05 | Patient Zero: Spillover In Suburbia

What if the future of home isn't about ownership — but about connection? In this final episode, Anthony Burke re-imagines the Australian Dream through the most powerful ideas from the series. Could we trade fences for friendships, and privacy for participation? What would it mean to design homes that prioritise community, care, and belonging? We explore a new vision of home — not just where we live, but how we live together. Guests in this episode: Richard and Jan Gould - Founders, Blue Sky House (low-cost housing initiative) Susan Boden - Co-founder, Eden Tiny House Project; Landscape Architect & Mental Health Case Manager Sacha Coles -Global Design Director, ASPECT Studios Hugh MacKay - Social Psychologist and Author, The Way We Are, Lessons from a lifetime of listening Patrick Eigsvogel - Small home builder Elizabeth Mossop - Academic Director, Living Lab Northern Rivers Production assistance this week by Sarah Mashman

Around the globe, architects and designers are reimagining housing with bold, inventive solutions - from sprawling multi use compounds in Indonesia to compact cooperative models in Europe. These global experiments offer fresh perspectives on affordability, sustainability and community. But could they work in Australia? In this episode, we explore what local housing can learn from international innovations - and how these ideas might be adapted to fit our unique social and environmental context. Guests in this episode: RealRich Sarjeif - Architect, RAW Architecture (Jakarta) Penelope Dean - Professor, School of Architecture, University of Illinois Chicago. Gerard Reinmuth -  Director, Terroir Architecture; Professor of Practice, School of Architecture, UTS Marisa Jahn - Director of Integrated Design, The New School; Collaborating Artist, Carehaus Anne Romme - Associate Professor, Institute of Architecture and Culture, Royal Danish Academy. Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno and thanks to Anthony’s ABC International Culture By Design program for supplying additional audio.

We all know that house prices have gone through the roof, but what’s driving them, and what can actually be done? In this episode, we dig into the money behind the housing crisis, from tax policy and global market shifts to government targets and the growing role of intergenerational wealth. We explore how renters and homeowners alike are feeling the squeeze, and ask what kind of radical policy — and cultural — change it will take to make housing more equitable for all Australians. Because this isn’t just an economic problem. It’s a social one. And it’s going to take more than creativity to fix it. Guests in this episode: Alan Kholer, ABC financial journalist and author of the Quarterly Essay- The Great Divide: Australia's Housing Mess and How to Fix it Brendan Coates, Housing and Economic Security Program Director at Grattan Institute Kate Browne, Head of Research and Insights at Compare Club, a financial comparison service Damian Madigan, Associate Professor at the University of South Australia, architect and urban infill housing researcher. David, Social housing client Kait, House hunter from Brisbane Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno

What if Australia’s housing crisis wasn’t just a problem — but a chance to build something better? Australia’s homes are doing more than sheltering families — they’re accommodating multigenerational households, solo dwellers, single parents, and shared living arrangements. But is our housing stock too rigid to reflect this diversity? Is it failing behind the way we actually live? In this episode, we meet the architects and designers reimagining the Australian home for today. As external pressures - from climate to cost - reshape our lives, they’re responding with ideas that prioritise flexibility, wellbeing, sustainability, and social connection. Hosted by Professor of Architecture Anthony Burke, this series asks: can we reimagine the Dream? For more conversations about design with Anthony Burke & friends, head to Lifestyle on ABC iView Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno and Regina Botros Guests in this episode Dr Edgar Liu, Arts, Design & Architecture at the City Futures Research Centre at UNSW Savannah Fishel, Senior Innovation Consultant and Service Designer and Churchill Fellow Craig Allchin, Urban Designer with 6 Degrees Jeremy McLeod, Founding Director and Architect at Breathe Architecture Matilda Leake, Associate Director and Design Architect at Bates Smart Marisa and Rose - living together in multigenerational housing in Melbourne Leah and Lou - living together with Leah's parents in Sydney

We look at how Australians have lived together in the past — and what those lessons might offer us today. From the tightly packed worker’s cottages of the early 1900s, where strong community bonds helped people get by, to the bold experiments in communal and cooperative living during the 1970s, Australians have long found creative ways to share space. Now, as the housing crisis deepens, one State Government (NSW) is reviving the idea of the housing pattern book — a fast-track design initiative that encourages density, sustainability, and smarter living. But are Australians ready to embrace the idea of “home” not as a private fortress, but where shared space and personal privacy coexist? Hosted by Professor of Architecture Anthony Burke, this series asks: can we reimagine the Dream? For more conversations about design with Anthony Burke & friends, head to Lifestyle on ABC iView Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno. Guests in this episode Janet McCalman, Emeritus Professor at Melbourne University and author of Struggletown Public and Private Life in Richmond 1900- 1965 Abbie Galvin, NSW Government Architect Lee Stickells, Associate Professor at the School of Architecture, University of Sydney Peter Cock, Co-founder of Moora Moora Cooperative in the Dandenong Ranges, Melbourne. Chelsea McNabb, Resident at Moora Moora Cooperative Izzy Kane, Resident at Moora Moora Cooperative