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A new addition to Brighton, why?

In the suburbs of Australia, there is a transformation of domestic architecture taking place. Robin Boyd in 1960 wrote of this idea in a publication called – The Australian Ugliness, a seminal investigation Australian architecture.

From the independent weekly by Teri Louise Kelly

A nation of gross architectural incompetence and negligence where foreign opinions and plans override local initiatives. A stark, incomplete, “she’ll be right mate” attitude to planning, giant kitsch, plastic flowers, jobs for the boys, not what you know but who you know, old school ties, pseudo colonialism, faux Americanism hitched to successive short-sighted leadership … it all pretty much sounds like The Australian Ugliness could have been released this year.

Some 50 years later the wrecking balls are sounding through the suburbs of Melbourne, crushing masses of unremarkable yet well considered domestic dwellings for built outcomes squeezed on their plot in ones, twos, threes and fours.

For every vacant lot there is a promise of poor architecture, short sighted land management and a range of materials that are mostly skin deep, cheap and fragile. May good luck be with these owners in a decade or so; when the product guarantees expire, veneer flakes off, the external walls sag, silicon seals unfix and general wear and tear takes place – quite possibly the wreckers ball will be called upon again.

Over several months one has witnessed this palace rose out of the ground, like one strange mushroom. One wonders what this thing is trying to be – Neo Georgian architecture, crossed with desert chic. What have English Coach lights got to do with blonde rendered sand stone finish and round lights straight from the isles of supermarket hardware – alot it seems in the land of Design-It-Yourself.

In a street filled with mostly functional architecture, this dwelling appears to be a parody of the concept house, an art project even inspired by the works of Australian artist Callum Morton. Sadly the project seems to be a real outcome, as two dominant and separate dwellings are squeezed onto a suburban block, that once had one unremarkable home.

One thing that any budding artist or, designer learns from an early stage of their working life – is that if you are prepared to design and make something, then be prepared to have it critiqued. The process of critique helps all involved to understand and learn from an outcome in the hope that next time something is produced the result at the very least will be an improvement from the last expression. Let’s hope that the house being wrecked around the corner has a critical, studied and considered designer behind the plans – as unlikely as this situation will be.

May collaboration with the architectural process in range of variations from kit, off the plan homes to bespoke concepts be common place soon.

Read about Melbourne architect and writer Robin Boyd here

Read about artist Callum Morton here

Valhalla by artist Callum Morton, NGV Melbourne 2009

In closing it is worth while mentioning a comprehensive gallery of built projects recognised by the Australian Institute of Architecture Awards programme, for people looking to develop new buildings. There are countless projects here with detailed reviews and images representing a range of budgets.

Visit the AIA Awards gallery here

Hawthorne Residences – Arco Eco

The Enclave Affordable Housing – Bligh Voller Nield

With a gentle touch of the wrecker’s ball – Studio Pip and Co.

Voit 465 playing at the Darling Harbour express way building site in the late 1970s

Kangaroos, blow flies, koalas… if you want to discover an Australia that is beyond the tourism clichés, information can usually can be found on the edges, like in the libraries, the internet and on the radio.

This site features many posts that explore music. Music is a vital part of our studio environment, as well as being a constant source of inspiration. Our music play list tries to diverse, alternative, trashy, odd, seminal, kooky and noisy at all time – from Terry Riley, John Cage, Ian Dury, Warsaw, The Faces, Eddy Current, Townes Van Zandt to the Runaways. Any insights into the making and dreaming up of music is a constant source of ideas and inspiration.

It is a rare and real treat to encounter radio documentaries that explore the lesser known, yet highly revered corners of the Australian creativity. Do that Dance, is a two part radio documentary that explores that music that rose out of the inner suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne from 1977 to 1983.

Pel Mel live

Surry Hills venue Side FX in action

Do That Dance – part 01 uncovered the Sydney scene and players. It inspiring 54 minutes highlighted a vital and exciting creative scene living, making and playing music post the Punk era. Inner Sydney at the time was a hub for a raft of new sounds with act the include The Severed Heads, Voit 465, Pel Mel, Tame O’Meares, Systematics to name a few.

The next installment is – Do That Dance – part 02 exploring the Melbourne scene and players. 2.30pm Sunday 25 July 2010, Radio National AM 631, in Melbourne or visit the ABC Radio National Hindsight website here for podcasts and details

Do That Dance
Australian Post Punk, Sydney and Melbourne 1977-1983.

visit the ABC Radio National Hindsight website here

Photography courtesy of the Hindsight gallery: Peter Nelson, Annette Jones, Janis Lesinskis, Anne Maree Rourke, Paul Doogood, Kate Buck and David Chesworth.

All credit to the production team at the ABC:
Presenter – Michelle Rayner, Producer – Sean O’Brien, Story Researcher and Producer – Sean O’Brien, Sound Engineer – Steven Tilley

The remarkable thing that often accompanies a film clip is not the music. It is late again and one is writing a letter for Dean, and Rage is playing in the background. A couple of clips are played that that have fantastic backdrops, not for their technical detail, it is where they are filmed. ( one has to mention that Alice Cooper is now on the waves, with his ballad about woman and bleeding, bathed in red, of course )

Saturday Night by Australian Pop Rock outfit Cold Chisel is one of the bands last big singles before they parted ways released in 1984. The song has that book end quality about it with its confident sentimental tones. The clip has that relaxed, the party is over feel, as Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes cruise through a Saturday night in Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, and Oxford Street, Darlinghurst.

Having once lived in the Kings Cross neighborhood for several years in the 1990s, recent visits to the area after long spells has reminded one that this area has seen dramatic changes. In the back ground of this film clip reveals a part of vibrant street that is all but gone. Darlinghurst Road once had a buzzing retail strip that shared the strip clubs, porn shop and bars, with video game arcades, newsagents, a variety of food outlets, clothing stores, souvenirs stores, film processors, pharmacies and a large variety store. What happened in ten years? As the rents went up, the area got maybe to dangerous for local shoppers, or maybe a bigger shopping mall open up down the road, so departed the little guys that juxtaposed the seedy side of the Cross.

It is also worth mentioning the Oxford Street footage, shot during the Autumn Mardi Gras parade in 1984. At a time when people stood on Oxford Street itself and watched the parade pass through the centre lanes of a four lane street, rather than today where hundreds of thousands people line the footpaths from any vantage point, at least thirty people deep, and the parade itself is covered by a national television network and sponsored by a national retail bank.

In ACDC’s long way to the top clip the little city of melbourne has truly grown up in 40 years, got a lot taller, darker and slicker – and one hasn’t commented about the haircuts yet.

Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003), born in Batley, Yorkshire, was an English singer-songwriter, in some circles he was known as the best dressed man in rock and roll. He was also known for his distinctive voice and the eclectic mix of musical styles on his albums, combining soul, jazz, rock, pop and blues. Palmer’s career started in 1964 and came to an abrupt end in 2003, he was a keen cigarette smoker.

To make the point we have contrasted – Andy Fraser’s – Every Kind of People from album Double Fun, with Gary Numan’s – I dream of Wires, on Numan produced album Clues.

As fore mentioned in clip two – I love The Smiths I think they are brilliant.

“The Headmaster Ritual” is the lead track off “Meat Is Murder”, the second studio album by the British alternative rock band The Smiths. The dual between Johnny Marr’s guitar and Andy Rourke’s bass on this song is a compelling rift, which resonates brilliantly from original to subsequent covers.