Barrie Shelton

My research lies at the interface of two or more of the following fields: urban morphology; urban design history and theory; cultural dimensions of design; and East Asian urbanism. Current activities focus on:

- the relationships between design theory, urban design guidance and city form;
- new morphologies for urban density;
- morphological investigation as a tool for generating urban design frameworks;
- visual and spatial dimensions of writing systems.

Specific projects include:

• Investigation of the interplay between theory, coding and associated building forms in the shaping of Adelaide’s ‘Square Mile’ since foundation (scheduled for publication in Urban Coding, Routledge, 2008)
• As a participant in a Hong Kong University-based research group, I examined existing and potential rail-related urban morphologies (2004-5): this work triggered a wider evaluation of Hong Kong forms as models for new kinds of small footprint ‘volumetric’ morphologies (also scheduled for publication by Routledge, 2008).
• Morphological investigation for the generation of design frameworks – in association with studio teaching and my role as a member of the Sullivans Cove Design Panel, Hobart.
• Ongoing enquiry into spatial/visual dimensions of Japanese and other writing systems, and their links with other modes of visual expression: painting, graphics, architecture and even literature. Early work appeared in Learning from the Japanese City (Spon 1999), and more recently in Visible Language, Vol 40 (2).

Please see Mr Barrie Shelton homepage for more information.