What about the left-over space?

(Clockwise from left: No activation at street edge, Public space or left-over space?, Docklands Blvd)

I've found myself talking to many of my students about Melbourne Docklands lately. Mainly about whether I think it has been a successful design or not. My usual response is "it depends on the user group".

It's an interesting way in which to physical develop a major tourist/entertainment/residential area. Buildings have been procured through competitive tendering resulting in a range of different towers. Whilst the Docklands area is split up into different precincts, it's safe to say there is quite a wide range of building style and land uses in the area. But what becomes of the left-over space? It's not just the obvious associated public open spaces and how they are designed/integrated into the urban realm. It is also literally the spaces between the buildings that become interesting. How much space do you need? How much space is too much, or too little? What is the ideal density for Docklands? Apparently, the proportional system used for Melbourne Docklands was picked up from those used in Vancouver in Canada. I'm not entirely sure what Vancouver has to do with Melbourne...

The two cities are completely different, different land uses, different cultures, different demographics, different climates. The result of this proportion system has led to built form outcomes that are alien to the city of Melbourne. Tower buildings do not relate to the public spaces below. The density level in terms of building footprint versus open space is out of whack with what a major city (such as Melbourne) should be. These proportions simply do not work for tourism and activation. Sure they do work in certain areas that have a strong localised population, i.e. New Quay. But for the zone between the CBD and Docklands Boulevard, where the majority of the commercial office buildings exist, the success of public open space is relatively diminished.

For the spaces between the rear of Etihad Stadium (formerly Telstra Dome) and the piers, originally designed as the major public open space, or break-out space, success relies on the finer grain design. As it stands, spaces are very expansive and under-utilised. There is room for large public open spaces in Melbourne, but given the relative success of Federation Square and Southbank, the question needs to be asked... Is there too much left-over space at Docklands??

There's certainly a LOT of work to do to bring the "space" up to speed with the buildings in Docklands. The location of some of the land uses are questionable, the underdone nature of the open space is an interesting point. I hope, for the sake of the success of this new public area that whoever is in charge of the design doesn't opt for the easy superficial treatment. If priority is not given to the public realm, the whole area will fail. If the marketing is accurate, and the City wants Docklands to be an extension to the CBD, then getting the public realm right should be an absolute imperative.

u

"Graffiti" as urban design?

(Left to right: Street art Gertrude Street, Hosier Lane, Rone's Jane Doe in Fitzroy)


I pose the question... Is graffiti (and I mean the good quality stuff predominantly) a form of art? The question has been asked before and discussed to death, I know. I pose a further question to this.. Can graffiti be a legitmate form of urban design?


Melbourne, Australia (where I live) sits at the centre of the street art universe. We seem to be one of the most active and world-reknown cities when it comes to the sub-culture of various forms of art. Now, graffiti has always been perceived as a problem in this city until about 10 years ago when a few graphic designers/artists began posting "artistic" graffiti. That is, not just tagging, but actual imagery. Usually containing political or social undertones, this new art form has become known to us as street art and has had similar explosive introductions in other cities around the world. The global sub-culture... either you love it or hate it. But I suppose what I really want to approach here is to what extent is this form of urban art contributing to urban design. That is, to the improvement of the public realm.

I was recently driving down Brunswick Street (to those who know Melbourne will know it is no doubt the centre of sub-culture in Melbourne) in Fitzroy, observing the sheer amount of "urban paint" as I like to call it. It was quite incredible. There were examples of works, both stencil and paste-up stencils that were plastered quite liberally across shopfronts and otherwise blank walls. Some of these works were quite large, often over 2 metres tall. One wonders how long it took to create them. But the amazing thing about it is that it is fully accepted and embraced by the majority of the community, yet outlawed by the municipal Council.

The very nature of the artform denotes that after a period of time, a build up of different artists' work occurs in any on spot due to artists (often quite imaginatively) painting over someone elses work. This can create several outcomes, either a mish-mash of colour and form or a rich composition that reflects a period in time. Often artists create "collabs" (as observed in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, where the Everfresh studio gang reign supreme) that actually bring life to under-utlised buildings or blank walls. For me, as an urban designer, I can see why politicians dislike this so-called graffiti. They fear it, it carries a stigma of nasty subculture youths vandalising our cities.

Maybe it's a generational thing, I don't know. I think it adds value, and I think it adds another layer of texture to an evolving (yes people... evolving!) city. The beauty of it is, these artists are passionate about the city in which they live. They are just as passionate, and involved as I am, as a professional working the field. So why not embrace it? And see where it takes us in terms of community building, and place-making. After all, Melbourne is rapidly being known for its street art with tourists flocking to experience and witness it. When I talk about places like Hosier Lane, Brunswick Street, Gertrude Street, Hardware Lane... Melbournites know them as places to view and experience street art.

There seems to be a growing gap between the city (and it's inhabitants) and the political mechanisms that govern it. Very little understanding of what the place really is, and really means to people. No wonder it's such an honorous, drawn out process when it comes to determining the "sense of place" within cities. Melbourne has one solution to the problem staring it right in the eye, and I for one hope, they embrace it fully so that it is not another lost artform. Instead of ignorantly maligning it and falsely passing it off as "vandalism".

u

Image refs:
www.daylife.com
www.wikipedia.org

Wello

Here's my latest creation. A quaint little building I discovered on a visit to Wellington NZ a few years back. It's now a cafe/restaurant/bar called the Concrete Bar. Located on Cable Car Lane in the business district (just off Lambton Quay), the narrow building acts as an edge to an interesting little laneway.

This is a 4-layer stencil depicting a detailed view of the facade of the building itself. Obviously neo-classical, I particularly enjoyed its obvious classical proportions and features. Whilst I'm not a huge fan of classical architecture per se, I totally respect it for the place and power it holds in history. I was quite impressed with the sheer amount of neo-classical the designer of this building managed to squeeze into a building that's less than 5 metres wide!

This is my first true multi-layer stencil attempt on canvas and I plan to do this in another colour soon, quite possibly something a little paler... hmmm.. maybe a burnt orange.

Time taken to cut stencil:
10 hours (approx.)

Mezquita de Cordoba

I always wanted to make a stencil of the Cordoba mezquita (mosque), but I could never find the right image. It can be difficult finding a good image to adjust for stencil making at times. So I finally found one about 4 months ago and decided to do a simple single layer job. Nothing too fancy... I had toyed with the idea of a multi-layer greyscale, but the detail would have killed me!

The critical aspect of the composition is obviously getting the tones right, particularly in the arches. In this case, I went for a simple Stamp filter on Photoshop and cleaned up the lines a little after. Not a bad effort, but looks better on brown card.

Time taken to cut stencil:
8 hours (approx.)

God is in the details

Bringing together two of my passions, geometry and architecture. This is my first multi-level stencil composition. Inspired by the architecture and geometry of Moorish Spain. This was the first stencil I completed on canvas and sits proudly on the wall at Mum's place!

I have also stenciled this composition onto canvas board, but found it bled too much. There's a lot to be said for real canvas!

The image depicts the spires of Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I was interested in the juxtaposition of the chaotic geometry of Gaudi's masterpiece and the controlled rich geometry of the Alhambran pattern background. The interplay of these two distinct elements gives a nod to the richness of the culture and history of geometry as pattern.

The background pattern stencil was cut as a tileable image, in the spirit of the geometry of the piece. Makes it easier to cut, cleaner lines... but takes longer to paint, due to repitition.

Time taken to cut stencil:
Background - 2 hours
Image - 6 hours

In the beginning...

So I've dropped out of my original blogsite, mainly because it really sucked and is extremely unstable. So let's start with some introductions... My name is urban.i.stika and I am a recovering urbanite... Haha, just kidding.

My main line of work lies in academia, I am a university lecturer in Architecture. But I guess I am here because I need an outlet. That is, I suppose why 99% of all bloggers are here. You see, my main love is the 'city', any city really... just as long as it's urban and has a centre. But more importantly I love to depict the city in paintings. My choice of style is stencil art, inspired by an old friend who is a well-known (and excellent) street artist. While I don't post in the city, I do highly admire and respect these so-called 'vandals' who decorate our cities in such an imaginative and creative way. In my view, if it adds to the rich texture of complexity and demonstrates how the city evolves, then it's really an art form and should be embraced.

So back to me, I don't get to practice my art very often as I have a schedule from hell trying to juggle work. But when I do get to work on it, I do it with care and am on that ultimate pursuit for the perfect image. One day I'll get there (hopefully), or at least end up with a handy collection of half-decent canvasses.

I hope this blog will serve me well and I will try to do it justice, i.e. get off my arse and write in it every so often. And for those of you out there in the great ether of blog-land, I hope you enjoy the craziness. I will be back later to post some images of work thus far.

u