Original post 22 May 2020

I dont hate it but I don’t like it much – a new thing in Coventry Street #SouthMelbourne opposite the market – a lack of imagination and relationship to context, I mean this black brick and the pierced brickwork, it’s just 60s revival popular, they could have had fun with bricks given the polychrome number next door. But then I suppose most people don’t have much imagination, everyone buys the same clothes, the same cars and kitchens don’t they ? Update : it’s a heritage area, @cityofportphillip said no (I think), it went to VCAT, Council didn’t have a heritage expert there but the developer did, and it was approved !In fact the case was heard by VCAT president Helen Gibson, who I remember from the 90s not being particularly concerned about heritage, and here she specifically says she thinks that a new project should be a contemporary expression, even in this heritage context (though the market itself isn’t old). This is a view that took hold in planning in the 90s, probably in reaction to bad 80s Victorian pomo pastiche, along with an expectation that architecture should be ‘innovative’, and this is the result. I say contemporary yes but also it’s a good idea to fit in, or at least not stand out – being black doesn’t mean you don’t see it.

Comments from a repost in 2025

• Uncategorized