Sydney Road
FROM MACHINE TO ORGANISM Albert Chong | 541366 | ABPL90316 | The Shaping of Urban Design
GENERAL CONCEPTS
CLASSICS The morphological analysis will JACOBS Jane Jacbos pushes for ‘four generators focus on a series of mapping of diversity’ that ‘create effective techniques showing the urban economic pools of use’ (Dreier, 2006). development of the selected 1. Permeability area from 1906, 1945 and 2015. 2. Grain 3. Density Analysis methodology will draw 4. Functional Mix heavily on Jane Jacobs and My analysis will broadly cover these Kevin Lynch as “the classics”. points but most of the focus will be on
changes in functional mix over time as it clearly shows not only developments in the urban form, but what the building is used for.
LYNCH Kevin Lynch’s The Image of the City (1960) advocates five principles for mapping a city: 1. Paths 2. Edges 3. Districts 4. Nodes 5. Landmarks Whilst these elements may be considered simplistic in its representation of a city, but when complemented or contrasted with different urban theories, Lynch’s mapping elements can prove resourceful in clarifying urban developments through time and how the urban form and function can change.
ALEXANDER Urban development is a multidisciplinary field and urban A machine like city can be likened to a tree like structure, not in its physical theories are not just limited to nature, but rather drawing on the tree its application in urban design. as concept of limited input and output. A tree is accessible mentally and easy It can be argued that they to visualise. This concept of simplicity are frameworks or lenses in will be the foundation for a city as a machine. which the city is viewed and is dependent on their application. Based on this notion, further BATTY exploration of Jacob’s By contrast, when the city develops into functional mix through an urban an organism, its networking becomes complex and opens up additional transformation from machine to more opportunities. The notion of networking organism. can also be linked to technological advancements as a driver for change. In addition, Batty (2011) also addresses globalisation leading to global cities which has consequences of urban development.
SITE CONTEXT
FIGURE 1
N
TINNING ST
2015
The selected site is around Anstey Station, Sydney Road, Albion Street and Hope Street. ANSTEY STATION
SYDNEY RD
FLORENCE ST
FREDERICK ST
The area is located north of Brunswick Station, Brunswick’s primary transport and knowledge based cluster. Anstey Station precinct is primarily comprised of commercial and industrial clusters.
ALBION ST
COBURG
HOPE ST
CBD
N
SYDNEY ROAD TIMELINE
1800s
FIGURE 2
In 1839, Robert Hoddle marked out the area that Brunswick today. Brunswick started to flourish in the 1850s with the Victorian gold rush being a major driver of the area. Various commercial businesses and hotels were built along Sydney Road. However during this time initial development the road was actually named Pentridge Road. It formed a connection with Pentridge Prison and Pentridge Village (now Coburg area). The road was renamed Sydney Road in 1859.
1900s
FIGURE 3
2000s
FIGURE 4
The 1900s saw an increase in demand for manufacturing and production. As such the areas around Sydney Road and train stations were developed into factories and warehouses in response to the growing employment trend. Grain storage and textile production are just two of the many different new building and land uses introduced during the 1900s.
Today, the Sydney Road precinct has been identified as a major activity centre in the City of Moreland. It is the key anchor in many strategies for urban intensification outlined in ‘Plan Melbourne’. It is one of the major connectors between Melbourne’s northern subregion and the CBD. Sydney Road has been transformed into a commercial spine through Brunswick.
Additionally, technological development of the time lead to the new transportation methods. A growing population and rapid urban development saw the expansion of the train line as well as construction of additional stations to meet rising demands of the area.
It has also been informally dubbed the area where those whose are looking to be married would head to as there is an abundance of wedding related businesses from wedding dress makers to invitation crafters.
1920s: large scale textile works 1924: construction of North Brunswick Station (Anstey) 1936: first electric tram along Sydney Road
FIGURE 5
MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
FOOTPRINT 1906
1945
Building footprint analysis initially shows large open space with detached dwellings on each plot of land. Significant footprints are primarily factories and grain storage warehouses.
1945 shows urban intensification and the consolidation of commercial shops and detached residential along north south corridors. A major development of this period was the Chinese garden along Tinning Street located in the north west of the site.
2015
Open space Building footprint
N
Analysis of the present show footprint diversity ranging from traditional detached dwellings, some which were built from the early 1900s, to high density developments which occupy larger plots of land. Shop footprints along Sydney Road have not drastically changed since they were constructed during initial consolidation. It should be noted that the Chinese garden has been redeveloped into warehouses for logistic uses.
GRAIN 1906
1945
2015
N
OLD QUARRY
As the area around Anstey Station develops, one may observe pedestrian laneways and service laneways being included with each time period in incremental stages.
Most noticeable is the opening up of the old quarry area along Sydney Road. As production reaches its peak and is on the decline, the site becomes redeveloped and revitalised with different functions to be explored later. However the basic grain maps show the site being opened up with a new road for residential and commercial redevelopment.
Jacobs highlights that permeability and shorter block sizes allow for greater connectivity. Over time we see this is being reflected through laneway developments. As a result, pedestrian permeability has been greatly improved since 1906.
STREET NETWORK 1906
1945
Similar to grain size analysis of the street network confirms Jacob’s element of permeability being developed throughout the site.
Service laneways have become critical to servicing an intensified commercial corridor.
2015
N
Advancements in technology allows for an expanded public transport network. Trains and trams have become part of the north south transport network with buses running east west being introduced in the early 2000s.
PEDESTRIAN NETWORK 2015
Train Corridor Perspective
FIGURE 6
Plaza
Pathway
N
As block sizes become smaller and pedestrian plazas and laneways open up, pedestrian accessibility throughout the site increases overall.
FIGURE 7
However while overall permeability throughout the site appears to be good, the quality of these spaces becomes the next issue raised. There are myriad of edges adjacent to these pathways, ranging from the usual residential development pathways, to walkways winding between the train line and warehouses.
Tram Corridor Perspective
FUNCTIONAL MIX 1906
1945
2015
N
BRUNSWICK WORKS
Functional mix of the site is explored through Kim Dovey’s functional mix triangle (as seen below). VISIT
WORK
view urban development through each time period. Generally speaking, each category is defined as such: work: manufacturing and heavy services work + visit: office spaces, receptions visit: places of temporary visit, primarily shops visit + live: mostly mixed use development, hotels live: places of residence
LIVE
Looking at the function of buildings through a mix of work, visit and live provides a simplistic but holistic
When looking through the progression of each selected time-frame, we can observe an initial development of basic functions in 1906 and further intensification
in 1945. There is a consolidation of the commercial corridor and the surrounding areas become developed into detached dwellings. It should be noted the change in Brunswick Works from industrial to logistics to residential development. Present day development shows the beginning of finer development of buildings with diverse functions. Urban intensification is reflected through mixed used development consisting of transparent ground floor retail with over four storey residential dwellings above such as the Commons (will be explored later on).
TRANSFORMATION
FROM MACHINE TO ORGANISM DECLINING MANUFACTURING Since the 1990s, Melbourne has seen a shift in employment economies. During this post-fordism period, manufacturing has been on the decline whilst simultaneously there has been a growing demand for the services economy (see graph below). As Batty (2011) suggests, globalisation is a growing international trend. As society enters the digital era, technological advancements allows for greater ease of communication and increased connectivity. This in turn has a drastic effect on cities that once relied on manufacturing and production as it
suddenly becomes economically viable to shift manufacturing to areas of the world with easy access to a cheap labour force and large land. A clear case of this phenomenon is the closing down of Ford’s production plant near Geelong. This economic development trend coupled with urban development can see a city transform a city as a machine into an organic city. In its machine state, cities are essentially can be replicated as a tree-like structure. While Alexander (1966) compares the tree like city to a ‘bowl full of razor blades on edge, ready to cut up whatever is entrusted to it’. However whilst Alexander is criticising cities for being
The shift to the services economy......
too hierarchical, in the context of Sydney Road’s morphological analysis, tree structures will be complemented by the ‘machine city’ where one input leads to a responding single output as well as the limited opportunities associated with viewing the city as a machine. A similar trend can be clearly seen when analysing functional mix maps from the three different time periods. Gradual urban developments has transformed Sydney Road from a production primary district to a services economy powerhouse. Today, Sydney Road can be seen as an organic district. A semi-lattice network,
4
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 9
not strictly in the physical sense, but rather in the growing number of functions and employment options of the precinct. This increase in demand for knowledge based and creative services is reflected in the constellation attractors map where, in the simplest terms, building functions are no longer primarily limited to just visit, live and work categories. But rather, there has been an increase in the blending of simplistic building functions creating a rich mix of activities. For example, the Commons is a new development on a previously industrial site which now features high density residential development with easily accessible ground floor retail.
LYNCH MAPPING 1906 Lynchian mapping is comparison between 1906 and 2015. Compared side by side it can be observed that north south corridors have not changed, but rather modes along them have been developed over time. Landmarks have also changed with time as buildings are either demolished or reused for different functions. Districts have also reflected employment sector shifts, from production to and intensification and expansion of commercial and services. Note: 2015 Lynch map shows a correlation between districts and attractors.
Cycle path
Arterial roads
Train line
Anstey Station
Tram route 19
Tramstops
Bus route 503
Bus stops
Manufacturing district Landmark building Commercial district Wedding district
N
CONSTELLATIONS OF ATTRACTORS
2015
Inspired by Elek Pafka’s constellation map in showing various attractors as a means of representing location and value of certain attractors within the selected site, a constellation of attractors map for Sydney Road complements the previous Lynch inspired map and quite simply summarises the current urban fabric. Transforming from a machine city to a form more organic, Sydney Road has been molded by the demands of various economic trends. Currently it shows the growing trend of globalisation through a dense commercial corridor which is beginning to show new stages of transformation. Today it is an area that is intense in services employment.
ATTRACTORS VISIT
WORK
LIVE
N
REFERENCES
Base maps 1906 - Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works. 1906. Plan no. 104 - Brunswick, viewed 20 October 2015, <https://digitised-collections.unimelb. edu.au/handle/11343/54958>.
local-and-family-history/remembering-WWI/remembering-world-war-I-glenroy/>.
Figure 4 - Walmsley, S. 2012. Sydney Road, looking south from the Hope Street intersection, published 27 September 2012, <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ law-order/lord-mayor-robert-doyle-says-the-city-should1945 - University of Melbourne. 1945. Melbourne 1945, have-more-cctv-cameras-in-wake-of-jill-meagher-case/ viewed 20 October 2015, <http://www.lib.unimelb. story-fnat7jnn-1226482363278>. edu.au/collections/maps/historical/1945melb/848b2.html>. Figure 5 - Coburg Historical Society. c1902. Parish of 2015 - Nearmap, viewed 20 October 2015, <http://au.nearmap.com/>. Morphological analysis map information correlate with base map years. Data is based on map information.
Images Cover - Currie, M. ‘Subtraction’, viewed 2 November 2015, <http://michaelcurrie.com/>. Figure 1 - Google Maps. 2015. Sydney Road, viewed 1 November 2015, <https://www.google.com.au/maps/ place/Sydney+Rd,+Brunswick+VIC/@-37.7667765,144 .9599879,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x6ad65b2b53ab945d:0xd0309d8d5bbb6627>. Figure 2 - Public Record Office Victoria. 1866. Sydney Road (Cr Albert Street), uploaded 15 August 2013, <https://www.flickr.com/photos/public-record-office-victoria/9551300428>. Figure 3 - Moreland City Libraries (Brunswick). c1980. Sydney Road, viewed 2 November 2015, <http:// www.moreland.vic.gov.au/libraries/library-services/
Text Alexander, C. 1966. The City Is Not a Tree, Design Magazine, London: Council of Industrial Design, no. 206. Batty, M. 2011. Building a Science of Cities, UCL Working Paper 170, Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, pp 14. Dreier, P. 2006. ‘Jane Jacobs Radial Legacy’, National Housing Institute, Issue no. 146.
Jika Jika, viewed 30 October 2015, <http://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/globalassets/areas/strategic-planning/ moreland-thematic-history.pdf>.
Jacobs, J. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Random House USA Inc, New York.
Figure 6 - Chong, A. 2015. Footpath between train line and built form, taken 28 September 2015.
Lynch, K. 1960. The Image of the City, MIT Press Ltd, Cambridge.
Figure 7 - Walmsley, S. 2012. Sydney Road, looking south from the Hope Street intersection, published 27 September 2012, <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ law-order/lord-mayor-robert-doyle-says-the-city-shouldhave-more-cctv-cameras-in-wake-of-jill-meagher-case/ story-fnat7jnn-1226482363278>. Figure 8 - Rawnsley, T. 2015. ‘Housing and Urban Productivity’, SGS Economics and Planning, University of Melbourne. Figure 9 - Small Giants. 2013. A new eco-village is born, published 21 December 2013, <http://www.smallgiants. com.au/a-new-eco-village-is-born-the-commons-is-complete/>.