground running and not have to spend that time as I did understanding the place.”
The Tasmanian Government is reviewing the role, but the opposition has called for the role to be abolished, saying it is a luxury the government can no longer afford. [ED: Are Tassy finances in that bad shape, or is it simply an ideological aversion to the importance of good design?]
Many other people disagree, and praise the pioneering work of Peter Poulet.
Peter is the 23rd Government Architect since Francis Greenway was appointed in 1816.
Republished from Urban Design Forum www.udf.org.au
