Simulaa
(est. 2020, Melbourne)

Established by Anna Jankovic and André Bonnice in 2020, Simulaa is an architecture practice with an emphasis on cultural and place-specific projects. Prioritising a research-based approach and critical experimentation in service of the public good, Simulaa pursues empathetic outcomes that are observant of context, place and history.

Design standards, 2022, is a survey of the furniture, utilities and objects that occupy the streetscape surrounding the five architecture projects included in Melbourne Now’s Civic Architecture exhibition. Setting the stage for Design standards is the City of Melbourne’s review of the city’s street furniture, with the name of the project a reference to the documents that guide the design and construction of Melbourne’s public spaces. Here, Simulaa has created models of these objects at miniature (1:12) scale and in identical material finishes, allowing visitors to view the collection – designed by disparate groups over a long period of time – en masse, and to reflect on their place in the streetscape. The result is a survey that lays bare the nature of the street as a living organism that resists legibility and consistency. Scanning the scaled-down scene, differences in approach become evident from site to site. Design standards reminds us that small-scale projects also contribute to civic life.

Though only founded in 2020, Simulaa has already been recognised for its contributions to architectural discourse and research. They were awarded the 2022 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work for the shortlisted 2021 NGV Architecture Commission Gas Stack (with Finding Infinity) and were the winner of the TAB 2022 Installation Competition for the Tallinn Architecture Biennale in Estonia. Both Jankovic and Bonnice are engaged in research and teaching around adaptive, resilient architecture that explores cultural, historical and time-based design thinking, as well as architecture and infrastructural systems that seek to disrupt prevalent energy and waste paradigms.