The past few weeks have seen a lot of public debate about Perth’s future. As part of the Perth International Arts Festival, a selection of artists, architects and planners were given billboard space across our city to present images and comments in The Architect’s Project. Around the same time, and to many people’s surprise, the State Government released a design concept for the Perth Waterfront – and this time, it should actually see the light of day.
The Waterfront design was presented on the front page of The West Australian, and the full proposal can be viewed at www.perthwaterfront.com.au. Through Landcorp, the state government commissioned design firm Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) to plan the project – the same firm responsible for Melbourne’s Docklands redevelopment. The design itself is radical and reorients the city to face the river. And while the preliminary artist’s impression sparked some negative comment (mainly due to the non-so-subtle swan island), it entices the community to re-imagine the central city.
The Architect’s Project
Tracing The Architect’s Project billboards through the city, there are installations in Northbridge on the corner of James and Lake Streets, along Wellington Street near the bus station, in front of St. George’s Cathedral, and on Adelaide Terrace in East Perth. The artists and architects give thought to some important issues in our city: from the lack of sustainable, low-cost apartments to a need for play and imagination in our architecture.
Two of the more challenging works examine this city’s seemingly insatiable desire for the new at the expense of the old. Simon Pendal’s work is a billboard erected in a parking lot on Wellington Street, showing a bulldozer leering ominously over the car park wall ready to destroy anything that is built. According to Pendal, the project investigates ideas ‘in a city hell-bent on renewing itself every thirty years.’
The work by Iredale Pedersen Hook is a circular billboard with the inside showing pictures of striking buildings that have been demolished, such as the old Freemason’s Hall, and the now-doomed Perry Lakes Stadium. The outside details project proposals that were never completed, such as the original city plan from the 1800s and one of the many unrealised waterfront developments.
Iredale explains his work on-site, stating that ‘we collectively desire a city that is different to the one we inhabit, a city that is more vibrant, exciting, outlandish, friendly, memorable, provocative, but we fail to realise that it already exists in the minds and memories of many citizens, living and deceased.’
Perth Waterfront: Lessons from Docklands
Travelling to the much-envied City of Melbourne, a variety of urban renewal experiments are visible from the past 20 years. These include the revival of the city’s run-down laneways, the hugely successful Federation Square, and the Eureka Tower (a confirmation of the city’s acceptance of high density living).
However, not all of that city’s spaces have been successful. In the late 1990s, Melbourne was one of many cities around the world that were tapping into their waterfronts as a focus for urban renewal. Bilbao in Spain is the prime example of this trend. With the development of the Guggenheim Museum, it was transformed from a city on the decline to an internationally recognised tourist attraction.
However, the ARM-designed Docklands has had mixed success. The precinct, while possessing some striking architecture, has failed to activate and stimulate the citizens of Melbourne as first intended. This has resulted in the City of Melbourne employing an urban planner to ‘fix up’ Docklands, and develop the zones between the many buildings, transforming the various sterile spaces into active places.
According to Kirsten Hay, a practicing architect, ARM ‘are brilliant image makers and architects, but are not urban planners’. She mentions Jan Gehl as someone who should be involved in the Perth Waterfront. A Danish architect and consultant, Gehl has visited Perth and is one of the world’s most respected urban design consultants. His methodology focuses first on people (Life), then Spaces, then Buildings.
Any project of the scale presented in the Perth Waterfront requires a large amount of community consultation. The ‘Life’ stage of this planning process is now, and as members of the Perth community, we must participate in the process. The designs printed in The West Australian are by no means final – they are images presented to the public with the intention of provoking comment. It is this comment that informs the design process, will ensure a successful reconnection of the city with the river, and avoid the sterile disconnection of place experienced at Docklands.
Adrian Iredale mentions the real dangers that are faced in such projects.
‘If large proportions of the property are sold off to private enterprise without any form of design guidelines and a design control mechanism then we may end up with something very different from what the vision is… If the ground level urban design controls aren’t put in place, then we could also end up with a significant loss of public space.’
Reflecting on the many proposals that have been submitted for Perth over the past century,there is finally a commitment from the State Government for the waterfront development to go ahead.
‘It’s very important to realise, especially for Perth people, that we have had a whole collection of great buildings proposed for this city, or actually built but unfortunately demolished.’
Perhaps Perth can now have the confidence to build (and retain) a world class, vibrant, and distinctive city waterfront.
Zac Whitely
Rayner and Associates
The Perth Waterfront development is currently open for comment by e-mailing feedback@perthwaterfront.com.au, or visiting the website at www.perthwaterfront.com.au. The Architect’s Project will be on display in the City and Northbridge until March 2.
