Cassandra Fahey

Cassandra Fahey (born c. 1972)[1] is an Australian architect and interior designer residing in Melbourne. She is Director of the architecture firm "Cassandra Complex". She emerged in the public spotlight in 2000 because of the controversial 'Newman House',[1] located in St Kilda, designed for media and football identity Sam Newman. She is also known for her works on "The Smith Great Aussie Home"[2] and the BHP Billiton Healesville Sanctuary "Platypusary". Her work has received a number of awards as well as being featured in many local and international publications.[3]

Cassandra Fahey

Career

Cassandra completed the Bachelor of Architecture at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in 1998.[4] During her studies she traveled internationally to produce a documentary on Architects practicing at the turn of the millennium. Among these were Sir Norman Foster, Peter Eisenman, and Jean Nouvel.[5] Whilst in New York she met Richard Serra and was influenced by his sculpture in its original setting in a converted New York City garage. The effect of this can be seen later in the design of her own house, "Chameleon".[6]

Interior of Chameleon, 2001.

Back in Melbourne, in her earlier career she received guidance from Tom Kovac and Edmond Corrigan[4] and soon registered her own practice which she named the Cassandra Complex. In 2005[7] Fahey was engaged in a Masters in Contemporary Art at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne.

Fahey developed a unique approach to architecture using different styles[8] in each of her projects rather than developing a common theme.[9] Her influences within this "no one way" approach[10] have been "so-called nature", Emily Kame Kngwarreye and the "whole bang lot".[11]

Notable works

Sam Newman House

Fahey was given a completely open brief[12] for the Sam Newman House—named White Noise after Robert Venturis Term 'Billboard Façade'[13]—in St. Kilda West, Melbourne.[14] It features Cassandra's 9 m by 8 m façade design comprising patterned glass and contains a Pamela Anderson mural,[15] with a garage door opening at her mouth.[16] Post-modernism co-habits seamlessly with minimalism.[15]

It was completed in 2001 and its mural received the Best New Residential Building in the RAIA Victorian Architecture Awards.[17] The design of the house's exterior was controversial however, encountering objections and incorrect planning applications.[18] It became known as the house that Melburnians love to hate.[12]

"White Noise", Newman House

BHP Billiton Platypusary
BHP Billiton Platypussary at Healesville Sanctuary.
BHP Billiton Platypussary at Healesville Sanctuary.

Platypusary at Healsville sanctuary (also known as BHP Billiton Platypusary) was opened to the public on 12 May 2005.[19] Its façade comprises gold panels with inscribed leaf shapes and encloses a ponds of water running like a native creek.[12] The passing of sun over these leaves casts complex shadows and reflections onto the marble ground of the platypusary.[20]

The movement of the water through the pools provides different refractions cast upon the gold panels, reiterating the constant connection and reflection.[12] Awelye represents ceremony in aboriginal culture of Australia.[21]

Smith Great Aussie Home
Smith Great Aussie Home – Black Rock

The Smith Great Aussie Home was designed for the self-made businessman Darren Smith. The $1.6 million "trophy home"[1] is located at Black Rock, Melbourne, Victoria.[22]

New Gold Mountain Bar

Designed by Fahey in 2003, New Gold Mountain is a bar located in Melbourne's CBD.[23] Fahey's concept surrounds an old tailors studio on the outskirts of the city's Chinatown district with a space replicating the unique theme of an opium den. Distorted images of opium smokers form repeated patterns, wallpapering the walls and soft furnishings. Upstairs tantric red wallpaper and sectioned caverns create a strong mood for conversation and company. There are glistening beads, pink opium moments and multi coloured skirts hanging from the ceiling.

New Gold Mountain, Melbourne, Australia in 2003

Other notable works

Husk Boutique,[24] Melbourne, CBD
Crowning Glory,[25] Monash Museum of Art
Chameleon warehouse conversion,[26] North Melbourne
Josh Abrahams House,[27] Brighton
A bathroom for Jonathan Mills
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Russell Street, Melbourne
Breamlea House
Menorah House,[28] Hawthorn (unbuilt)

Awards
  • 2007 Bulletin Smart 100 – Best Australian Designer 2007[29]
  • 2007 Marion Mahony Interior Architecture Award – New Gold Mountain, Melbourne[30]
  • 2007 Residential Architecture – Houses Award – The Smith Great Aussie Home, Blackrock[30]
  • 2007 Interior Commendation – National Award – The Smith Great Aussie Home, Blackrock[31]
  • 2006 Institutional Architecture Award – BHP Billiton Platypussary, Victoria
  • 2006 Commercial Architecture Award – HUSK Collins Street, Melbourne
  • 2006 Dulux Color Awards – Chameleon (Warehouse conversion), North Melbourne
  • 2004 Residential Architecture Award – Chameleon, North Melbourne
  • 2004 The Interior Award – National Award – Chameleon, North Melbourne
  • 2004 IDA Interior Design Awards – Chameleon, Refurbished Residential Interior
  • 2003 Residential Architecture Award – Sam Newman House, St. Kilda

References
  1. "More bang for your building". The Age. 23 April 2006.
  2. "Ambassador of taste: Eugenia Lim's The Australian Ugliness". ArchitectureAU. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  3. "Awards". Cassandra Fahey. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  4. Jackson, Davina (15 October 2007). Next Wave: New Australian Architecture. Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 9781568987354.
  5. "Sam Newman House". skhs.org.au. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  6. Amelar, Sarah (September 2005), Architectural Record, vol. 193, pp. 108–115
  7. "PAVILIONS FOR A NEW ARCHITECTURE". RMIT Architecture and Urban Design. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  8. "More bang for your building". The Age. 23 April 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  9. Crafti, Stephen (10 August 2006). "Beyond the box". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  10. "Platypusary, Healesville Sanctuary". The Age. 23 August 2005. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  11. "BHP Billiton Platypusary – Architecture Gallery – Australian Institute of Architects, The Voice of Australian Architecture". dynamic.architecture.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  12. "The Age". Melbourne. 23 August 2005.
  13. Kalms, Nicole (31 March 2017). Hypersexual City: The Provocation of Soft-Core Urbanism. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317028277.
  14. "World Press". 13 December 2006.
  15. "Saint Kilda History Society". Archived from the original on 15 April 2011.
  16. "Sam Newman House – 270 Canterbury Road. ST KILDA [Walking Melbourne Building Information]". walkingmelbourne.com.
  17. "WhateveThe sordid tale of Sam and Pamr happened to Sam Newman's house? | Milk Bar". Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  18. "'Pamela Anderson house' built for Sam Newman on the market". propertyobserver.com.au. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  19. "Legislation Victoria". Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  20. "Architecture Awards".
  21. "Aboriginal Shop". Archived from the original on 12 June 2011.
  22. Cassandra Complex, The Smith Great Aussie Home, The RAIA Award for Residential Architecture – Houses, Architecture.com.au, 2010
  23. "New Gold Mountain | Architecture/interiors | Peter Bennetts Architectural Photographer". www.peterbennetts.com. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  24. "Husk Collins Street – Architecture Gallery – Australian Institute of Architects, The Voice of Australian Architecture". dynamic.architecture.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  25. Kalms, Nicole (31 March 2017). Hypersexual City: The Provocation of Soft-Core Urbanism. Routledge. ISBN 9781317028260.
  26. ""Chameleon", by Cassandra Fahey for a warehouse conversion in Melbourne | Glass | Pinterest | Glass, Warehouse conversion and Warehouse". Pinterest. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  27. "Totally addicted to space: producer Josh Abrahams selling Brighton pad". news.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  28. Adams, David (13 June 2009). "Wild and wonderful dwellings". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  29. "100 Australia's Best and Brightest". The Bulletin. 26 June 2007.
  30. "2007 Victorian Architecture Awards: Award Winner List". Australian Institute of Architects. Australian Institute of Architects.
  31. "AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS NATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARDS 1981 – 2013" (PDF). Australian Institute of Architects.
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