BAYSNEWS: This month we’re talking to Michael Wiener. Michael, for those who don’t know you, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
MICHAEL: Michelle, Wolf (he was one) and I lived in a loft in Tribeca for 13 years. Unfortunately (or fortunately ) we had to move out and I said if we can’t live in the loft in New York we would live on the beach in Sydney. We lived in Manly for 7 years on the beach at North Steyne but found ourselves coming to Church Point to visit friends on the weekends. We would look at real estate on the boards and one day we took the ferry across to look at a property which we were ready to put an offer down on but somebody else bought. After that it was only a matter of time before we found the right place.
I am an architect by profession and when we bought the house we did so knowing we would have to knock it down and rebuild which was a daunting proposition but also a great opportunity to create a very special place to live. We wanted to recreate the sense of space of our loft in Tribeca and combine that with a tree house sitting in the canopy. We have now been here for over 20 years and I am still in awe of the beauty of the place and cannot imagine being anywhere else.
BAYSNEWS: You’re President of the Pittwater Community Association. How and when did you get involved and what do you feel you’ve achieved?
MICHAEL: I think I pretty much got involved the year I moved here. Karen Lambert got me to join the WPCA over 20 years ago. I feel as a Committee the WPCA has achieved much during my tenure. We have always been and hopefully will always be a group of people with differing opinions, deeply passionate about a place we are privileged to live. We are stewards of the place – here to protect it not change it for our convenience.
I would say the most important accomplishment is making the Lower Western Foreshores a pedestrian only environment with the use of private vehicles prohibited and getting this enshrined in the DCP so it is law. You only have to look at the issues with buggies and cars on Scotland Island to see the impact of unrestricted vehicle use.
Some of the other highlights are: design and adoption of the Church Point Plan of Management, the additional power supply from Scotland Island creating redundancy in our power grid to help minimize power outages and fibre to the node for our NBN. I am also a member on the Church Point Aesthetics Advisory Group which advises council on design and aesthetics as it relates to projects in our area.
BAYSNEWS: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
MICHAEL: Sitting on my deck looking out on a beautiful day
BAYSNEWS: What is your greatest fear?
MICHAEL: The world descending into chaos, intolerance and Totalitarianism.
BAYSNEWS: What is the trait you most dislike in yourself?
MICHAEL: I tend to have a reactive personality
BAYSNEWS: What is the trait you most dislike in others?
MICHAEL: Dishonesty
BAYSNEWS: Which person (living or deceased) do you most admire, and why?
MICHAEL: I can’t really pin it down to an individual. What I admire most are people who genuinely care for other people they may not even know. I am in awe of nurses and other carers.
BAYSNEWS: What is your greatest achievement?
MICHAEL: Being a decent human being – and my family.
BAYSNEWS: What is your greatest regret?
MICHAEL: I don’t really have any major regrets
BAYSNEWS: Which talent would you most like to have?
MICHAEL: Play the elecric guitar like Jimi Hendrix of course.
BAYSNEWS: What is your motto?
MICHAEL: Have fun, do no evil and make the world a better place.
BAYSNEWS: As an architect, who or what has been the greatest influence on your work?
MICHAEL: I became an architect because of the work of LeCorbusier, although now my work is much softer, more influenced by nature and sustainability.
BAYSNEWS: How do you think your environs, i.e. living offshore in Pittwater, have influenced you in a creative sense?
MICHAEL: It is funny. Professionally I design large scaled, mixed use, urban, residential developments. I do this with a deep understanding of urbanity from my time living in Downtown Manhattan, but I choose to live in a National Park. Both these different environment’s have much to offer. My work is actually a combination of the two. I define my recent work as what is called Biophillic Architecture. That is bringing nature into peoples lives through their built environment.
Living offshore in the bush has really reinforced the regenerative power of pure nature. In my current work I use curvilinear organic forms and living green facades to both bring nature into peoples private lives but also bringing nature into peoples public lives at a larger urban scale. I like to think my house I designed and built as a combination between my New York and offshore life. It is a treehouse loft in the bush. I love designing places for people to live where the boundaries between inside and outside are dissolved.
