Patterns Of Footscray

DESIGN THESIS BOOK #2

Patterns of

Edited by JAMES CONNOR TAHJ ROSMARIN

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Published by Regular Spread Publishers © University of Melbourne Melbourne School of Design Copyright © 2016 2

Patterns of

Edited and written by Tahj Rosmarin & James Connor

Regular Spread Publishers Š 2016

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Table of Contents

Foreward...............................................................8-9 Introduction...............................................................12-19

Part One: Part 1A: The Australian City Origins of the Australian City: Inheriting a Framework...............................................................24-29 Adelaide, Canberra...............................................................30-33

Part 1B: Melbourne Origins of Melbourne: Understanding the Planned City.....................................36-37 Multiculturalism.......................................................38-45 The Threat of Development: Gentrification and Cultural Displacement.......................................................46-53 Case Study: Collingwood...............................................................54-61 Case Study: Carlton...............................................................62-71 The Emergence of Tactical Urbanism...............................................................72-75 4

Part Two: Part 2A: The Footscray Context Contextual Overview: Origins and History ...............................................................80-91 Multi-culturalism: A Unique Urban Character ...............................................................92-97 Footscray Now: A Suburb in Transition ...............................................................98-105 The Future of Footscray: Current and Planned Developments ...............................................................106-119

Part 2B: Patterns of Footscray Suburb Patterns...............................................................122-39 District Patterns...............................................................140-153 Market Patterns...............................................................154-167 Individual Patterns...............................................................168-187

Part 2C: Drawings of Footscray Collection of Drawings...............................................................188-255

Part 2D: Thesis Statements (Footscray) Thesis Statement: Tahj Rosmarin...............................................................258-261 Thesis Statement: James Connor...............................................................262-265

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Contributors Descriptions James Connor Architecture

B.Arch, M.Arch James Connor is a graduate of the Bachelor of Architectural Design from the University of Queensland and a current student of the Master of Architecture at the University of Melbourne. Since graduating in 2012, James has gained experience working on a variety of residential and urban projects in both Australia and the United Kingdom. James wants to play a positive role in making sure that urban resilience, citizen participation and inclusive development are key priorities in the cities of the future. James is passionate about in involving community in the delivery of architectural and urban projects.

Tahj Rosmarin Architecture

B.Arch, M.Arch Tahj Rosmarin is a graduate of the Bachelor of Architectural Design from the University of Queensland and a current student of the Master of Architecture at the University of Melbourne. He has recently completed an exchange semester at TU Delft in the Netherlands.

Since graduating in 2012, Tahj has gained experience working on a varied collection of design proposals; ranging from small- scale residential projects, to large scale urban design work. Through these experiences Tahj has gained skills and abilities ranging from presentation to working drawings. Through projects such as this, Tahj has become keenly involved in the idea of a bottom up and participatory based architecture.

He has recently been shortlisted in a nationwide Dutch competition (A Home Away from Home, http://www. nederlandwordtanders.nl/openoproep/) run by the Chief Government Architect, which aims at providing temporary housing for incoming Syrian refuges into Holland.

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Foreward Thesis Introduction

The thesis aims at investigating the interstices and overlaps between formal and informal urbanism.

Historically, research into this field has typically been concerned with the ‘upgrading’ or ‘improving’ of the informal. This thesis provides a counterpoint outlook to this paradigm- rather, it’s aim will be to investigate the vast architectural potential that the informal has in assisting and contributing to existing formal frameworks.

Through vast personal research into the topic of urban informality, it has become clear that many aspects of informality provide viable and innovative solutions in dealing with complex architectural problems.

The thesis will raise questions such as; what can the formal city learn from the informal? Are there aspects of informality which provide superior alternatives to the way we create architecture and cities? How can these aspects of informality be introduced and embedded into an existing Australian architectural and urban context?

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This publication, ‘Patterns of Footscray’ marks the second research component of the thesis.

The book begins by decoding the context of the Australian city as an urban transplant of European origin. The city of Melbourne is then contextualised, highlighting the undeniable influence immigration has had upon defining the city’s unique urban character. The impending threat of gentrification upon multi-culturalism is then explained through using the suburbs of Collingwood and Carlton- both areas of Melbourne which have, and are in the process of immense cultural change.

The second half of the book focuses upon the suburb of Footscray in an attempt to decode its unique pattern language. A brief historical and cultural overview are presented before an in-depth analysis into the existing conditions of the suburb are mapped and explained.

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Introduction The Approach

“Observation and analysis are types of invention.

They make things apparent which perhaps were invisible. By noticing, drawing and naming something we bring it into being.”

— Nigel Bertram, ‘Furniture, Structure and Infrastructure’, 2013

a. Observational Analysis Recognising the Everyday Melbourne architect Nigel Bertram highlights in his book ‘Furniture, Structure and Infrastructure’, the importance of observation in recognising the existence of something.

Our thesis is grounded in this method of analysis- this publication ‘Patterns of Footscray’ is made up of a collection of architectural and social research, which aims to highlight the practices of the ‘everyday’, through using the tool of observation. We believe that only after intensely interrogating and understanding the complex relations of an existing network, can an architect appropriately intervene and propose something. This method of architectural observation inherently means that any architectural proposal can only become a ‘renovation’ of a preexisting and continuing condition of existence.

This approach to architecture highlights the ingrained interconnectivity of our built environments- whereby scales (and consequently professional disciplines) overlap and merge. The work of architects Atelier Bow-Wow, (primarily ‘Made in Tokyo’ and ‘Pet Architecture’) demonstrate this approach to analysis- whereby humanscale fragments of the city are decoded and explained in relation to their urban context.

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Atelier Bow-Wow’s research aims at explaining the processes of the ‘everyday’ as a method of understanding how our cities operate.

Source: Pet Architecture, Atelier Bow-Wow

An observational method of analysis has been used to document and describe the components which form together to define Footscray.

Source: Tahj Rosmarin, 2016

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b. Identifying Patterns of Behaviour Highlighting Inter-Connectivity

“At the core […] is the idea that people should design for themselves their own houses, streets and communities. This idea […] comes simply from the observation that most of the wonderful places of the world were not made by architects but by the people” — Christopher Alexander et al., ‘A Pattern Language’ Christopher Alexander’s seminal publication ‘A Pattern Language’ demonstrated the complete inter-connectivity between what appear to be individual components which make up our world. In essence, our built environments are made up of patterns, with each pattern, relative to its scale, informing the boundaries of the pattern beyond it.

Through applying this method of analysis to the suburb of Footscray, our research has begun to identify the complex inter-relationships which contribute to what makes Footscray such a unique suburb.

Rather than view Footscray as a singular condition, the research aims at positioning the suburb as an assemblage of parts. Our analysis attempts to distill and explain some of the complex inter-relationships between these parts.

c. A Reaction to Top-Down Planning Re-thinking the Process The thesis is framed as a response to the top-down planning policies which are guiding the development of many Australian cities. Through presenting the inherent value of community and the right of the individual, this research proposes an alternative value system for dealing with urban renewal. The thesis uses the suburb of Footscray as a case study for applying this theory. Through an analysis of the suburb’s informal environment (with existing social networks and spatial conditions intensively documented), the thesis will present an alternative case for the suburb. By applying these ‘unorthodox’ methods of documentation, the research will aim to give significance to the true elements of Footscray’s character which are currently being undermined.

Can the lessons we have learnt from ‘informality’ help define a new future for Footscray?- whereby the communities who have directly contributed to the suburb’s vitality, are empowered and given the tools to continue to contribute in their future.

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Alexander’s diagrams demonstrate his approach to observation: whereby patterns of different scales are explained in relation to their operations and behaviours.

Source: A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander et al

Footscray has been mapped using the notion of a ‘pattern language’. Different scales of patterns have been decoded as a method of explaining the interconnectivity of the suburb.

Source: Tahj Rosmarin and James Connor, 2016

The research aims to highlight the importance which existing communities have had upon building the urban character of Footscray.

Source: Tahj Rosmarin and James Connor, 2016

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d. The Flaws of Formalism Highlighting the Contrast Recent approaches to architecture and urbanism highlight a strong sense of disconnect between an approach which recognises the right of the individual, and an approach which is enforced from the top downwards. Formalist planning and architecture have failed to recognise the pre-existence of the many intricacies and complexities which make up our world.

Colonial Map of Australia

DIVISION OF STATES AND TERRITORIES

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These two maps graphically epitomise the most distinct aws of formalist planning principles. The colonial map of Australia, a version of a country which has become the most distinguishable and recognisable, sits in stark contrast to the complex pre-existing sub-division of ancient Aboriginal language groups.

Indigenous Map of Australia DIVISION OF LANGUAGE GROUPS

Colonial Map of Australia

DIVISION OF STATES AND TERRITORIES

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Part One:

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1A: The Australian #1 ORIGINS OF THE AUSTRALIAN CITY INHERITING A FRAMEWORK #2 CITIES CANBERRA: CITY BEAUTIFUL ADELAIDE: THE GARDEN CITY

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Origins of the Australian City Inheriting a Framework The Australian city inherited a collection of pre-determined colonial architectures which were injected into a foreign context and forced to operate.

The modern Australian city is a direct result of the colonial planning practices of the imperial British empire. The earliest examples of a formal approach to town planning in Australia occured during this colonial period- a vision solely dictated by a British outlook of what a city should be.

Similar to most colonial cities, executive planning decisions were made by authorities from the governing country.

Australian cities were designed in this manner- with Governors or land surveyors making the critical decisions on the location and construction of roads, rail transport, water supply and other basic infrastructure to support early settlements. It is evident that the manifestation of the city was based predominantly on functional and practical needs of colonial administration.

During the colonial era, Australia was viewed to be the ‘New Brittania’ in which primarily British practices shaped the social, political, legal and administrative institutions of the land. British colonization did not acknowledge or recognize the original inhabitants nor attempt to create a new culturally or climatically appropriate urban situation. It was intended that Australia was to be a transplant of British culture and identity.

Many of the cites used the gridiron plan as a method of organising the city. The methods in which Australian cities were planned very much neglected the pre-existing conditions of the land. A formalist mode of planning imposed a rigid structure- failing to realize and build upon any pre-existing and underlying social structures which were apparent.

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Australia’s major urban areas are reflective of the values and tastes of the ‘settler’ societies founded in the English-speaking New Worlds of North America and Australasia in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

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Melbourne Bourke Street, Melbourne, 1880

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Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

London Oxford Street, London, 1895

Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016 27

Strath Knits MANUFACTORERS OF FASHION KNITWEAR

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The Australian city inherited a collection of pre-determined colonial architectures which were injected into a foreign context and forced to operate.

Typical building typologies found throughout Victorian Melbourne. The origins of these buildings can be directly traced to the United Kingdom.

Source: Tahj Rosmarin and James Connor, 2015 28

Strath Knits MANUFACTORERS OF FASHION KNITWEAR

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Canberra,

Preliminary plan for the construction of Canberra Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation’s capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city outside of any state. Following an international contest for the city’s design, a plan

by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The Griffins’ plan featured geometric motifs such as circles, hexagons and triangles, and was centred on axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks in the Australian Capital Territory.

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Adelaide,

Adelaide as it appeared in Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

Adelaide, South Australia The city of Adelaide was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for a freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide’s founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens, in the area originally inhabited by the Kaurna people. Light’s design set out Adelaide in a grid layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by parklands.

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1B: The Melbourne #1 ORIGINS OF MELBOURNE UNDERSTANDING THE PLANNED CITY #2 MULTI-CULTURALISM THE INFLUENCE OF IMMIGRATION #3 THE THREAT OF DEVELOPMENT GENTRIFICATION AND CULTURAL DISPLACEMENT #4 CASE STUDIES COLLINGWOOD AND CARLTON #5 EMERGENCE OF TACTICAL URBANISM A RESPONSE TO DEVELOPMENT 35

Origins of Melbourne Understanding the Planned City “Like all Australian cities, Melbourne is a laboratory of modern planning ideas, successful, stillborn and disastrous. ...its fragments testify to a shifting ideology of planning visions from the city beautiful at the end of the 9th century, through mid-century garden metropolis and modernist blueprints to the entrepreneurial city at the beginning of the st century.”

- Matthew Churchward, e-Melbourne Melbourne is a city which is constantly in the process of transformation and flux. From its origin as an urban export of the British Empire, the city has morphed to accomodate an ever-changing population. The street history of Melbourne began with the imprint of a gridiron plan developed under the British. The orthogonal ‘Hoddle Grid’, named after its designer, was an urban design tool which was used to easily structure the process of rapid urbanisation- allowing for the subsequent processes of selling and servicing allotments.

“I staked the main streets ninety-nine feet wide, and after having done so, I was ordered by the Governor to make them sixty-six feet wide; but upon my urging the Governor, and convincing him that wide streets were advantageous on the score of health, and convenience to the future city of Victoria, he consented to let me have my will. I therefore gave up my objection to the narrow lanes thirty-three feet wide.”

- Robert Hoddle, Designer of the Hoddle Grid

This model of city planning was directly inherited from the practices of the British. Despite its apparent convenience for commercial purposes, the grid plan represents a rationalist, reductionist solution to a multifaceted issue that is city planning.

The Hoddle grid is a symbol of the settlers’ grand ambitions for the city of Melbourne, and its manifestation reveals an inherently topdown approach to city planning.

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The Hoddle Grid of Melbourne’s CBD Source: State Library Victoria, 2016

An early depiction of Melbourne demonstrating the vision for the future of the city.

Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

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Multi-Culturalism The Influence of Immigration In the last 40 years, migration has played a vital role in the development of the social and cultural fabric of Australia. After World War Two the Australian government committed to a forceful and sustained immigration program.

The purpose of this program was to meet labour shortages, protect Australia from external threat and create prosperity. As a result, from 1945 to 1975 Australia’s population almost doubled from 7½ million to 13 million. About 3 million migrants and refugees arrived.

Multiculturalism as official policy, introduced in Australia in the 1970s, recognised that previous demands for immigrants to assimilate were both unrealistic and a failure (Pardy, 2009). Fortunately, Australians have witnessed the gradual abolition of the ‘White Australia Policy’ along with the rapid expansion of immigration policies to Asian, Middle Eastern, South American and African nations. Immigrant inclusion in Australia had moved from White Australia, assimilation, integration through to multiculturalism which presented itself as a policy framework that would provide services and planning for immigrant inclusion but importantly would value the development of a multicultural society as something that ‘will benefit all Australians’ (Galbally, 1978). This distinguished Australian multiculturalism from those in Europe and elsewhere that always framed multiculturalism as a program directed only towards immigrants. It was before the end of the 20th Century that these progressive shifts in immigration policy had resulted in the development of Australia as a successful multicultural society.

Multi-culturalism is one of Melbourne’s most defining characteristics. Almost a quarter of Victoria’s population was born overseas, and the city is home to residents from 8 countries, who speak over languages and dialects and follow 6 religious faiths. Melbourne has the second largest Asian population in Australia, which includes the largest Indian and Sri Lankan communities in the country (ABS, ).

Since European settlement, over two million immigrants have settled permanently in Victoria, the majority moving to the city of Melbourne. These so-called ‘waves’ of immigration have made up - and continue to make up the complex multicultural fabric of Melbourne.

1. Maree Pardy, “Multicultural Incarnations: Race, Class and Urban Renewal” (paper presented at The Future of Sociology: Proceedings of the 2009 Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association, Canberra, ACT, 2009).

2. Galbally, F. (1978). Final report. [Canberra]: The Dept.

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Non-Western born populations of Melbourne.

Source: David Beynon PHD ‘Hybrid Representations’, University of Melbourne, 2006

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Urban Fabric of Melbourne NOT TO SCALE

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2011

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Underneath the perceived boundaries and divisions of Melbourne’s suburbs, exists a uid and constantly evolving network of multicultural communitiescommunities which appear to be invisible when viewed from a top-down planning perspective.

English Italian Vietnamese Indian Chinese Greek

Distribution of Immigrants, Melbourne NOT TO SCALE

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2011

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Chinese Girls School, Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, 86 Source: Chinese-Australian Historical Images in Australia, 2016

From 1853 Chinese people first began arriving to Melbourne in significant numbers on their way to Victoria’s gold rushes. As well as providing formal instruction to girls, institutions like this school in Little Bourke Street served as community centres for local mothers and families. This photo shows students in traditional dress.

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Vietnamese Shops, Richmond, Melbourne, Source: Warren Kirk Flickr, 2016

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Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne which has beena major host to multi-culturalism- namely the Little Saigon precinct which is made up many Vietnamese restaurants. The suburb has been the subject of gentrification since the early 1990s and now contains an eclectic mix of expensively converted warehouse residences, public housing high-rise flats and terrace houses from the Victorian-era..

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The Threat of Development Gentrification and Cultural Displacement “The word ‘gentrification’ is an expression of social inequality that attempts to describe the relationship between profit and exploitation with regards to land.”

- Dr. Kate Shaw, University of Melbourne Gentrification is a modern phenomenon whereby higher income groups move into the neighbourhoods, increasing property values and displacing original occupants. As suburbs gentrify, lower income and marginalised groups face inevitable expulsion to the urban peripheries.

Melbourne is a city which has undergone, and is in the process of rapid gentrification. Following global property trends seen in cities such as London and Sydney, suburbs which were originally workingclass suburbs have become some of the most affluent in the city. For instance, it’s hard to imagine suburbs such as South Yarra and East Melbourne as being highly disadvantaged, but the data suggests that was the case in the 1980’s.

Suburbs such as Collingwood and Carlton, demonstrate clear failures with this procedure of urban renewal. Formerly host to a wide range of lower socio-economic and multi-cultural communities, these suburbs now contain some of the most exclusive properties in the city.

The major impact that gentrification has had upon Melbourne is it’s consequential displacement of existing community networks.

Typically when a suburb becomes gentrified, the value of community is replaced with the market economy’s relentless desire for maximising capital.

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Gentrification of Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Source: Rodger Cummins/Whose Urban Renaissance? by Porter, L and Shaw, K (2009)

A poster declaring redevelopment plans on Gertrude street in Melbourne’s Fitzroy is plastered on a wall.

Gertrude Street has now become one of the most lucrative shopping destinations in the city- a case which highlights the impact of gentrification upon a city’s urban character.

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1986

Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage, 1986 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Socio-Economic Indexes For Areas (SEIFA)

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2011

Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage,

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Socio-Economic Indexes For Areas (SEIFA)

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Advertisement for New Development, Docklands, Melbourne, 6 Source: James Connor, 2016

The development of sections of Melbourne, such as the Docklands precinct, have highlighted the clear failure of capitalist-led development to bring about positive social environments. In a desolate urban landscape, this development poster falsely advertises promises of a ‘A Vibrant Community’.

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Collingwood A Case Study

Postcode Population size in 2011 People Born in Australia (%) Born Overseas - Top 5 (%) . Born elsewhere . Vietnam . United Kingdom . New Zealand . China excl SARs and Taiwan

, ( ( ( ( (

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Collingwood has undergone rapid social and urban transformation in the past decade. For over a hundred and fifty years, the inner suburbs of Melbourne have been the first port of call for new immigrants. During the 1960’s, Greek and Italian migrants began congregating in the inner areas around Fitzroy, Richmond, Brunswick and Collingwood. This had profound effects on the urban landscape of Collingwood and Fitzroy, with delicatessens, coffee bars and restaurants emerging along the major commercial streets. The architecture also began to change, pastel-coloured houses brightened the streets, and Italian architectural features rejuvenated the neglected Victorian terraces.

Vietnamese refugees settled later in Richmond and Collingwood in the 1970s and 1980s- manifesting in the increase of Vietnamese bakeries, Pho restaurants and convenience stores. Most recently, Collingwood has become home to thousands of people from the Horn of Africa, forced to flee because of famine, war and persecution. Collingwood’s social housing towers are home to a large number of African immigrants.

In the past decade Collingwood has continued to attract a younger demographic and those seeking lower priced accommodation within the inner city suburbs. The emergence of students and young creatives has slowly manifested a ‘bohemian’ culture with a mix of cafes, galleries and bars.

Most recently the suburb has undergone significant urban and social change due to its rapid population increase and increased construction of housing stock in the area. This is evident in the development of large luxury apartment projects, which inevitably contribute to yet another socioeconomic shift.

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Planned developments for Collingwood fail to recognise the fine grain nature of the suburb.

Source: Urban Melbourne, 2016

Only remnants of past histories remain along the length of Smith Street. Small businesses such as these appear to be vanishing as a result of the incoming tide of gentrification.

Source: Tahj Rosmarin, 2016 55

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1 Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

Asian Grocery on Smith Street, Collingwood, 1983 Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

During the 1980’s-1990’s, Smith Street contained a high amount of Vietnamese and other Asian grocery outlets.

These small businesses often provided cheaper alternatives for locals of all ethnicities- servicing the nearby neighbourhoods of Fitzroy and Richmond.

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Mixed Use Development, Smith Street, Collingwood,

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Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

This massive mixed use development, consisting up of a mixture of luxury residential and retail, now takes up a sizeable portion of Smith Street. The sheer size of the development, alongside the complete homogeneity of the ground floor’s relationship to the street, has resulted in a complete transformation of the streetscape. The fine grain nature of the street is now demolished with the insertion of a singular retail space along the whole width of the street- a phenomenon which is occuring all over Melbourne. This type of development results in an inactive streetscape which threatens the livelihood of smaller businesses in the area.

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A Brief Timeline of Built Development Collingwood 6: Mixed Use Developments The development of Collingwood has seen the introduction of large developer-led projects which take up conglomerated parcels of land. These developments fail to integrate into the fine grain nature of the suburb- swallowing small businesses and local stores.

96 : Social Housing Towers The re-introduction of large blocks to accomodate the social housing projects of the 1960’s also reflects the Modernist planning principles of Le Corbusier’s ‘Radiant City’, whereby buildings were surrounded by open space. The arrival of social housing marked the arrival of many different ethnic groups to the suburb.

9 5: Industrial Revolution Since the industrial revolution in the 1900’s, the street network of Collingwood changed to accommodate an industrial urban fabric. This altered street hierarchy was a direct result of the Industrial Revolution and reflects ideologies proposed in Tony Garnier’s ‘Cite Industrielle’. Similar to Ebenezer Howard, Garnier’s proposal aimed at zoning the city into constituent elements, combining industry and public space.

855: Introduction of Laneways Since its densification, the introduction of laneways in 1885, was a direct result of the subdivision of the building allotments. The lack of proper public transport infrastructure encouraged pedestrian activity within suburb, resulting in smaller building blocks and a more permeable street network.

845: European Built Fabric The original hierarchy of Collingwood’s street structure consisted of three street types: main streets, typical suburban streets and service laneways. Main streets, such as Wellington and Johnston Street, acted as civic spaces. These axial boulevards consisted of retail and commercial functions and were no doubt influenced by the boulevards of the European city.

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Carlton A Case Study

Postcode Population size in 2011 People Born in Australia (%) Born Overseas - Top 5 (%) . Born elsewhere . China excl SARs and Taiwan . Malaysia . Singapore . Indonesia

, 9 7. % (9.99%) (9.77%) (9. %) ( .9 %) ( . %)

Carlton has also experienced quite dramatic urban change over the past few decades. Between 1951 and 1961, 33,537 Italian immigrants had settled in North Melbourne, Carlton, North Carlton, Fitzroy, Brunswick, Northcote, Collingwood and Richmond, significantly altering the suburbs social and physical landscape.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Italians made up 27.6% of North Carlton’s population in 1961, and 28.5% in 1971. As Italian immigration petered out, Greeks and other groups continued to arrive. In 1961, 4.3% of North Carlton population were Greek; by 1971, it had increased to 8.1%. Like many of the inner suburbs, the waves of immigration manifest a diversity of economic activities and changed the nature of the streetscapes and commercial precincts. Gelato stores, Souvlaki shops, Italian restaurants and cafes became prominent along Lygon street.

Ironically, the attraction of cheap inner-suburban housing also initiated the last wave of migration into Carlton. Students, academics and professionals began moving into the area in the late 1950s and early 1960s, attracted by the area’s proximity to universities, hospitals, employment and recreational facilities, and the low cost of dilapidated housing.

The new residents were predominantly young Anglo-Australians. A romantic mixture of Bohemianism, art culture, a grungy European atmosphere of bright colours, served as a magnet to young non-conformists.

With the construction of large, high rise student accommodation; Carlton is now home to a large number of international students choosing Carlton for its proximity to Melbourne University and RMIT.

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Development in Carlton comes as result of its proximity to the CBD- attracting large developer-led projects such as this one.

Source: Urban Melbourne, 2016

Carlton’s Italian heritage seems to be appropriated as marketing tool. Lygon Street, although host to many types of Italian restaraunts, is now somewhat reserved for the privelaged.

Source: Tahj Rosmarin, 2016 63

Italian Gelato Store, Lygon Street, Carlton, 1984 Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

This small business demonstrates the large influence which Italian culture has had upon the development of Carlton’s cultural fabric. Although the influence of Italian and Greek culture is still prominent in the area, new developments seem to view their influence as a ‘commodity’ which can be bought and traded.

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Italian Gelato Store, Lygon Street, Carlton, 1984 Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

This small business demonstrates the large influence which Italian culture has had upon the development of Carlton’s cultural fabric. Although the influence of Italian and Greek culture is still prominent in the area, new developments seem to view their influence as a ‘commodity’ which can be bought and traded.

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7 Eleven, Carlton,

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Source: James Connor 2016

A 7 Eleven convenience store has replaced the former Italian owned small business ‘Casa Del Gelato’.

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Apartment Developments, Carlton,

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Source: Tahj Rosmarin, 2016

This photograph demonstrates the changing face of Carlton. Large commercial apartment towers are being scattered throughout the suburb- only accomodating certain classes of people.

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A Brief Timeline of Built Development Carlton 6 The gentrification of Lygon St and Rathdowne St has manifest built form that does not respect nor consider the pre-existing conditions and social reality. These privatised development projects, through means of land-banking, take up large parcels of land.

These developments are failing to to integrate into the fine grain nature of the suburbsignificantly destroying it’s urban and social character.

96 In the 1920’s a new attitude towards space emerged and Carlton was the site of the Housing Commission of Victoria’s exercises in urban utopianism. In 1960, the HCV built a number of high rise social housing developments as part of the ‘slum clearance’ programs in place. These changes in development were seen as a modernist solution to the housing shortages of the time.

85 At the time Melbourne was colonised, the Hoddle grid was very much an attempt to rationalise a vastly barren landscape, imposing a very strict, formal layout for the city. Carlton’s public spaces were planned in the Victorian era and notably are all garden squares. These rectilinear green spaces are often surrounded by buildings, based on a model fashionable in Europe at the time.

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The Emergence of Tactical Urbanism A Response to Development An Emerging Phenomenon Informalising Urbanism Since the early 2000s, the practice of temporary use has been gaining traction in architectural and planning literature. In the contemporary context, the practice has come to mean a short-term re-use of an under-utilised, vacant or public space, and may also include temporary buildings. This form of spontaneous urbanism draws parallells with informal urbanism. It is interesting to think that what is labelled ‘informal’ or ‘illegal’ in developing countries, is labelled ‘tactical’ in the developed world.

Presence in Melbourne Challenging Development As a reaction to Melbourne’s current development models, tactical urbanism is increasingly being attempted as a new method of engaging with community groups. Examples can be seen in the Renew Docklands scheme, and through government-led initiatives such as the Pop-Up Park in Dandenong and the Yarraville Pop-Up Park (the latter successful enough to spark a campaign to make it permanent) (Byrne 2012).

Utilising the full potential of tactical urbanism requires an understanding of the interaction between tactical projects and traditional planning systems. Since tactical projects vary in life span, there is usually no formal change of ownership, no large investments to the site, no change to the land-use plan, and often minimal interaction with formal planning.

As Melbourne moves towards a greater deployment of tactical urban approaches, traditional planning policies will need to be re-assessed in order to cater for this alternative model of urban engagement.

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The Food Truck A Case Study of Tactical Urbanism In the past few years, Melbourne’s Food Truck phenomenon has increased in popularity. Seen more often in South East Asian countries, this phenomenon is a form of tactical urbanism.

Often appropriating parking lots and public parks, food trucks activate under-utilised urban spaces. As mobile vendors, the trucks can quickly respond to consumer preferences and park where the demand is highest.

Not only do they intensify urban life, but the communal nature of food-truck dining helps build social capital. It’s clear that people enjoy this kind of tactical, spontaneous urbanism, however, Melbourne’s street food phenomenon is heavily restricted by governments and councils Permanent restaurants and businesses have not appreciated the competition. And like any other industry, restaurants know the surest way to reduce competition is to have the government regulate your competitors.

An interesting paradox emerges when council’s boast about their food-truck culture, whilst, through exclusionary policy, make it extremely difficult for the trucks to actually operate. This opens up a further debate about current planning regulatory systems. It’s clear that even minor rules and regulations can shape a city’s culture.

The case of the food truck demonstrates the contradictory nature of urban planning and policy making in Melbourne.

In essence, the inflexible nature of Melbourne’s planning policies do not accomodate this form of bottom-up place making- whereby individuals are able to play a direct role in the creation of their own urban environments.

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Part Two:

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Two men congregate in the newly developed Maddern Square.

Source: Felicity Watson 2016 78

2A: The Footscray #1 CONTEXTUAL OVERVIEW ORIGINS AND HISTORY #2 MULTI-CULTURALISM A UNIQUE URBAN CHARACTER #3 FOOTSCRAY NOW A SUBURB IN TRANSITION #4 THE FUTURE OF FOOTSCRAY CURRENT AND PLANNED DEVELOPMENTS

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Contextual Overview Origins and History Historical Context Footscray is a suburb located 5 km west of Melbourne, Australia.Part of the City of Maribyrnong, Footscray was built largely on the traditional lands of the Kulin nation (Maribyrnong City Council, 2012). For thousands of years, Footscray was the meeting place of the lands of the Yalukitwillan, the Marin-balluk and the Wurundjeri. Koories stalked game, collected food and fished along the river junction, estuaries, swamps and lagoons.

Post-colonisation, Footscray was declared a municipality in 1859 with a population of 300 and 70 buildings. Between 1881 and 1891 Footscray’s population more than tripled from almost 6,000 to 19,000 (Footscray Historical Society, 2012). Footscray developed into an industrial zone in the second half of the nineteenth century, with the manufacturing industry beginning to decline in the 1960s and 70s.

A large wave of migrant settlement occurred in Footscray in the late 1940s through the post-war migration of British and Europeans, while migrants arrived from Italy, Germany, Greece and Malta in the 60s.

The 1980s saw another wave of migrant settlement from the Middle East, African nations, Central and South America and Vietnam (Melbourne: Hargreen Publishing Company, 1991). Most recently since 2007, migrants and refugees have arrived from India, China, Afghanistan, Burma, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.

Footscray is still a point of entry for new immigrants and refugees- while also being known as a place where socially undesirable or marginal activities (such as drug trading) occur (Palipane,

6).

As such, Footscray can be seen as a site of intensified conditions where this continual influx of immigrants produces conditions of disadvantage due to poverty, uneven institutionalisation, social discrimination and lack of skills in the new population. As a predominantly immigrant environment, Footscray’s urbanity is made complex through a multitude of social behaviours, cultural re-enactments and hybrid adaptations.

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Location of Footscray in comparison to the rest of Melbourne Source: VicMap Data, 2016

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One of the original surveys for Footscray by the MMBW in the late 1800’s.

Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016 83

Barkly Street Footscray, Victoria, c1920-1954 84 Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

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Footscray Market, 1984

Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016 Ever since its establishment by Romanian immigrant Gheorghe Herscu, the Footscray Market has come to symbolise the strong multi-cultural nature of the suburb at large.

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A view down Leeds Street, Footscray 92 Source: James Connor, 2016

Multiculturalism A Unique Urban Character Footscray reveals itself as a stage for intense cultural appropriation. Waves of immigrant communities have altered and adapted the urban environment to suit their particular cultural practices and identities. Footscray provided the opportunity for migrants to recreate a culturally familiar place within a larger, mostly foreign landscape. This expression of culture becomes a means of validating one’s presence in the unfamiliar and further expresses facets of identity such as nationality and cultural distinction.

Historically, Footscray has been identified as an ‘undesirable’ place to live. This social and spatial marginality was derived from its location in the city’s industrial West, which was considered an unpopular place to live during this time. In little over fifty years the residential patterns of Footscray have been transformed from a predominantly white working class area to a complex assemblage of different cultures and ethnicities.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, Italian, Greek, Macedonian, Bosnian, and Croation migrants began to settle in Footscray. With these migrant communities came a diverse array of commercial activities and residential typologies, significantly altering the social and urban landscape. Later, as a direct consequence of the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975, 54000 Vietnamese people were resettled in Australia between 1977 and 1982 (Stevens, 2012). As the Maribrynong region was identified as a ‘receptor centre’, many of these migrants found themselves building their communities in Footscray. The strength of the Vietnamese community became a point of difference which attracted people from all over Melbourne for the restaurants, markets and unique urban character. The most recent cultural transformations have been due to the influx of a number of African communities from Ethiopia, Sudan and the Horn of Africa. These, like the previous waves of immigrants, have had an effect on the social a physical fabric of the suburb.

Part of what makes Footscray so unique is the way in which it allows for immigrant groups to continually express themselves culturally without attracting discrimination. The suburb acts as a platform in which migrant communities continually adapt and add to the character of the urban realm; Footscray’s urbanism and identity is thus seen as a product of socio-cultural expression.

Footscray continues to celebrate its inherent multiculturality through annual cultural festivals (Emerge in the West Festival, Big West Festival, Croatian Cultural Festival, VU Multicultural Festival Footscray) as well as the erection of culturally symbolic monuments.

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Franco Cozzo Furniture, Footscray, 1980’s Source: Footscray Historical Society, 2016

Franco Cozzo is best known for the establishment of “Franco Cozzo” furniture store chain. His furniture chain started over 40 years ago, with Cozzo, despite his old age, continuing to appear on advertisements, speaking in Italian, Greek and English. He proudly spruiks of his stores in Brunswick and Footscray, making him a local Melbourne hero and an example of multi-culturalism within the suburb of Footscray.

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Vietnamese Grocery Store, Footscray, 1970’s Source: State Library of Victoria, 2016

The arrival of Vietnamese populations into Footscray marked another change in the cultural fabric of the suburb. Vietnamese populations are still some of the most prominent within the suburb today.

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Footscray Now A Suburb in Transition Over the years Footscray’s immigrant population has shifted from European to South East Asian to African and, to this day, it a place that still supports the occupation of new immigrant and refugee communities. Cultural histories can be read through the urban landscape, residues of past cultures are seen in the architecture, in the morphology, and in the signage and the people.

The appropriation of the urban environment highlights the agency involved in creating a place which allows for the expression of distinct cultural identities.

As you move through Footscray’s public realm one begins to recognise another change in Footscray’s socio-physical landscapeone that is not additive but rather destructive of the suburb’s rich and diverse cultural-historical heritage. With recent urban renewal projects and the development of a number of high-rise multiresidential towers, the suburb is rapidly undergoing a process of gentrification. These urban renewal projects and high-rise developments are quite clearly marginalising existing immigrant communities- through solely investing in the newly arriving upper middle class.

Currently, the public realm is an inclusive place in which it is possible to negotiate the social differences which result from such ethnic, class, and socio-economic diversity. However, urban renewal projects are discounting this, manifesting exclusionary, culturally homogenous urban places and spaces.

The situation happening in Footscray has played out time and time again in Melbourne’s inner suburbs. Must we become passive observers to the destruction of one of Melbourne’s most culturally diverse and socially rich suburbs?

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Construction commences on a new residential development Source: James Connor, 2016 99

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A view of the new multi-residential developments in Footscray Source: Felicity Watson 2016 101

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It is becoming increasingly common to see properties for sale or rent in Footscray’s central activity district.

Source: 104 Tahj Rosmarin, 2016

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The Future of Footscray Current and Planned Developments Footscray’s urban fabric is rapidly transforming as Melbourne’s population continues to expand. The ‘Melbourne 2030’ plan outlines Footscray as a a key site for urban renewal.

Maribrynong City Council’s Footscray Structure Plan explains Footscray as..“a place of discovery. It is a place to explore and find something new...

Footscray is in transition, and is rapidly emerging as the key destination of the inner west. Its population is expected to double over the next 20 years and significant commercial change is underway.”

Footscray was identified as a Principal Activity Centre/Transit City in 2002, and later as one of six Central Activities Areas (CAAs) in 2008. Current and recent State Government policy such as Melbourne 2030, Melbourne @5Million and the Melbourne Metropolitan Strategy outline the State Government’s policy for managing change in which CAA’s play a key role.

In recent years substantial changes have been made to the Council’s planning framework. New schemes allows for towers up to 25 storeys high on the banks of the Maribyrnong River, which has prompted anger from local communities and residents. These new developments are challenging its traditional ethnically diverse and working class character, promoting a lifestyle of ‘luxury’ apartment living. Urban renewal not only changes what we see around us but also challenges how people feel they belong to, and identify with Footscray.

The following excerpt from an Australian newspaper demonstrates the a vision for what they name as the ‘Mini City: The New Footscray’.

Source: The Guardian Newspaper, 2015 106

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Footscray Structure Plan Maribrynong City Council The Melbourne 2030 Metropolitan Development Strategy identified Footscray as a ‘Transit City’ and together with the Maribrynong Council has kickstarted the process of urban renewal. The past decade has seen considerable redevelopment that has consequently brought into question some of the underlying assumptions about who the true benefactors of developments are, and what the social impacts are of such forms of urban renewal. Market led remediation currently dominates the development paradigm, with urban renewal predominantly benefiting the middle income groups.

The following pages identify some of the key points and issues with the proposed ‘Footscray Structure Plan’. Firstly, the ‘vision’ for the suburb was claimed to be created in conjunction with the ‘community’, however this is of course only a considerably small proportion of the hundreds of different communities that exist in the suburb.

According to the Structure Plan, the ‘community’ was concerned that ‘the 25 storey height limit was too high and that the unease about high rise development was compounded by the removal of notification and appeal rights in the proposed planning controls’. Other key community concerns were about ‘the social impact of more intensive development such as the loss of social diversity and housing affordability’.

The following pages highlight some of the key points and issues within the proposed Footscray Structure Plan.

The standard of recent development suggests that there is a large discrepancy between the apparent amibitions of the Maribrynong Council’s Structure Plan, and the proposed urbanisation of Footscray which is already underway.

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Source: Footscray Structure Plan. 2015

* range includes upper limit for both podiums and towers

Footscray Skyline Study | Par

Footscray Skyline Study | Part B_ Strategic CAA Ov

With the rise of apartment style dwellings, the graph reveals the increase in ‘Other Dwelling’ approvals.

Subsequently there has been a decrease in regular house approvals.

Source: ID Population Data, 2016

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Footscray in the future

Vision

Footscray remains a place of possibilities and discovery. The cultural diversity that has long been a feature of Footscray continues contributing to the variety of experiences on offer. The streets in Footscray prioritise pedestrians encouraging workers, residents and visitors to roam and explore. The university and its students are an integral part of the centre contributing to the liveliness and 24 hour activation of the centre.

By 2031 the vibrant mixed use centre offers diverse residential, employment and recreation options and is accessible via varied transport methods. An upgraded Footscray Train Station forms the heart of a well connected transport interchange. The core of the centre offers a diverse retail selection that meets the everyday needs of locals and continues to attract regional shoppers.

The built heritage and traditional street character fit well with new and innovative architecture that incorporates leading Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD). The Joseph Road and Station precincts have been transformed and accommodate high density mixed use developments. Neighbourhood precincts within the centre retain their established low scale built form and predominant residential use.

The river and its green spaces are a key attraction, providing enhanced recreational and conservation opportunities.

These spaces, along with additional pocket park spaces, meet the needs of the future population. The centre is ‘green’ with large established street trees and high quality public realm environments.

Footscray’s creative heart is on display and is celebrated making it one of the most liveable and exciting centres in Melbourne.

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Page 02 - Footscray Structure Plan

Community engagement Over the past decade consultation with the local community has been central to Council’s planning for Footscray and has revealed strong support for Footscray’s revitalisation.

Four key consultation phases, outlined below, continue to inform planning for Footscray CAA. They have guided the preparation of this structure plan and new planning controls for the centre.

the opportunities for new development recognised. The community provided additional feedback including:

(Re)visioning Footscray 2005 Revisioning Footscray set out a plan for higher density development in central Footscray and around Footscray Station, and emphasised Footscray’s role as a multi -modal transport interchange. Through the project the community prepared a vision, detailed in figure 3 that has been used to guide planning and development of Footscray CAA.

Footscray Renewal Community Engagement 2010 Following Footscray’s designation as a CAA the Footscray Renewal project gave new impetus and direction to future planning of the centre. A key component in reconnecting with the community and stakeholders was to validate the 2005 vision for Footscray as well as obtain feedback on recent improvements across the centre and the 2010 draft planning proposals.

The Footscray Renewal Stakeholder and Community Engagement Report (2010) outlined the revitalisation of Footscray CAA and was generally well supported with

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FOOTSCRAY STRUCTU RE P L A N 20 1 3

Page 08- Footscray Structure Plan

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Higher density developments that are well considered and appropriately located could help revitalise the centre. However, guidelines for the design of these higher density developments were considered important. There was some concern that the 25 storey building height was too tall for Footscray CAA. The community wanted to be further informed of the impacts (both positive and negative) that higher density development would have on Footscray, especially existing residential areas, including local traffic, transport and accessibility, and the provision of open space.

Ecologically Sustainable Development ( ESD) was identified as a key requirement for future development with suggestions for minimum standards and more specific guidelines incorporated from the earliest planning stages.

Protection of both architectural and community heritage was identified as important. In particular, the need to retain facades and the fine grain elements of existing heritage (including industrial heritage) .

Increasing ‘green’ open space in Footscray CAA was considered very important.

Improved safety was needed through passive surveillance, increased lighting, appropriate facilities and safe and appropriate planning.

Community spaces should be provided for a diverse range of users.

Greater support should be provided for affordable housing, and social housing.

The people of Footscray, through their professional and community involvement in the (re)Visioning Footscray processes in 2004, expressed a preferred future for Footscray which was described as follows: The Footscray of 2030 will be accessible via varied transport methods including walking, public transportation, car and bicycle. Special care will have been taken in upgrading Footscray Train Station while preserving heritage and in addressing parking and traffic ‘hotspots’ and all transport modes will be well connected.

The Footscray of 2030 will be creative and a home for artists. Footscray will encourage artistic talent, professional and amateur alike, and the ‘business’ of arts and culture.

The Footscray of 2030 will be developing according to a strategic set of precincts that have developed organically around existing land-use patterns and an interest in increased mixed-use development. There will be more medium and higher density housing options which will have been established in a manner sensitive to location and design. New housing will have ‘recycled’ buildings where possible (e.g., existing industrial buildings) and will include mixed-use and mixed affordability.

The Footscray of 2030 will have better integrated the university campuses and their students into daily life in Footscray and will be responding to the learning needs of the community, particularly newly-arrived community members. There will be more entertainment activities, particularly at night and these in turn will have improved community safety/perception of safety.

The Footscray of 2030 will have varied retail opportunities and a diversity of shopping experiences. Footscray will have remained a retail environment in which new businesses can establish and flourish. Retail areas will be clean and inviting.

Overall, the Footscray of 2030 is safe, artsy, edgy, affordable, regional, diverse/mixed and multicultural. These qualities of Footscray will have been polished and promoted effectively.

Figure 3: Extract from (re)visioning Footscray, 2005

Planning Scheme Amendment C90

Footscray City Edge Masterplan

In 2010, proposed new planning controls for Footscray CAA were publicly exhibited through Amendment C90, with almost 100 submissions received. Although Amendment C90 was subsequently abandoned, these submissions raised a number of key points about the future development of the centre:

The Masterplan brings together current strategic ideas about the future of the FCAA and presents a vision of what the centre will look like in the future. Many of the proposals in the Masterplan address concerns or respond to ideas from earlier consultation phases such as ‘greening’ the centre and providing additional open space and community facilities.

There were concerns regarding the proposed increase in building heights, overall building shape and the impact on sunlight. The unease about high-rise development was compounded for many stakeholders by the removal of notification and appeal rights in the proposed planning controls.

The community’s direction on ESD was re-affirmed. Stakeholders objected to the removal of ESD objectives and standards from the proposed planning controls.

Stakeholders objected to the lack of heritage objectives and controls and the lack of environmental audit (EAO) requirements for potentially contaminated land.

There were concerns from some stakeholders about the social impacts of more intensive development such as the loss of social diversity and housing affordability.

There were also concerns about safety, crime and ongoing community amenity.

A number of stakeholders expressed a need for more parks and open space.

Some stakeholders felt residential areas of Footscray CAA needed to be protected from inappropriate development through the designation of ‘limited change’ areas.

A number of submissions raised concerns about the level of change allowed in the proposed controls for specific areas across the centre.

There were concerns regarding the impact of revitalisation on movement and access through Footscray CAA and the impact of increased development on car parking, public transport, traffic flow and congestion.

Overall community consultation strongly supported the Masterplan. Change was seen as inevitable but was not supported at the expense of what makes Footscray unique and appealing. The community wanted to see improvements to Footscray CAA’s image and retailing mix and for the centre to become a more attractive and busier place. Other community expectations included better public transport, links to the river, more green spaces, and family-friendly attractions in parks and open spaces.

Proposed Community Engagement Public consultation on the structure plan will be undertaken concurrently with the planning controls to implement the structure plan. This will ensure a streamlined process, and provide an opportunity for people to have their say.

The key aim of the consultation is to ensure all affected and interested residents and stakeholders have an opportunity to make an informed submission. Key engagement activities will include: Direct notification to affected residents and businesses Webpage and Community Information Boards Community Information Sessions All submitters would also be provided an opportunity to present their submission to an independent planning panel if the amendment is considered by a panel.

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Page 09 - Footscray Structure Plan

Built Form To provide sufficient separation between buildings above podium heights to ensure access to daylight and sunlight for internal spaces while maintaining visual privacy and a view to the sky.

To ensure new buildings, particularly podiums, align to the street pattern and respect the continuity of street facades and solar access to public spaces.

To enhance key views and vistas along the Maribyrnong River environs and capitalise on views from the public realm to natural and physical landmarks, including the Melbourne CBD skyline.

To encourage the development of buildings with flexible floor spaces that can accommodate a range of uses over time.

To ensure development addresses sensitive interfaces through transitional built form envelopes and maintains reasonable solar access to key pedestrian routes and recreational areas, including the Maribyrnong River foreshore.

To ensure the design of taller built form considers and ameliorates any adverse wind climate conditions.

To ensure new development does not overshadow existing or proposed open space or key pedestrian routes between the hours of 10am and 3pm at the equinox.

Heritage Objectives: To recognise, conserve and enhance elements of Aboriginal and post-settlement historical significance.

To ensure new development appropriately considers and references elements of cultural heritage significance.

To ensure development adjoining or nearby heritage buildings has regard to the height, scale, rhythm

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and proportions of the heritage buildings, including characteristic fine grain frontage widths.

To ensure built form respects the heritage context and maintains heritage prominence.

Environmentally Sustainable Design Objectives: To integrate best practice ESD principles into new development at every opportunity, including building energy management, water sensitive urban design, construction materials, indoor environment quality, waste management, transport, and demolition and construction.

To support development that reduces energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions, and employs active systems for ESD performance.

To encourage the provision of green roofs and roof top gardens.

Built Form Strategies: Safety should be a key priority in the design and development of urban spaces and buildings in Footscray.

Development should demonstrate effective, considered materials selection and configurations, for aesthetic quality, durability and contextual response.

The overall improvement in appearance of shopfronts, especially within the centre’s core, is encouraged.

The bulk and scale of new development should consider the potential future built form and land use on adjacent sites.

New lower level built form façade treatments should provide a pedestrian environment that has visual interest and activates the street.

should generally be setback by 5 metres from the streetscape to reduce visual bulk, achieve generous spacing between buildings, views to the sky and daylight access to the public realm.

Built form frontages should seek to reinforce the existing strongly defined pattern of streets and lanes by building up to street frontages, except where this would be inconsistent with the established rhythm of street setbacks.

New development should reinforce existing fine grain built form.

Activation from upper levels should be maximised, including residential or commercial spaces which have visible windows and balconies to facilitate visual interaction, as well as appropriate privacy.

Building frontages should seek to enhance existing adjoining streets and be designed to be visually interactive, with passive surveillance opportunities, and be visually interesting and engaging through use of contemporary, durable materials.

New built form frontages should seek to provide articulation and detail in frontage facades, especially in ‘long’ or significant new development.

New development should seek to provide active frontages which ‘wrap’ or conceal any proposed car parking, especially at the ground level.

Car parking access to built form should be consolidated at one entry point, and carefully located away from areas with a pedestrian focus.

Ongoing monitoring and post occupancy assessment of ESD measures is encouraged.

Tower forms above podiums, or upper level built form,

FOOTSCRAY STRUCTURE P L A N 20 1 3

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2B: Patterns of #1 SUBURB FUNCTIONS ETHNICITIES #2 DISTRICT ETHNICITIES #3 MARKET ETHNICITIES FUNCTIONS #4 INDIVIDUAL

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Patterns of Function Suburb

Suburb.

Footscray is governed by its own pattern language. At the scale of the suburb, Footscray can be read as a collection of overlapping patterns. The pattern of residential constitutes the biggest: it sweeps over the breadth of the suburb. A central commercial area provides a focal point for activity and stitches the suburb together.

New developments can be read as interferences to these patternsseparate and self-referential.

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Residential

Commercial

Community Buildings

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

University/School/Hospital

Proposed Developments

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

Residential Commercial Community Buildings University/School/Hospital Proposed Development Sites Car Parks

Patterns of Footscray 2016 FIELDWORK

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1.

Commercial

Suburb.

This pattern is used to explain all of the commercial activities that exist in Footscray, including shops, stores and restaurants. The pattern shows most of the commercial activity is occurring in the centre of the suburb but stretches out to the west. Although most activity occurs in the centre, there are still examples of residential areas containing scattered commercial sites. Recently, with the incoming tide of new development, larger commercial facilities have been placed in the centre of the suburb.

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Residential

Suburb.

It’s clear that the majority of the land use in Footscray is residential.

The pattern suggests that most of the residential is focused outside of the central activity area, however residential properties are interwoven with commercial and public functions. In the west of the suburb, 8-pack developments are the most popular building typology, alongside single detached houses organised in typical suburban fashion. New developments are introducing multi-resential building typologies, some reaching up to 30 storeys.

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University/School/Hospital

Suburb.

Victoria University (VU) is a major educational provider, with two campuses, located at the northern and southern boundaries of Footscray Central District, that consistently draw people into the centre. Students and staff contribute to retail spending and the demand for local products and services. Many students also live in the City of Maribyrnong, providing additional demand for housing and other residential services. Footscray is also serviced with a major hospital, and has primary schools and other types of educational facilities scattered throughout the neighbourhood.

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Community Buildings

Suburb.

Footscray has an existing community infrastructure network that encompasses a broad range of services. A key example is the Footscray Library which is well utilised by the local community and provides a focal point for many community groups. Other establishments, such as the Footscray Community Arts Centre, have been successful in engaging with a wider audience. Smaller community buildings which cater for particular groups of people are also scattered throughout the suburb. An example of this is the Ethnic Chinese Happy Age Association of Victoria, which is a Chinese community centre.

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Proposed Development Sites Development is occuring rapidly within the area- with most new developments taking advantage of former carparks, disused industrial and commercial sites and interstitial spaces. In order to gain maximum profit, these developments are typically built over the whole parcel of land.

Suburb.

The Maribyrnong Council has approved and is continuing to approve a large range of developments throughout the suburb, with some exceeding 20+ storeys.

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Patterns of Ethnicity Suburb With 59% of people being born overseas, Footscray is home to a diverse array of cultures and ethnicities. These patterns use the 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data to depict the ethnic background of Footscray’s inhabitants. Through spatially mapping the ethnic fabric of Footscray, the presence of different cultural communities can be highlighted and brought into the foreground.

The patterns reveal that different ethnic groups are interwoven and overlapping- they are not delineated by the perceived administrative sub-divisions of the suburb.

Suburb Outline

East Europe

2011 ABS Data

2011 ABS Data

Middle East, India and Africa

Suburb.

2011 ABS Data

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Asian

Western Europe

2011 ABS Data

2011 ABS Data

Asia East Europe West Europe Middle East, India and Africa

Distribution of Immigrants Footscray, Melbourne 2011 CENSUS DATA

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Overseas Born Population: Percentage of Total Population Oceania and Antarctica North-West Europe Southern and Eastern Europe North Africa and the Middle East South-East Asia North-East Asia Southern and Central Asia Americas Sub-Saharan Africa

2.2% 2.8% 5.9% 1.4% 13.8% 5.8% 11% 1.4% 1.8%

Total born overseas

59%

Footscray Population:

Percentage of Population Population (excluding O/S visitors) Males Females Australian Citizens Eligible voters (citizens aged 18+) Speak a language other than english

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13,193 6,990 6,203 8,423 7,068 6,280

100% 53% 47% 63.8% 53.6% 47.6%

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B.

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Patterns of Ethnicity District

District.

The central activity district of Footscray consists of a rich tapestry of ethnic groups, with each one of them contributing directly to the unique urban character of the suburb. African and Vietnamese communities hold the strongest presence in the central districteach having clear and identifiable zones of occupation. As the patterns suggest, the Vietnamese presence is clearly the most dominant in the central activity district.

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African

Vietnamese

Malaysian

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

Indian

Chinese

Thai

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

Middle Eastern

Non-ethnic

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

African Vietnamese Malaysian Indian Chinese Thai Middle Eastern Non-ethnic

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1.

African The majoriy of African commercial activity occurs along Nicholson Street. Ethiopian coffee shops become meeting places in which large numbers of African men come to socialise. The street is also host to a number of African barbershops and Hair Salons, catering for specifically African hair types and styles.

District.

The African community constitute the newest multi-cultural addition to Footscray- with a large number of recent immigrants coming from counties situated in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia and Sudan.

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2.

Vietnamese Vietnamese supermarkets, restaurants and other commercial activities dominate Footscray’s streetscape. The pattern suggests the majority of Vietnamese commercial activity occurs along Leeds Street.

District.

There is a long history of Vietnamese immigration within the suburb.

Vietnamese culture has played one of the largest roles in defining the unique urban character of Footscray. Key cultural establishments, such as the Footscray Market and Little Saigon, are important gathering spaces for Vietnamese communities and other ethnic groups.

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3.

Indian

District.

Although not as dominant as the Vietnamese and African communities, there is still a felt presence of Indian culture within Footscray. Despite being conglomerated in the neighbouring suburb of West Footscray, the central activity district of Footscray is scattered with small Indian shops which service Indian communities beyond the bounds of the suburb.

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4.

Chinese

District.

Chinese commercial activities appear to be dispersed throughout the central district. These predominantly range from supermarkets, restaurants and traditional medical clinics. Chinese restaurants are particularly well known in Footscray- with popular establishments such as the Golden Horse Restaurant and Jim Wong’s.

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5.

Middle Eastern

District.

Only a few Middle Eastern shops exist within the central district. These are predominantly Kebabs stores, restaurants and Halal Butchers.

Similarly to the Indian community, Middle Eastern communities are scattered throughout the suburb, with most activity ocurring in the neighbouring suburb of West Footscray.

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C.

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Patterns of Ethnicity Market The Footscray Market acts as a microcosm of the suburb at large.

When one examines the patterns of ethnicity of the market, many commonalities can be made between it and the central activity district. Similar to the suburb, each store plays a part of a larger, inter-connected social network, whereby the market operates as an assemblage of individual elements.

Market.

The market has a clear presence of Vietnamese traders, with other ethnic shops appearing scattered throughout. New patterns of ethnicity are slowly emerging as Footscray’s multi-cultural fabric is shifting.

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Vietnamese

Chinese

2016 Map Data

2016 Map Data

Middle Eastern 2016 Map Data

Japanese. Thai, Australian, Filipino, Indian, European 2016 Map Data

E

20 Mixed Japanese Thai Middle Eastern Chinese Vietnamese Australian Filipino European Indian

Ethnicities of Footscray Market 2016 FIELDWORK

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“We work very well together.

We get a lot of people that come to get the fish, the meat and the fruit and vegies... all together at the same time. And the traders all communicate with each other (...)We care for each other. We know each other in the market.

In case someone has a problem, everyone jumps to help. �o congregation among sections.

Good with everyone. Over the years, people changed, but still we have a good atmosphere among shop owners as well as with workers. It’s good for everyone” - Maša Mikola, Traces of Diversity: Multiculturalism across Socio-Political Practices: Melbourne, 2009 158

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“It never felt like there was an official entrance at the Footscray Market, because what we were doing outside was quite similar to what we were doing inside...

Because Footscray wasn’t just the market for us. We would go to the Footscray Market as one of the stops...So, our kind of Footscray experience would be really big giant market experience. It wasn’t just going into a market, it was going to several...It’s amazing how much food we ate!”

- Maša Mikola, Traces of Diversity: Multiculturalism across Socio-Political Practices: Melbourne, 2009

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Patterns of Function Market

Market.

SHOP NO.

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SHOP NAME

BUSINESS TYPE

BUTCHER 130 133 135 136 137 139 141 142 144

VAN THUAN BUTCHER DAT TUAN TRAN HONG PHAT BUTCHER A&A BUTCHER TAN DONG HUNG BUTCHER C.Q. DANG & H.T. NGUYEN HONG KONG BUTCHER HAI T. TRAN THAI HUY BUTCHER P/L

BUTCHER BUTCHER BUTCHER BUTCHER BUTCHER BUTCHER BUTCHER BUTCHER BUTCHER

SEAFOOD 117 119 128 129 146 -147

BEST KAY SEAFOOD J&K RETAIL FISH SUPPLE YUEKONG SEAFOOD FOOTSCRAY OCEAN SEAFOOD K&R CORPORATION PTY LTD

SEAFOOD SEAFOOD SEAFOOD SEAFOOD SEAFOOD

POULTRY 107 111 112 114 123 & 124 196 & 197

DAI QUANG POULTRY MELISSA FRESH POULTRY MANLY POULTRY DBA COMPANY P/L PAUL LOC CHOOKS & GOOGS

POULTRY POULTRY POULTRY POULTRY POULTRY POULTRY

OTHERS 82 180-182 166 148,149 & 150 61 & 68 152 96 248 103 & 108 91 89 151 226 & 227 75 158 178,154,161-3

IGOR CHNAIDERMAN KIM HA JEWELLER KIM LIEN CAO KIM LIEN CAO & BA H TRUONG MELBOURNE DISCOUNT BED MS THOAI L. DANG WATCH NGOC LAN ART OF FLOWERS PHU D. TRAN RINA’S COFFEE HOUSE TAN KIM JEWELLERY TATTSWIN PTY LTD THAO DUONG TRAM SMOKE V K NGUYEN & R TRAN VIVI HAIR SALON F’’SCRAY HOMEWARES PLUS

CONFECTIONERY JEWELLERY FASHION CLOTHING BEDDINGS REPAIRS FLORIST VARIETY NUTS/HEALTHY JEWELLERY TATTSLOTTO PHONE REPAIRS CIGARETTE CARDS HAIR SALON VARIETY

EATERIES 81,88&92&95 184,188,165,176 190 219 194 221&222 223 250 83 &84 251

PHU VINH NOODLE SHOP GOLDEN HORSE S’FOOD BBQ CH CHUAN WANG RESTAURANT ROSE H. NGUYEN T/A SEKAI JAPANESE RAMEN CUIS DUNG HUNG VUONG NATURAL CHINESE T’AWAY T/A N. ZEZOVSKI T/A (NADA’S) ELIZABETH VUONG NARCISA MCLEAVY

RESTAURANT RESTAURANT RESTAURANT FOOD RESTAURANT FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD

FRESH PRODUCE 198 & STB 199,201&204 214 218,231,232,233,234 51, 51A 210 + 241 66,121,122

HARI OM HOLDINGS KV FRESH FRUITS SHOON LOI FOOTSCRAY PERSIAN MART KV SUPER-MART (F’SCRAY) P/L FM FRESH FRUIT & VEG PLOTEK INVESTMENTS

FRUIT/VEG FRUIT/VEG GROCERY/FRUIT VEG GROCERY/FRUIT VEG SUPERMKT. FRUIT/VEG GROCERY

NUT, COFFEE & TOBACCO 228 157 153 156 103 & 108

GUERILLA ESPRESSO P/L SCARLET CORNER JUICE NELLY BARSOUM NELLY’S NUTS RINA’S COFFEE HOUSE

COFFEE BAR/COFFEE NUTS/COFFEE NUTS/COFFEE NUTS/COFFEE

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D

Second Floor CARPARK

C

Third Floor CARPARK

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IRVING

EET

STR

STREE T

DS LEE

IN

PK

HO

S

A

T

Residential

Hybrid Snooker Room

Existing market-place which is acts as a major social infrastructure that caters for the suburb and surrounding areas.

Ground Floor MARKETPLACE

RE E

ST

B

First Floor CARPARK and MARKET STORAGE

Market.

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ET

TRE

S EDS

LE

IRVING

STREE

T

HO

PK

IN

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D.

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Individual.

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Bus Shelter/Grocery Store, Paisley Street, Footscray Source: Tahj Rosmarin, 2016

Everyday this grocery store sets up a platform - made of crates and boxes and custom shelving in which fruit and vegetables are displayed in a market style manner. The act of appropriating an existing piece of infrastructure (a bus shelter) demonstrates the potential that the individual can have to make urban space- when given the possibilities.

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Individual.

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Buddhist Shrine inside Asian Grocery Store, Footscray,

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Source: Tahj Rosmarin, 2016

The inclusion of a place of worship inside an Asian grocery store is a clear example of individual appropriation.

Buddhist shrines such as this are located all over Footscray- within all types of stores and markets. These individual acts of appropriation greatly contribute to the multi-cultural atmosphere of the suburb.

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Individual.

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Individual.

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View of Signage, Nicholson Street, ,Footscray Source: Tahj Rosmarin, 2016

A particularly unique characteristic of Footscray is the itensity of it’s signage and advertisements. In essence, these signs represent individual expression. Each sign has been crafted by the user, distinct for its own purpose. As such, each sign has a different colour, uses a different font and is even written in a different language.

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Individual.

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The Rocks on Nicholson Street, Footscray Source: James Connor, 2016

The rocks at the corner of the Nicholson Street Mall have become an important gathering space for the African community of Footscray. It is a place where African people can exchange in conversation and meet other people.

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Individual.

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Individual.

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Vendor Stall, Top of Leeds Street, Footscray Source: James Connor, 2016

The nature of retail goods and the manner in which they are displayed in the streets is another manifestation of the migrant presence- central to the character of Footscray. The informal nature of some of the trading is not only a reenactment of cultural practice, but in some cases a necessity- due to socio economic disadvantage.

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Individual.

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Individual.

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Watch-Maker, Interior of Footscray Market, Footscray Source: Tahj Rosmarin, 2016

This small business demonstrates how the individual, given the right context and conditions, is able to craft their own environment. This watch-maker’s entire business is contained in an incredibly tight and efficiently designed piece of infrastructure.

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2C: Drawings of #1 MULTI-RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT #2 MULTI-USE COMMERCIAL STREETSCAPE #3 AFRICAN HAIRDRESSER #4 GROCERY/ POOL LOUNGE/ GYMNASIUM

#5 HELLENIC BUILDING #6 PALACE ROYAL #7 ACCUPUNCTURE CLINIC #8 FOOTSCRAY MARKET #9 GROCERY/BUS SHELTER #10 STREET VENDORS

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1.

Multi-Residential Development Irving Street, Footscray.

This high-rise multi-residential typology is becoming increasingly common throughout Melbourne as a response to housing demands and rapid population increases. It has become clear that these typologies are destroying the urban life and character of Footscray.

To some degree these high-rise buildings are deforming the quality, the function, and the long-term diversity of urbanism in Footscray by overloading the infrastructure and the public realm of the streets that contain them. Additionally, their failure to address the public realm architecturally means the diverse and intense street life that exists is being scraped away. The high rise buildings are quite aggressively working against the social and cultural reality. They are neglecting the pre-existing conditions and context in which they sit, disregarding the fine grain nature of Footscray, its social relations and cultural activities.

A K-mart and Coles Supermarket dominate the ground floor commercial activity. As two entire lengths of the block are made inactive, the street life becomes particularly dormant. There is no awning around the entire building, diminishing the sense of human scale.

No Awning

Segregated Uses

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Not Human Scale

Inactive Streetscape

Inappropriate Scale

Inappropriate Grain Size

This drawing demonstrates the unsympathetic nature of new developments in Footscray.

Taking up entire street blocks, these developments are effectively destroying the current urban conditions of Footscray.

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2.

Multi-Use Commercial Streetscape Hopkins Street, Footscray.

Pure architectural form does not exist in Footscray. This streetscape demonstrates how the architecture is always experienced and understood as a multi-layered combination of elements and not as a singular entity. The city is read as a complex amalgamation of heritage, signage, cultural re-enactments, appropriations and human interactions.

The buildings seem to fade into the background and what emerges is a complex layering of fine grain elements- signs, decorations, furniture, cables, etc. These ephemeral elements add to the vitality and intensity of Footscray’s street life.

Shops often extend their commercial activites out into the public realm, using the footpaths as extensions of their stores. The human scale of the buildings as well as the diversity of building heights is something which also contributes to the positive experience of the streetscape.

Variation in Scale

Strong relation with Streetscape

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Articulated Building Form

This drawing depicts the intensity and dynamism of the existing streetscape- with its changing awning height and contrast in signage, 199

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3.

African Hairdresser Nicholson Street, Footscray.

Within the central activity area exists a number of commercial enterprises that cater for specific cultural groups. Something that makes Footscray so important to particular ethnic groups are the products and services and how they are delivered in a culturally familiar way. For example, the Henok & Abreha barbershop caters specifically for african hair types and styles.

These culturally specific services usually become meeting places and spaces in which particular cultures congregate. From our observations, the space in front of the barbershop is often populated with African men and women who use the footpath as a place to converse.

The building itself is another example of a hybrid, multi-functional typology, and includes a hairdresser, foreign money exchange and multicultural grocery all within the same envelope.

Public Gathering Space

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Hybrid

This street corner is one of the most vibrant places within the central activity area. Henok Hairdresser acts as a meeting place, and services a number of the african community members.

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4.

Grocery/Pool Lounge/ Gymnasium Hopkins Street, Footscray.

This building houses a multitude of programme and is another example of the kinds of hybrid typologies which exist in Footscray’s central activity area. Although the original function of the building is not known, the building hosts a Pool Lounge, Gymnasium and Vietnamese Grocery.

The grocery operates on the ground floor whilst the other function exist on the first and second floors. Access to the Gym and Pool lounge is from the street. The grocery on the ground floor has seemingly altered the facade treatment to allow for goods to be sold from the outside. This is particularly interesting as it allows for goods to be visible from the street without restricting pedestrian footpath flows.

The colourful signage adds to vitality and intensity of the street and is written in both Vietnamese and English, catering for customers of different ethnicities.

Strong Visual Connection

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Engagement with streetscape

This building operates as a multifunction, multi use typology, providing a Snooker bar, Gymnasium and Vietnamese grocery.

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5.

Hellenic Building Multi-Purpose Commercial Leeds Street, Footscray.

Originally a Greek community building, this building demonstrates how, over time, buildings have been continually adapted to suit new functions and uses that come as new ethnic groups emerge.

The building acts as a complete hybrid, multi-functional building, hosting a chinese community centre, Vietnamese Restaurant and Retail outlet - all in the one envelope. On the ground floor, the restaurant’s signage adds to the activation and intensity of the street.

Menus are printed and stuck to the inside of the glass. People stop to investigate the menu and look inside.

The retail outlet (TTK Fashion) also uses the footpath to display products, once again blurring the boundaries between public and private. The first floor houses a chinese community association (Ethnic Chinese Happy Age Association of Victoria).

Hybrid

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Use of Signage

Originally a Greek building, the first floor operates as a Chinese community centre, whilst the ground floor is reserved for a Vietnamese restaurant and retail outlet.

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6.

Palace Royal MultiPurpose Commercial Leeds Street, Footscray.

The Palace Royal building also acts as a hybrid commercial/retail typology and houses both a Chinese restaurant and Clothing Store. From an architectural perspective, rather than housing a singular function, the building integrates a number of programmes and functions, into a singularly operating entity.

Like many of the other retail outlets, ‘True Beauty Fashion’ uses the footpath in front to conduct business and entice people into the shop.

Hybrid

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Use of Signage

Originally a greek building, the first floor operates as a Chinese community centre, whilst the ground floor is reserved for a Vietnamese restaurant and retail outlet.

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7.

Acupuncture Clinic Victoria Street, Footscray.

Throughout the ‘residential’ areas of Footscray exist a number of residential dwellings that have been converted into commercial outlets. What are seemingly residential dwellings in maps and planning overlays are often commercial in use or mixed with commercial activities. It is not until you look at the buildings at a finer scale that you realise how the residential typologies have been appropriated and adapted.

A mixed-use building, like the case of a this commercialresidential building commonly found in the surrounding residential neighbourhood, brings into consideration several aspects of scale, form and use: from an architectural perspective, the building contributes in reversing the effects of the separation of uses and social class through planning regulations. It is also inherently human scale and, as it is merely a programmatic change, the urban fabric remains.

The existence of this shop/house mixed typology, has been historically present in various cultures that emerged in different cities partly as an economic condition of living and working in the same place. It is clear from our observations that this particular typology results from an architectural transformation influenced by economic necessity as well as cultural adaptation.

Working and living presents a relation between accessibility and location through changes in building use and form. When nonresidential use is adopted in a dwelling, location becomes crucial and so too the price of accessibility in an urban neighbourhood. These types usually exist along the major pedestrian routes and on streets such as Leeds Street where public use is more frequent.

Human Scale

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Shop-House

This shophouse typology can be found throughout the residential areas of Footscray despite not formally being recognised in current planning overlays.

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8.

Footscray Market Irving/Leeds/Hopkins Streets, Footscray.

Footscray Market is the most culturally significant building in the suburb- acting as the life-source to many ethnic communities, namely Vietnamese. The building, consisting of 3 floors of carparking, contains hundreds of market stalls- with wares ranging from fresh produce to retail. The market is a vital piece of community infrastructurecatering for not only Footscray, but other suburbs of Western Melbourne.

Each of these stalls have been appropriated, adapted and added upon by their occupants. As such, the market acts as a ‘microcosm’ of the suburb at large- a reflection of the kinds of behaviours which have come to represent the uniquness of Footscray.

The greatest success of the market is its extension of the streetscapehaving multiple entry and exit points along its perimeter. This has ensured that the building is always directly connected to the activities which occur along the street- allowing it to become a representative cultural icon of the suburb.

Extension of the streetscape

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The Footscray Market is the life source of Footscray’s commercial precinct. It operates as a multifunctional, hybrid building typology and services a multiplicity of cultures, local business and people.

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9.

Grocery/Bus Shelter Paisley Street, Footscray.

What is commonly seen throughout Footscray is an innovative appropriation of available urban infrastructure and a negotiation of property and space with other people. Everyday this Grocery store sets up a platform - made of crates and boxes and custom shelving – in which fruit and vegetables are displayed in a market style manner.

Acts of appropriation exist throughout Footscray’s public realm and not only aim to satisfy immediate needs of the person/group but are emblematic of a failure in the current system to satisfy their needs economically, socially or culturally. Shops quite commonly appropriate the sidewalk in order to capitalize on pedestrian flows and foot traffic. This not only adds to the intensity and liveliness of the streetscape but represents an attempt by individuals to engage and shape their environments.

Architecturally speaking, the building itself is merely a shell in which individuals have adapted and appropriated. The awning, although not of architectural merit, creates an arcade-like enclosure which has a profound effect on the experiential qualities of the street. The contents of the shop spill out of the entry and onto the footpath in front. Fine grain signage in both Vietnamese and English decorate the shop window.

Arcade-like enclosure

Appropriation

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Visual connection to streetscape

As another hybrid typology, this fruit shop has appropriated the back of the public bus shelter.

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10.

Street Vendors Leeds Street, Footscray.

The nature of retail goods and the manner in which they are displayed in the streets is another manifestation of the migrant presence and is central to the character of Footscray. The informal nature of some of the trading is not only a reenactment of cultural practice, but in some cases a necessity- due to socio economic disadvantage.

The spatial and socio-economic implications are reflected in the way good are sold on the streets. Cheaper goods are often displayed informally, outside shops and along particular streets with high foot traffic. Chinese and Vietnamese traders can be seen catering for the large South-East Asian population, and successfully transform Leeds Street and Hopkins Street into market-style commercial precincts.

Our observations tell us that the majority of goods are sold in a way that is culturally familiar to them. A number of the informal street traders own shops within the commercial precinct but choose to sell their goods on the street, capitalising on the pedestrian flows. The following study documents a few of the street traders that operate along Leeds Street on weekends.

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This man owns a shop nearby.

He takes advantage of the pedestrain traffic and sells his goods from the street furniture.

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This man owns a shop nearby. He takes advantage of the pedestrain traffic and sells his goods from the street furniture.

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This man owns a shop nearby. He takes advantage of the pedestrain traffic and sells his goods from the street furniture.

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This man owns a shop nearby. He takes advantage of the pedestrain traffic and sells his goods from the street furniture.

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2D: Thesis

#1 THESIS STATEMENT TAHJ ROSMARIN #2 THESIS STATEMENT JAMES CONNOR

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Thesis Statement.

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Tahj Rosmarin. s731906.

WEEK TEN TAHJ ROSMARIN #s731906

The thesis aims at investigating the vast architectural potential of ‘informal’ architecture- within the context of prevailing formal methods of creating architecture.

While working with urban informality across research and design environments, it has become evident to me that many aspects of informality provide viable and innovative solutions in dealing with complex architectural problems.

The thesis will explore answers to questions such as; what can the formal city learn from the informal? Are there aspects of informality which provide superior alternatives to the way we create architecture and cities? How can these aspects of informality be introduced and embedded into an existing Australian architectural and urban context?

The first part of the thesis begins with research into the field of informality at a conceptual scale- commencing with attempts to uncover and clarify the structure of an informal ‘pattern language’1.

The research will dissect the phenomenon of ‘informality’ through a particularly architectural lens- concluding with a ‘lexicon of informality’, which aims to separate the research into a series of architectural processes, methodologies and outcomes. Within this research, precedent attempts at creating a (in)formal architectural language will be documented.

1

‘Referring to ‘A Pattern Language’, Christopher Alexander

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Thesis Statement.

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Tahj Rosmarin. s731906.

The second part of the thesis will apply the outcomes of this research to the suburb of Footscray in Melbourne as a case-study. Footscray, an inner-city Melbourne suburb made up of a collection of vibrant multicultural social groups, is undergoing a process of rapid urbanisation and urban renewal. The incoming tide of developer driven projects and its resistance is exposing the huge flaws of Melbourne’s top-down planning approach, as multi-storey developments have kick-started the process of gentrification, and in turn begun the transformation and eventual demolition of Footscray’s sensitive social structures and existing built environment.

The thesis proposal acts as a direct retaliation to the current methodology of urban development underway in Footscray. Through an analysis of the suburb’s informal environment (with existing social networks and spatial conditions intensively documented), the thesis will present an alternative case for the suburb. Through applying these ‘unorthodox’ methods of documentation, the research will aim to give significance to the true elements of Footscray’s character which are currently being undermined. Can the lessons we have learnt from ‘informality’ help define a new future for Footscray?- whereby the communities who have directly contributed to the suburb’s vitality, are empowered and given the tools to continue to contribute in their future.

The thesis will use Footscray Market as a testing ground for these ideas. Through layering this essential piece of social infrastructure with additional public programme, the proposal will aim to provide opportunities for positive social development into the future.

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Thesis Statement.

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James Connor s727033.

WEEK TEN JAMES CONNOR #s727033

In an era of privatised mega-developments, our urban environments are being destroyed in the name of capital.

This neoliberal capitalist economy leaves us as spectators, passively observing the destruction of our cities, witnessing the very fabric of the city become a characterless, monotonous metropolis. Economic expansion has been paramount in prevailing development processes and increases in capital lie at the heart of every developer’s agenda. Rapid transformation, land value increases and gentrification perpetuate the expulsion of local communities.

Local populations, integral agents in the production of dynamic and vibrant urban character, are being relegated to the urban peripheries in substitute of a monocultural middleclass society. Critiquing these manifestations of Australia’s inequitable housing market, this thesis aims to challenge and provide an alternative to Australia’s existing modes of development.

In researching informal urbanism it has become clear that many aspects of informality provide viable and innovative solutions in dealing with complex architectural problems.

The thesis will raise questions such as; what can the formal city learn from the informal? Are there aspects of informality which provide superior alternatives to the way we create architecture and cities? How can these aspects of informality be introduced and embedded into an existing Australian architectural and urban context?

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Thesis Statement.

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James Connor s727033.

Faced with development pressure and endowed with existing social capital, Footscray will serve as a site for this architectural exploration. Dissecting current planning schemes and regulatory systems, this thesis will provide an alternative way of viewing the suburb, testing an alternative logic of urban transformation. The in-depth study of Footscray’s existing social networks, cultural practices and patterns of urbanism will support the hypothesis that a more sustainable and inclusive paradigm of urban development can be introduced. Adopting principles from informal urbanism, this new development model will aim to empower existing informal activities and integrate the local population into the inevitable regeneration of the suburb. This thesis will articulate spatial, economic, social and cultural dimensions into a multi-scalar strategy for Footscray.

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This publication, ‘Patterns of Footscray’ marks the second research component of the thesis. The book begins by decoding the context of the Australian city as an urban transplant of European origin. The city of Melbourne is then contextualised, highlighting the undeniable influence immigration has had upon defining the city’s unique urban character. The impending threat of gentrification upon multi-culturalism is then explained through using the suburbs of Collingwood and Carltonboth areas of Melbourne which have, and are in the process of immense cultural change.

The second half of the book focuses upon the suburb of Footscray in an attempt to decode its unique pattern language. A brief historical and cultural overview are presented before an in-depth analysis into the existing conditions of the suburb are mapped and explained.

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