INTERNATIONALLY-renowned architect Angelo Candalepas and Associates, appointed to undertake stage one of the concept designs for the New Hamilton Gallery, were in Hamilton this week to gauge the views and desires of the community.

Principal architect, Angelo Candalepas was excited to be in town to hear from the community from whom he will draw inspiration.

When asked what the best thing about the town was, he simply said “the people.”

“Initially I am here to listen,” he said.

“I think the people have been very inspiring – there’s such a diverse array of people – I think it’s going to be a great collaboration – it’s a kind of concentration of ideas.”

The design is still only in the concept stage, and Mr Candalepas said he wasn’t being swayed any particular direction, but rather “allowing ideas to flow my way”.

“It’s a collaborative process,” he said.

“The most important thing is, is that the gallery is to be a place for the people of this town.”

He said there was nothing specific that has been pitched just yet.

“Architecture is the servant of society,” Mr Candalepas said.

“I think that is the role of my commission – to be a sponge.”

He said he personally drew inspiration from the late Dr Graham Gunn AO of Hamilton.

“He was a very inspiring individual,” Mr Candalepas said.

“He enabled architecture.”

Asked about the challenge that lies ahead in creating a design that is popular, he spoke of a spiritual yearning within the community and agreed “as artists, we want people to love it”.

“I definitely want people to love it.”

Hamilton Gallery director, Josh White sang Mr Candalepas praises and said he brings a wealth of expertise and experience to the project.

“We’re in the co-design phase,” he said.

“We did a very different tender brief and partnered with the University of Melbourne to develop a tender, then it went through a research and consultation phase between February and June this year (out of which) there came seven themes.

“Those seven principals are what the community wanted – one was local identity, one was civic life, one was the collection, one was creative pathways, one was first nations, one was natural environment, the last one was connections – connecting this building to all the other buildings and then connecting to the town.

“Now Anglelo is here … he is going to work with community in these themes to develop concept designs for the new gallery.

“So people who attend these sessions now will really impact how the design is developed.

“It’s actually really fantastic.

“He is currently designing the new NGV, he’s designed the College of the Arts, he’s done extensions at the NGA – he’s probably one of the best cultural architects in Australia – a lot of his associates are internationally renowned – the lighting designers, the engineers.

“He’s come along today (Tuesday) for his first touch point and will return in January and he’s engaged with creatives, gallery staff, youth, first nations, friends, stakeholders, all those sorts of people to start to get an idea of the design of the building and what the community wants.

“We’ve got the principles, now we’re going through the phase of him actually talking with the community.

“He wants to know what the principles mean to the community and first and foremost he’s here to listen.

“We’re at ground zero of that design.”

Mr White there had been a broad array of ideas put forward by the community already.

“People have said lots of different things,” he said.

“They want a really playful, exciting, inviting entry to the gallery.

“The NGV water wall is an example of that sort of thing. It’s a bit fun – it’s enjoyable.

“One person wants it to be a really family oriented engaging place – another person expressed having a place of belonging.”

Mr White stressed the importance of hearing what people in the community want to see in a new gallery.

“It’s nice for an individual to actually be heard in such a big project.

“You start with listening to what the community wants.

“The way co-design works is it really will give all those principles and that sense of ownership and belonging to the community.”