{"id":442167,"date":"2026-05-23T22:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T22:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/442167\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T22:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T22:19:08","slug":"anthony-burke-it-wont-be-uncommon-in-20-years-to-have-four-houses-sharing-one-back-yard-art-and-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/442167\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Burke: \u2018It won\u2019t be uncommon in 20 years to have four houses sharing one back yard\u2019 | Art and design"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jelly-like eyeballs are staring back at architect Anthony Burke as he approaches the ice-packed, fish displays in front of Claudio\u2019s Seafoods in Sydney\u2019s new fish market<\/a>. Sand whiting, blue mackerel and coral trout are packed into glossy rows, their eyes dull or slightly surprised. The ruby snapper, in contrast, looks more like a movie star, with its orange-rimmed eyes that seem to entice us.<\/p>\n

Burke is moving through each display energetically, pointing out the bar cod cutlets \u2013 his favourite. Before the renovation, this place used to be in the old car park and the purchase process was deeply convoluted.<\/p>\n

He grins. \u201cThis is better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter\u201d is the $800m new fish market in Pyrmont, which sits beside the old site in an enormous sweep of timber, glass and steel. It\u2019s mid-morning on a drizzly Thursday and already packed.<\/p>\n

Design magazines have been fawning over the Sydney Fish Market, Burke says. It was a 10-year project with a complicated brief, from needing to attract tourists to housing auction rooms and cold storage. It wasn\u2019t easy but it worked, and has just been listed by Time magazine as one of the world\u2019s greatest places of 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018We don\u2019t have many brave buildings in Australia,\u2019 says Anthony Burke. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s brave,\u201d he says, looking up into the sweeping underside of the roof, which is encrusted with 400 solar panels. \u201cWe don\u2019t have many brave buildings in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

We grab takeaway coffees and sit outside in the generous amphitheatre of steps leading down to the water. A persistent seagull bounces around a family eating hot chips below.<\/p>\n

Burke is best known as the enthusiastic host of Grand Designs Australia and Restoration Australia, and for his ABC Radio National podcast By Design, where he talks about everything from Delta Goodrem\u2019s Eurovision staging to everyday objects like Eskies and wristwatches.<\/p>\n

His fascination with architecture runs deep. Growing up in a suburban cul-de-sac on Sydney\u2019s northern beaches, he was the first in his family to go to university. Today he is professor of architecture at UTS, equally comfortable discussing the 19th-century French architect Eug\u00e8ne Viollet-le-Duc as he is bathroom tiles.<\/p>\n

The ceiling of the new Sydney Fish Market building. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see those things as two separate worlds,\u201d he says, smiling. \u201cThey\u2019re both architectural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke looks back out across the water. The old fish market site will soon be replaced by four tower blocks, rising into the city skyline we are now looking at.<\/p>\n

He calls it an \u201cobliteration\u201d of the landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this building is brave,\u201d he says, nodding towards the new market behind us, \u201cthen the new development is a necessary evil. It\u2019s a trade-off to pay for it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still watching the water and noticing an ibis standing on one leg in the drizzle, he returns to a bigger question, one that will carry the walk forward around the building.<\/p>\n

For Burke, architecture is never just about aesthetics. It shapes how we live, how we gather, it even affects our physical health and emotional wellbeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur houses are killing us,\u201d he says bluntly. He quickly offers bullet points: Australian houses are too big, with too many toilets and not enough trees \u2013 we lack insulation. \u201cJust make houses warm and comfortable to be in, so you can feel well,\u201d he says, exasperated.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t even get me started on the plastics and the off-gassing from the VOCs [volatile organic compounds, found in building materials and furniture<\/a> that evaporate into the air] that we seem to be comfortable living with and breathing in all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anzac Bridge can be seen from the Sydney Fish Market. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

We flip houses every 11 years on average \u2013 it used to be seven years. \u201cWorse!\u201d he says. \u201cPeople don\u2019t stay in a house long enough to get attached, they\u2019re always thinking about the next house.\u201d Bigger homes, renovations and resale value dominate the national conversation, often at the expense of wellbeing, community and design.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen ROI is the only conversation, we miss out on actually living a life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rain sets in, so we do another lap of the market. We walk past the florist with an abundance of carnations, dahlias, hydrangeas; the German bakery with cinnamon swirls, and Biscoff babka, past the fine wines and into the marketplace where a man is shucking oysters and a pair of tourists take selfies with an enormous whole bluefin tuna.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s midday now and extended family groups are opening up takeaway boxes of seafood at the outside tables, fortunately under cover.<\/p>\n

This prompts Burke to think about loneliness. \u201cOne in three Australians, every year, has had some moment of loneliness,\u201d he says with emotion in his voice; one in six report being often lonely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s because we feel like we can do everything inside our houses. We can\u2019t, nor should we attempt to. We should be engaging with the community in our street, and the local shops and community centres, and investing in those things, because we want to spend time there. Not because it\u2019s cheaper, but because it actually makes us feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Our houses need to become good for purpose again,\u2019 says Burke. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

So what can we do?<\/p>\n

\u201cOur houses need to be reimagined and become good for purpose again,\u201d he says. \u201cI genuinely think we are at the beginning of a radical change in what it means to live in a home in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke says there is a new generation of young architects, many of whom may never own homes themselves, imagining radically different models of Australian living: \u201cThey\u2019re thinking about different things, like how do I share with my friends, or how do I co-op, or how do we multigenerational live,\u201d he says. \u201cThese aren\u2019t radical ideas from the 70s, they\u2019re real opportunities now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it won\u2019t be so uncommon in 20 years\u2019 time to have four houses to care for one back yard and one parking spot, or we all have a common laundry. I\u2019m speculating about the future but I think it won\u2019t be unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke: \u2018A good architect should challenge you on what kind of life you want before they start drawing.\u2019 Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

We walk past a group of schoolgirls buying chocolate-coated strawberries, and head back outside where a man is walking his excited schnauzer. Burke smiles at him.<\/p>\n

Wrapping up our walk, he says his mission is to invite people into the \u201cbeautiful big tent that is architecture\u201d to have big conversations about ideas, about where we\u2019re going and what we value.<\/p>\n

On Grand Designs Australia, those conversations get real very quickly; arguments arise when couples don\u2019t share the same values. \u201cA good architect should challenge you on what kind of life you want for your family before they start drawing.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sounds confronting.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s like a kind of architecture as therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says the best thing people can do is look at the plans for their dream house and take 20% of that plan away. \u201cJust get rid of it, and then redesign everything you\u2019ve got with 20% less, that\u2019ll focus you on what is important,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t necessarily need a bigger house to live differently, Burke says. \u201cMove your furniture around,\u201d he says. \u201cSit in a different position. Change the fabrics and bring in more plants.\u201d Small shifts, he believes, can change the emotional feel of a home.<\/p>\n

Saying goodbye, he jokes that sometimes \u201ceveryone on the show needs therapy\u201d after filming an episode of Grand Designs. He chuckles. \u201cBut these conversations, I hope, can inspire people to think a little bigger, a little braver, a little more ambitious for the world around them. That\u2019s what I hope for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jelly-like eyeballs are staring back at architect Anthony Burke as he approaches the ice-packed, fish displays in front…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-442167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}