May 20, 2025
Cities of Yes: a design conversation at the MPavilion
The serene setting of MPavilion was backdrop to a dynamic conversation exploring the power of grassroots ideas in shaping radical urban interventions.
As part of the Every Living Thing talk series hosted by Melbourne’s MPavilion, BVN’s Mitch Page sat down with three renowned architects to explore the tangible benefits of responsive urban design. Bill Dowzer, principal at BVN and co-founder of start-up re-ply, joined Prof. Kerstin Thompson, founder and principal at Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) and Anna Jankovic architect and co-director of Simulaa, to explore the fascinating world of design and urbanism — from the temporary and makeshift to the radically flexible and adaptive.
Left to right: Bill Dowzer (BVN), Anna Jankovic (Simulaa), Kerstin Thompson (KTA) and Mitch Page (BVN).
Re-ply: a project that responds to social and cultural shifts
A fantastic example of a temporary urban design proposition that morphed into something much more, re-ply began life as a plywood furniture start-up. Founded by BVN in 2020, it was born from the idea of repurposing salvaged materials from boarded-up shopfronts in New York City. 
Re-ply has revolutionised the outdoor dining scene in New York City.
We thought if we can get the plywood [from boarded-up shopfronts] donated to us, we could set up a business built around a design product. Utilising plywood fabrication, we started to make furniture for restaurants so they could expand their offering to include outdoor dining.
We installed re-ply in about 35 restaurants around the city. It grew to become something that people in NYC began to love — this idea of outdoor dining.
Bill Dowzer - BVN Principal
As an urban design project that responded to a unique moment in time — at the confluence of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests — it has continued to evolve in the wake of recent NYC reforms. These City of Yes reforms may offer valuable lessons for other cities too.
Can we ‘make-do’ with the makeshift?
While cautious about excessive regulations, Kerstin shared her curiosity about exploring ways to occupy underutilised buildings in the city. Her interest in makeshift occupations stems from her experience as an architecture student setting up studio rooms in empty city spaces for cheap rent.
“The question we often ask ourselves is how, in a highly regulated world, do we balance risk with opportunity ... to make the best use of what we already have,” explained Kerstin.
At Simulaa, Anna has also been exploring urban projects that are shifting paradigms in the areas of energy, waste and materials.
As architects… we can help drive change through some of the frameworks we engage with every day. But it’s also great to see citizen-led initiatives — like using pot plants and chairs to co-opt space in the city. I think those opportunities are aplenty.
Anna Jankovic - Simulaa
Bill questioned whether our cities can sustainably continue building anew. “Why should we keep developing?” asked Bill. “Shouldn’t we be reusing buildings before we allow more development?”
Kerstin acknowledged that converting redundant commercial space or underutilised commercial space to housing has potential but is a complex task that requires new thinking.
“Perhaps we also need to challenge what we think housing might be. If we had regulations that support hybrid types… with more flexibility in the buildings, they could shift more easily from commercial to residential purposes and vice-versa,” suggests Kerstin.
Designing for and in the public realm
Through her experience in practice and teaching at RMIT, Anna has developed a deep understanding of the challenges of designing in the public realm. Supporting value-driven outcomes is a foundation of Anna’s practice and design thinking. “The question that we constantly ask is, how might we as architects… directly procure goods and benefits for the public realm and the public good?” asks Anna.
Kerstin is similarly driven to find civic opportunities in every project. In speculative housing, for instance, Kerstin will consider the broader neighbourhood to capture whole-of-community benefits.
When we’re doing a housing project, we have a duty of care to those occupants, but we also have a duty of care to future ones, too, and similarly to the neighbourhood. So, I think there’s always that dimension of a broader civic ethic at play, regardless of the project.
Kerstin Thompson
Whatever the scale — from an outdoor dining setting to a neighbourhood renewal program — all panellists support the idea that radical interventions can emerge from grassroots propositions. In the words of Kerstin, we shouldn’t wait for policy to come first.
"That's when the ‘meanwhile’ comes into it. 'Meanwhile', while we wait to build any housing at scale, what are the other things that we can do to adapt and make possibilities a reality?"
If you’d like to hear more of this engaging conversation, be sure to listen to the podcast produced by MPavilion.
