Frontality Stupid Part 2 Project 2020 Zoe TaylorJames Sekoranja University of Canberra | Australia Classical architectures rapport with the public was often conceived in the frontal facades of architecture. With the advent of metropolis, this rapport adjusted to engage less with the public as pedestrians and more with automobiles. Considering Manuka collectively, the site is the front of the urban centre. What has changed since is the growth of Canberra Avenue, an arterial road at the doorstep of the site. How should this new building respond to the new medium of the car? The tower of the project posits itself towards one side of the site, establishing a new façade that faces oncoming traffic of Canberra Avenue. In doing so, the project makes aware the absurdity, or rather stupidity, that architecture has tried to consolidate the classical façades engaging with the public, with the metropolis facades of billboard architecture engaging with the automobile passer-by that Robert Venturi observes in Learning from Las Vegas. Due to the pace of movement along Canberra Avenue, the accessibility of Manuka happens on the internal streets – the urban centre is inward looking. The project complies with one exception, the speakeasy – its discreet door in full view of Canberra. The confirmation that this once historic front is in-fact its back. Tutor(s) Gevork Hartoonian