Lake Residences

Lake Wendouree
Ballarat, Victoria
Work in Progress

The provision of public housing in Melbourne has been a long and debatable issue which first emerged in the nineteenth century after the recession of the 1890’s. Inner city residential areas which had rapidly established following Melbourne’s settlement had now become overcrowded, dilapidated, and unsanitary with many dwellings falling beyond repair. After 50 years of government reviews and advocacy by social welfare activists the Victorian State Government created the Housing Commission of Victoria (HCV) in 1938. The brief interruption of World War 2 curtailed the Commission’s initial plans which needed to meet a large public housing waiting list and post war migration boom when Melbourne’s population increased by over a quarter.

The Housing Commission (HCV) initially embarked upon a broad development program which was mostly dispersed, low scale, single dwellings located on new green field estates on Melbourne’s periphery and throughout regional Victoria.

(Howe 1988) However, by the mid 1950’s the Housing Commission would pivot toward developing plans for high-density, high-rise towers within the inner-city suburbs of nineteenth century terrace houses which had been declared as slums and therefore considered in need of ‘Urban Renewal’.

Key to this high-density solution appears to have manifest from an international tour and report by the HCV Deputy Commissioner Jack P Gaskin and Chief Technical Officer Ray Burkitt in 1958. Whilst the significance of this report has been well documented (see Howe/Dalton/Tibbits1988 ) what appears less critically discussed until now is access to an archive of over six hundred images which accompanied this report. This image collection was ‘considered a valuable adjunct’ by the report’s authors at the time which also suggests that they formed a key resource for the Commission planners in developing their high-rise tower plans. This also appears contrary to the perception of the HCV at the time by early researchers but instead suggests the Commission planners participated in an environment which had a free-flowing exchange of ideas, plans, project details, visits, meetings and conferences between other planners, and consultants not just across Australia but Internationally.

This thesis proposes the wider implications of the report was a watershed pivot in an internationally recognized housing program which had a significant bearing over Melbourne and represents a unique period in the global context of Post War mass produced public housing.

The problems associated with providing public housing in Melbourne has long been debated. Substandard housing especially in the inner suburbs of Melbourne raised the concerns of politicians and welfare activists such as F. Oswald Barnett (Founder of the Methodists Babies Home) and Father Gerard Tucker (Brotherhood of St Laurence) in the 1930’s.

(Hayward 1996, Birch 2004)

The Housing Commission of Victoria (HCV) was created following a Royal Commission conducted by the Victorian Government in 1938 which identified thousands of inadequate ‘slum’ housing in the inner urban areas of Melbourne. (Housing Investigation and Slum Abolition Board 1937/ Royal Commission 1938). The Second World War curtailed much domestic building development with restrictions on domestic construction, materials & labour. (Jones 1971)  However, in the following post-war years, with higher birth rates and increased immigration added over a quarter of Melbourne’s population. (Freestone 2010) This created an urgent need to address a housing shortage, a problem so acute that thousands were forced to occupy a former Military Camp in Royal Park, a parkland to the city’s north which was then referred to as ‘The Camp Pell Slum’. (Howe 1988, Hayward 1996)

The initial work of the Housing Commission (HCV) focussed on developing new suburban garden housing estates mostly modelled upon English town planning ideals with one of the earliest developments ‘Garden City’ in Port Melbourne (see Figure 12). (Freestone 2010). Whilst the Commission constructed mostly single detached dwellings and cottages, they also developed low-rise walk-up flats, which for elderly couples they referred to rather patronizingly as ‘Darby and Joan Apartments’ (HCV 1963) . Post war restrictions on materials, labour and high building costs for traditional construction in timber and brick necessitated the Commission to consider alternate methods for their housing program. With the support of the Commonwealth Government, the HCV acquired a former armaments factory at Holmesglen and which became the Concrete Housing Project (CHP) initially utilizing a locally patented construction system in precast concrete. (1808/ P0000/A11 1956-1970) This system became highly utilized for new houses in the Commission’s greenfield estates in Broadmeadows, Heidelberg and Norlane amongst many other developments across regional Victoria. (HCV 1963)  By 1956 the Concrete Housing Project (CHP) had manufactured over 10,000 houses which marked a significant milestone in the delivery of public dwellings across Victoria. (Dalton 1988, MHCV 1990)

However successful the Commission may have considered its efforts up to this time, issues associated with the innercity slums persisted. An area of over 1000 acres (405 Ha) affecting 35,000 inhabitants was formally declared slum areas under planning powers which allowed the Commission to acquire dwellings considered unfit for habitation. (Tibbits 1988) The legislated power of the HCV advanced its reclamation program for slum removal without a clear or detailed analysis of its methods, or at least one that was clear to informing the public. (Troy 1999) Many property owners were left with an exceedingly difficult dilemma to either stay or watch their neighbourhood fall into further disrepair as the HCV acquired properties around them. The slum reclamations would plant the seeds of discontent leading to disparate groups of inner city residents engage in a new political activism by forming Resident Action Groups across a number of suburbs directly affected by the HCV including Fitzroy, North Melbourne and Carlton amongst others. (Howe, Nichols et al. 2014) This episode has been documented by many researchers some of whom were directly involved in the activist causes such as George Tibbits which stopped the slum reclamation in the early 1970’s through legal action at the Brook’s Estate (Tibbits 1988). Later the framework of a separate agency such as the Housing Commission would end when responsibility for public housing would become part of Housing Ministry.

After almost 50 years researchers re-considered the role of the Commission and the actions which led to its dealings around addressing Slum Reclamation and the Tower Program which ultimately followed. (Howe 1988, Tibbits 1988, Howe, Nichols et al. 2014)

The use of the graphic image was a recurrent device used by advocates such as Barnett and the Brotherhood of St Laurence to illustrate the scale and plight of poverty and slums in Melbourne. (Birch 2004) As counterpoint the Commission would also use photographic media and later film to demonstrate the apparent success of its solution. Repeated use of the same images often, was used by advocates both within the HCV and others such as the Brotherhood of St Laurence as a political tool which continued well in the late 1960’s. (Birch 2004) The HCV produced short films such as the ‘The City Speaks’ to not only demonstrate the apparent success of its high rise projects but to solicit further Commonwealth and private funding to complete its vision. (Film 1965) The Gaskin Burkitt collection draws a distinct lineage from the completed overseas of mass public housing as examples which the HCV visited to the final realized projects in Melbourne.

In 1954, the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) produced a report ‘What’s wrong with Victoria’s Public Housing’ which stated over 35,000 people were living at that time in conditions considered ‘inadequate or so deteriorated as to endanger the health, safety, and morals of its inhabitants’. (BSL 1954). This had followed a series of newspaper articles and advocacy by professional organisations, referred by Mills as the ‘expert’s campaign’, such as the Town and Country Planning Association (T&CPA) and the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects (RVIA). (Mills 2010) The issue of the slums and what to do about them preoccupied city planners was widely discussed, disseminated, and debated across post war Europe and North America. (Davis 2013) In the cities across the US, Slum Removal would later be interchanged or substituted for the term ‘Urban Renewal’ and was admired by the HCV as a model later for its own designs for Melbourne. (8211/P1 1958, Davis 2013)

Following the election of the Bolte Government in 1955 a review of the Housing Commission’s operations followed  by a Royal Commission in 1956. (Dalton 1988, MHCV 1990) The outcome of these reviews as well as other influences both outside and within the Housing Commission set the scene to further address the neglected inner-city slums. Much research has characterized this period as one of transition with the replacement of the early social reformers such as Barnett and fellow Commissioner Oswald Burt with ‘technocrats and bureaucrats.’  Those that followed like Jack Gaskin, became focussed upon technical solutions rather than a broader social program as advocated by Commissioner Frances Pennington which many considered had not been adequately addressed in the first twenty years of HCV’s operation.(Howe, Tibbitts 1988 and Mills 2010)

In 1958, the Victorian Housing Commission Deputy Director, Jack P Gaskin and Chief Technical Officer, Ray Burkitt went on a formal international tour, on behalf of the Housing Minister and HCV commissioners. This would be the first of three such official tours which specifically investigated key issues relating to mass public high-rise housing in Europe, USA, and New Zealand. (8211/P1 1958) The Gaskin Burkitt tour covered numerous housing developments with a particular focus upon high rise apartment building, slum reclamation and construction methods most notably utilizing concrete precast manufacture. The records of this report also contained have a wealth of materials, including over six hundred images in 35mm colour slides which formed a ‘valuable adjunct’ to the report. (8211/P1 1958)

The HCV high rise tower program represented a significant moment in Melbourne’s history and in particular how the Victorian State Government addressed public housing needs at that time. The Commission was widely recognized nationally and internationally for its ambitious program. From 1961 to 1972, 45 high rise buildings consisting of 7834 apartments was built, which represented a significant component of the Victorian public housing stock at that time. (MHCV 1990) According to Howe, four thousand privately owned dwellings were acquired and demolished in the process whereby many original inhabitants did not ever return to their neighbourhoods. (Howe 2007)

This research paper will reconsider further the influence of the Gaskin Burkitt Report in light of access to six hundred scanned images directly associated to the report which until now has not been available to researchers previously and further reconsider the relationships within and outside the Housing Commission of Victoria during the high-rise towers program. The relationship of the Commission to other Public Housing Authorities was considerable however this exchange network also developed across international connections in the UK, Europe, North America and even SE Asia. These key actors were committed to sharing ideas, innovations and exploring all facets of how to tackle the inner-city urban slums with the best use of technology available to enact their plans.

This study has undertaken a review of records held by the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) and archives of the State Library of Victoria (SLV). Whilst the Gaskin Burkitt Report of 1958 has been referred frequently in research especially by Howe, Dalton, et al in the late 1980’s after the Housing Commission’s demise and more recently by Mills (2010). It would appear there has been limited dissertation of the slide images as they were not placed in archives at the time of the Commissions end in 1984 but were retained within the Ministry of Housing own files and various transformations up to 2014 when they were finally placed in the custody of the SLV. The emergence of these images illustrates international influences in the HCV through which further formal overseas visits, attendance at conferences were undertaken together with correspondence between planners, senior bureaucrats, academics and consultants involved in mass public housing. Within a few short years the Housing Commission developed a reputation not just within Australia but internationally for its ambitious high-rise program. Such correspondence was not limited to public bureaucrats but also included a wider network of architects, academics, engineers and building companies often supplying designs, patented construction systems or other technical details which could be incorporated in the HCV program. Some of these exchanges also led to a wider questioning of the role of the HCV and what was the most appropriate and suitable solution for its ambitious program.

The first chapter of this thesis is a literature review with consideration of the international influences in Melbourne in the 1950’s and 1960’s relating to public housing and slum clearing reclamation. The second chapter offers a background and historical focus of the early progress in Victoria (or lack thereof) for public housing provision in metropolitan Melbourne. The third chapter specifically examines relevant parts of the Gaskin Burkitt Report especially in light of the availability of the images which accompanied the report. The Fourth chapter and conclusion of this thesis will focus on the how these international influences manifested within Housing Commission at this time which was critical to what was to follow. Key research materials are based upon documentary archival files and relevant research undertaken at the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) at North Melbourne. Further archive information held at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne has also provided a valuable background held in historical records. The author is most grateful for the assistance of staff at the Public Records Office of Victoria, (PROV) as much of the immense number of files of the Housing Commission are difficult to access or review for specific research purposes. The image files of the Gaskin Burkitt Report are held by the State Library (SLV) however they are not individually catalogued with limited detail as to the author or subject. Many are mixed in with images of later overseas official tours and HCV projects then under construction such as in Collingwood and Fitzroy. They also demonstrate a further narrative which was not limited to a handful of individuals but across wider networks.

Chapter 1 Literature Review. The International influences in public housing in Melbourne in the 1950’s and 1960’s

In 2023, the Victorian State Government unexpectedly announced the decision to demolish all forty-four high-rise public housing towers constructed by the Housing Commission Victoria (HCV) in Melbourne in the 1960’s. (Victoria 2023) It is certainly clear the HCV Towers which have stood as ‘isolated sentinels’ since that time represent the best and worst of modernist urban planning and design in the mid-20^th century and therefore different jurisdictions have various attitudes towards their preservation and ongoing maintenance. In this thesis I examine a period of intense international contact which allows me to briefly reflect on the utter lack of interest internationally that currently exists in the Victorian Government’s position and its decision to demolish the towers.

The most notable research in recent years is the detailed and considered analysis by Peter Mills (2010), in his doctoral thesis appropriately titled ‘Refabricating the Towers: The Genesis of the Victorian Housing Commission’s high-rise estates to 1969’. (Mills 2010) Mills research questions the origins of the high-rise towers program and how they came to be realized. His conclusion, suggests the towers are a ‘testimony to compromise, collaboration, exigency and incrementalism than to any utopian dreaming.’ (Mills 2010) There is a complex narrative to their realisation and that they developed over a longer period of time involving a number of groups and associations grappling with the post war challenges facing the city and nation as whole. Mills suggests a ‘mining’ of the actor network theory (ANT) which has become relevant for social researchers since Latour’s theories in the 1990’s.  However, what was the extent of this social network within the HCV both within and outside which determined their program and was there also a path dependency narrative to this discussion. By the early 1950’s there was considerable pressure to resolve Melbourne’s blight of slums which often was raised publicly through local newspapers and professional organisations such as the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects (RVIA) and Town and Country Planning Association (T&CPA). (Mills 2010) These debates often involving the local print media, The Age and Herald often published speculative proposals for a viable solution to the slum reclamation program, which was not confined within the Housing Commission at the time. Mills describes this period as the ‘expert’s campaign,’ which can best described into two broad camps with one championing a high density, vertical solution with high rise towers versus a lower scale, walk up apartments or proponents of ‘horizontal’ solution. (Mills 2010) The ‘horizontalists’ included those within the HCV’s Architects Advisory Panel (AP) such as Best Overend as well as Planners in the MMBW in the Melbourne Statutory Plan in 1954. (see Figure 5 & 6) (MMBW 1954) Plans produced by the Architect’s Panel (AP) in 1951 and 1953 contributed to the flow of ideas with walk up apartments 5-6 storeys high within open parkland. (HCV 1963, Mills 2010)

Others like Architect Robin Boyd campaigned for a ‘vertical solution’ and wrote many articles including one in The Age newspaper which outlined pathways for the Commission to undertake its work. (Boyd 1952) Another Architect and former Local Councillor Les Perrott Senior having returned from an overseas trip in the late 1940’s raised similar arguments. Perrot would later prepare the Carlton Redevelopment Plan, which like Boyd and Romberg with their Bourke Street proposal was preoccupied with separating traffic thus creating pedestrianized public spaces which had so impressed Gaskin and Burkitt especially in the UK and later the US on their study tour. (8211/P1 1958)

Ultimately the ‘verticalist’ solution prevailed but it was not a straight path solution directly attributable to Gaskin Burkitt’s Report. Mills reveals in considerable detail other complicating factors, notwithstanding the persistent attitude of the early reformers like Barnett who envisaged a more suburban solution with an environmental sensitivity. (Howe 1988) Much of the research bears testament to this view over the course of many years however with the added benefit of the Gaskin Burkitt Report’s images we can see more directly the links to what was to follow later. This was especially notable with the first tower project at Emerald Hill in South Melbourne which attempted to resemble the UK New Town projects such as Harlow Town in Essex with its mix of lower height apartment blocks surrounding a single highrise tower. These estates resembled a more nuanced modernist solution less slavishly adopting a Corbusian orthodoxy but more suited to the English town ideal and as illustrated by the UK Ministry of Housing Handbook. (Government 1958) There appears a frequent and common misconception to label many of these urban contemporary modernist schemes as fully Corbusian rather than consider the variety and different projects in their realization as was the case with the Kiel Housing Scheme in Antwerp, Belgium and which had also impressed Gaskin and Burkitt.

Other groups within this loosely connected network were the MMBW with record of their discussion of their collaboration especially when the HCV Architect Design Research (CAB) office who had requested the sharing of any research materials of the slum areas which had been surveyed by the MMBW when preparing their Plan for Melbourne in 1954. (MMBW 1954, 1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) Local councils were also involved and contributed not only land but finance, notably the City of Melbourne and inner-city Councils such as Prahran and South Melbourne. (HCV 1963) However, there were limitations as to the involvement of local councils both politically, philosophically and throughclear objectives as to the best outcome for its delivery. (Howe 1988) Further networks included local business interest groups such as the City Development Branch (CDB) a lobby group formed in the early 1950’s who campaigned for redevelopment of the inner city. (Burke 1988) At the same time the inner-city residential areas were also being lost to expansion of industrial factories which had been identified in the MMBW Metropolitan Plan in 1954.  (MMBW 1954)

Further materials within PROV archives have provided additional insight to further reflect upon the early research and critique of the HCV Tower program which initially involved professionals, and academics who had been involved in community action against them such as Tibbits and the Howes. (Tibbits 1988, Howe, Nichols et al. 2014) This occurred from outside the HCV in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and further reviewed after the Commission’s end in the early 1980’s by Howe, Dalton and Tibbits. (Howe 1988) Many of these records were not available to Howe and others until much later and thus where Mills considerable analysis provides greater detail and insight. The emergence of the image files of the 1958 Gaskin Burkitt Report since then adds further to the ongoing discussion and thus widens the narratives which developed during the HCV’s activities in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Whilst also covered by Mills, a key archival source for my research at PROV has been a loosely arranged file simply titled ‘Interstate and Overseas’ which was managed by Grahame Shaw within the Design Research, Chief Architects Branch (CAB). This archival file has within it a collection of correspondence, memos, hand sketches by Shaw which demonstrate information from network connections which were compiled to assist the Tower program not just within the CAB but also others within the HCV’s operations such as the Commissioners, Engineers and prefabrication construction program, at the Concrete House Project (CHP) in Holmesglen.

Shaw’s position as research architect has been most helpful as he was also infamously co-author to the Shaw Davey Report in 1962, or so called ‘Windscreen Survey’ by its detractors. (Howe, Nichols et al. 2014) This report was roundly criticised for determining a slum area of approximately 1000 acres, by cataloguing the external appearance of dwellings from the author’s car as they drove through the narrow streets of Fitzroy and Collingwood. (Howe, Nichols et al. 2014)

However other files managed by Shaw, reveal a far more insightful thinking such as a paper he presented to the Australian Institute of Planners Conference (AIP) in 1965 (Shaw 1965). Most telling of Shaw’s correspondence is the collegial and collaborative manner which included requests for specific details, specifications, especially costings, and other technical queries with interstate or overseas counterparts in public housing authorities or consultants and construction companies also involved in public housing. These networks also seemed co-operative and sympathetic to each of their own respective work and local contexts in which they were practicing.

However, it should be noted there appeared little in terms of evaluating the Commission’s design work from the user or public tenant’s point of view. As observed by Jones, some Commissions operate without extensive written records of procedures. In some cases, there is variation even among departments within the one Commission. Apart from a brief discussion of the urban planning role of the HCV there was limited discussion (at least publicly) of the effects of the Commissions’ policies on urban development, although they undoubtedly do have an influence in this field. As such early research of this period generated the basis for the political and social reforms which were to come later. (Jones 1971) Architectural journals in Australia also had limited discussion at the time although of note was an article by Ray Burkitt in

Architecture in Australia magazine in the June 1965 edition. (Burkitt 1965) As could be expected from a technical officer, Burkitt’s article focussed entirely upon the structural details and concrete precast system employed in a 20 storey flat with little to no other discussion of the design, social or urban design implications.

The key interest for this minor thesis has been to investigate international influences which contributed to the creation of these high-rise towers as a solution for Melbourne’s public housing needs, and in particular how these ideas manifest from the multiple pathways and influence of experts, professionals, and bureaucrats at the time. (Ward 2000)  A key influence of the tower program has been attributed to the period when senior members of the Housing Commission of Victoria embarked on a series of formal overseas tours to investigate key issues of providing mass public housing.

In 1958, the Housing Commission Victoria (HCV) deputy director Jack P Gaskin and HCV senior technical officer, Ray Burkitt embarked upon a 5-month international tour investigating overseas examples of public housing in Europe, USA, and New Zealand. The considered itinerary of this tour appears focused heavily on technical aspects of housing types, high rise development, slum removal, uses of concrete especially precast and governance related issues managing public housing estates. (Gaskin Burkit 1958). Unusually the authors included over 600, 35mm colour slides which formed a ‘valuable adjunct’ to their report. (Gaskin Burkit 1958 PROV1808). What were they looking at? These images covered an array of projects in both scale and breadth, as well as the construction methods utilizing new concrete techniques of the time. (see Figures 29 – 32) They also focus upon unexpected details ranging from children’s playgrounds, communal drying areas, or car parks.

Reviewing the Gaskin Burkitt Report directly has led to research of other documentation held at the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) and the historic archives collection in the State Library of Victoria (SLV)  These records include, correspondence, drawings and minutes of meetings held by the head of the Housing Commission Victoria (HCV) from the 1950’s to the late 1960’s (PROV 1955-1969). Expanding upon consideration of this Report and especially the image collection has revealed the extent of the work the Commission was particularly concerned with at that time. (PROV; Hayward 1996) This included an extensive program of acquisition of existing housing properties considered inadequate for habitation, and which became known as ‘slum clearing’ with these sites consolidated to allow for the new high-rise towers which followed. (PROV 1958-1959; Tibbits 1988)

Mills thesis is also a further consideration of the actor network of committed bureaucrats within HCV but also reconciled within the prevailing narrative of those who had fiercely opposed its program. (Mills 2012) Whilst key individuals were critical in developing the Commission’s program from the early reformers to the technocrats in the HCV’s bureaucracy there was an evolving dynamic which did not originally contemplate what eventually transpired. (Dalton 1988) Dalton focussed upon the corporate structures the Housing Commission with the argument that the Engineers and HCV’s Architect were involved in some form of ideological opposition where the technocrats (engineers) ultimately prevailed. (Dalton 1988) But arguably this path dependency was not exclusive to the public mass housing program of this period; Australian cities have followed a trajectory which has seemed inevitable since their establishment with a governance which has largely been determined by greater market based solutions eventually creating the tall buildings in the centre with sprawling low density outer residential suburbs to the periphery. (Troy 1999)

Mass housing utilizing prefabricated production was promoted as the solution globally not just within Europe and North America, but Eastern Europe and former communist states of the Soviet Union. Numerous journals extolled the virtues of these grand planned estates, although it would only be a short few years later that these very same projects would face greater criticism (Mumford 2002) These doubts intensified following the publication of ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ by Jane Jacobs (Jacobs and Epstein 1961) The Housing Commission of Victoria a(HCV)  would also face increasing resistance which became particularly intense with its reclamation program finally ending with street protests and legal court action at the Brooks Crescent development in the early 1970’s (Howe & Nicholls 2014; Tibbits 1988) Renate Howe and others such as Nicholls have produced a series of publications cataloguing this community activism and impacts upon local inner-city communities. (Howe 1988, (Howe, Nichols et al. 2014)

The changing nature of public housing and lack of investment over many years now faces a new housing affordability crisis with waiting lists for public tenants at a worse state today than at any time since the Second World War. An underlying issue from the Commission’s formation led by the reformist zeal of Barnett and his photography was to focus upon the task of clearing the slums. The international context and how modernist thinking was reinforced by the clarity of Burkitt’s images of new housing estates which embraced high rise density as the solution. The documentary value of photography as explored by Birch also became a powerful tool used repeatedly by others such as the Brother of St Laurence in the early 1950’s.(Birch 2004) The Housing Commission would often use images as ‘propaganda’ producing not only graphic photographic documents with the appropriately titled ‘Enemy at the Gate’ but films such as ‘The City Speaks’ in 1965 which advanced the successful solution of its program. (Film 1965) It was also used as a tool for advocacy for greater funding from the Federal Government and private investment as the Commission claimed at the time without which its current rate of slum clearing would take more than forty years to be realized. (HCV 1966)

The Commission was originally not intended to be a large bureaucracy when established by the Dunstan Government in its formative years and therefore relied upon external advice from its inception with the Architect’s Advisory Committee which was established following a national design competition for ‘Garden City’ in Fisherman’s Bend (see Figure 12). (1808/ P0000/A11 1956-1970, HCV 1963) Whilst the winners of this competition declined to join the panel as originally intended a panel consisting of, John Scarborough, Frank Heath, and Best Overend became the inaugural expert group. (Howe, Nichols et al. 2014)

The Architects Panel (AP) contributed directly working on the Commission’s new estates in Heidelberg and Broadmeadows, as well as developing other proposals. (Dalton 1988, Mills 2010) Following the end of the Second World War, focus again turned to the prevalence of Melbourne’s slums  which had been limited due to a restriction on their demolition until 1950. This had been led by various groups ranging from local Councils, the ‘experts,’ professionals and academics and media. Mills refers to this period as to the ‘expert’s campaign,’ as there was considerable debate both within and outside the Commissions to the most suitable solution given the likely constraints and access to funds provided through a new Commonwealth State Housing Agreement.  Notably local architects like Leslie Perrott Senior, was a keen supporter of the ‘vertical solution’ having made a visit to Europe was countered by others like Best Overend whose own ideas favoured lower height row housing or walk up apartment complexes more closely aligned with the MMBW’s opinion in the Melbourne Plan in 1954. (MMBW 1954)

The MMBW also supported the dispersal and spread of urban areas rather than more concentrated development in the city centre as a defence strategy than preferred urban ideal and which was more closely aligned with the enduring garden city planning ideas. (MMBW 1954, Freestone, Amati et al. 2016) The MMBW considered vertical solutions too costly to suit a wider need and therefore would be limited to an upper middle-class niche. Melbourne’s earliest private development of apartment towers would bear testament to this argument with the first Edgewater Tower in St Kilda in 1961 by Mordechi Behnisch (Figure 7) and the Domain Flats (Figure 8) by Robin Boyd built the following year in South Yarra.

In 1956, with the completion of the Heidelberg Olympic Games Village, signalled a major change of policy following a review and then Royal Commission undertaken by the new Bolte Government. The Architect’s Panel (AP) was disbanded and in its place the Commission created its own internal architect’s office, Chief Architect’s Branch (CAB) which was headed by Architect Reg Prentice and joined shortly thereafter by Architect Grahame Shaw who was to head Design Research. Under Shaw’s direction Design Research became a key conduit for compiling relevant details whilst freely offering advice to other public authorities throughout Australia and overseas. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) Shaw was a keen observer of international journals especially the Architect’s Journal which had undertaken a massive public housing program. Curiously early criticism of the new housing estates which was emerging internationally was not something which appeared to concern the Commission’s designers and would later fuel the public rejection. Whilst Shaw was busily requesting details from various publishers or housing authorities’ criticism of these modernist ‘experiments’ were being raised at international conferences, including CIAM 1956 and architectural magazines like Progressive Architecture. (Reese and Rowan 1961, Mumford 2002)

For reputedly such an important report by Gaskin and Burkitt which was a key impetus for the High-Rise Tower Program as suggested by Dalton and Tibbits there appears little other direct reference to it other than in a single meeting of the Housing Commissioners in early 1959 (8212/P0001 1957-1958) As noted an extract in minutes on February 9^th 1959 (Meeting 1437 – 09.02.1959), ‘Commissioner Gaskin, formally presented his report and after being complimented by the Chairman, Commissioner Ashman requested copies of the report be made available to the Engineering, Architect’s Branch and Director of the Concrete House Project accordingly’. (8212/P0001 1957-1958)

Dalton (1988) suggests this report was a significant driver of why the HCV adopted high rise development. (Dalton; Howe 1988). However, Gaskin Burkitt’s conclusions appear more nuanced, suggesting a greater mix of lower rise and highrise development for Melbourne public housing needs. (Gaskin Burkit 1958; Dalton 1988) Further Hayward suggests arrangements between the Commonwealth Government and Victorian Government at the time had considerable bearing on HCV’s commitment to high rise. (Hayward 1996) The early Commonwealth State Housing Agreements (CSHA) had restricted developments to be no more than three storeys. (Arthurson and Darcy 2016)

What is most clear from the Gaskin Burkitt Report was that further study tours were then undertaken, and these focussed upon further construction methods and management of public housing. As the reputation and scale of the Housing Commissions projects gained momentum in the early 1960’s the archival files reveal letters of introduction from local, interstate and overseas based professionals, architects, planners, academics, and bureaucrats. Many were seeking further details about the Commissions program and in particular building costs, densities, and construction details. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) This exchange was especially active between the Housing authorities across the country including New South Wales, South Australia, and Perth. There appears limited research about this and further international relations at this time as the greater focus appears to be upon the engagement with local communities and their impact. A number of researchers focus upon the narrative of a detached bureaucracy unaware or dismissive of the impact of its actions upon the local communities. (Costello 2005) HCV Commissioners minutes suggest that at times they were aware of individual dwellings and owners who raised legitimate concerns that their homes had been unfairly deemed uninhabitable despite undertaking recent refurbishment. (8212/P0001 1957-1958) There appears evidence wholesale clearance areas was preferable and especially as experienced by Gaskin Burkitt on their tour in the US. (Dalton 1988)

The ideas relating to housing undertaken by the Housing Commission appears closely aligned with political and economic ideas promoting greater home ownership than what otherwise had been considered in Europe which maintained a greater focus upon publicly owned apartment dwellings. (Hayward 1996, Nicholls 2014).

The influence of planning in the UK especially after the Second World War, led to the creation of new Planning Schemes across Australia modelled on Patrick Abercombie and the London Metropolitan Plan in 1943. (Freestone, Amati et al. 2016) These plans provided for the growth of the city with the immigrant population boom however details regarding housing needs did not include high-rise apartments as a solution at this time (MMBW 1954). Therefore, it is apparent there was a tension between what do substandard housing within the inner suburbs whilst catering for a growing population by decentralizing and expand through dispersal of the city. (Shaw 1968; Hayward 1996) The MMBW Melbourne Plan of 1954 provides an interesting aspect to the housing need of this time. Namely that the preference for housing type should be varied with a mix of detached dwelling, maisonettes, row houses with low height apartment dwellings. (see Figure 5 & 6) As confirmed by Gaskin Burkitt’s own investigation later high rise was considered more expensive especially accommodating elevators. The MMBW rightly predicted high rise would be limited to only more affluent areas and the first apartments were mostly concentrated around South Yarra and St Kilda. This post war era is notable for the quality of some of this work and thus its attention rather than as a housing form to address public housing needs.

Grahame Shaw would later comment at a national planning conference that a key issue of tackling the slums of Melbourne was the lack of development within worst affected areas like Collingwood and Fitzroy, but instead private developers were replacing perfectly good housing with the new walk flats and apartment developments. (Shaw 1965) This observation also failed to recognize the changes that were already occurring with the wave of new migrants who were transforming areas like Carlton and would later resist the redevelopments proposed by the Perrot Report and later research by Michael Jones. (Jones 1971)

Finally international influences came not just from tours and exchanges but the arrival of émigré architects and academics who had trained in Europe arrived in Australia in 1930’s-40’s. As documented by Goad, the work of Earnest Fooks is one such example of a European trained Architect who engaged in early Housing Commission projects working in Frank Heath’s office from 1942 and argued for European styled housing solutions rather than follow English or North American influences. (Goad 2018) Also notable is the HCV Architect’s Branch referral to publications and published articles notably the RIBA Architect’s Journal (AJ) and research papers undertaken by local academics or housing authorities in UK and North America. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) This also leads to the other key aspect of public housing of the period, the influence of architectural theory and urbanism of the early twentieth century such as Le Corbusier and CIAM. Corbusian influences are regularly cited as the key driver of the mass housing throughout Europe and North America. Curiously, Gaskin and Burkin did not visit Le Corbusier’s hailed masterpiece and testimony to his urbanist ideals, Unite d’Habitation in Marseille completed in 1952.

Public housing has a particular social and political dimension, and this appears well represented by social literature noting the rise of community activism and awareness of cultural and heritage issues. (Howe: Nicholls 2014; Howe 1988) Scholarly research has focussed on the social aspects which originally considered the impacts of slum clearing and later the stigma which became attached to the HCV’s work of the 1960’s and persist to this day. (Howe 1988; Costanza 2018) This work also builds upon the common theme of the social reformists especially with the likes of Barnett and Burt and the other notable first Commissioner Frances Pennington who had studied in the US with a postgraduate degree in sociology.

Further refinement of my research explores primarily the public records of the State Government archives and further consider how the impact of the Gaskin Burkitt Report’s influence. There appears limited publication or critique of the Commissions work during the 1960’s with the exception of an article by Ray Burkitt in Architecture Australia in 1965. Interestingly Burkitt in his article focused essentially upon structural design and efficiency of using concrete panels made by the Concrete Housing Project without discussing the merits of its program and how it was providing new public housing. (Burkitt 1965)

The HCV appeared fascinated by destruction, and however as the Royal Commission in 1956 revealed the abilities of the reformists to tackle the slums was proving more difficult. The other aspect was once committed to the tower program there seemed little to detract the program from reconsidering their position. There appeared to be a series of competing aspects, the rising cost of land, population changes within the inner city ‘slum areas’ with increased industrialization as identified by the 1954 Melbourne Plan.

Chapter 2 Historical Background – Setting the Scene 

Since European settlement in 1837, the city of Melbourne experienced a significant economic and population boom especially following the discovery of gold in the 1850’s. The emergence of this sprawling metropolis dubbed ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ in the late nineteenth century however fell into economic decline by the 1890’s where inner urban residential areas of the city became concentrated with substandard housing and rising poverty.

One of the first inquiries into housing in Victoria occurred in 1913 by a select committee of the State Legislative Council of the Victorian Parliament. (Howe 1988) This committee produced a report ‘Housing People in the Metropolis’, noted that a large number of Melbourne’s population were living in deplorable conditions. Following the First World War, community activists such as F. Oswald Barnett, a devout Methodist, and organisations like the Brotherhood of St Lawrence, led by Father Tucker campaigned for better housing and lobbied support of Government action to address the ‘slum housing problem.’ (Howe 1988 & 2014). The motivation to confront the appalling conditions of the inner slums of Melbourne was led by social reformers, town planners, and sections of the labour movement. (Howe 1988) Barnett after having established the Methodist Babies Home in 1929, demonstrated an emerging political activism based upon the realisation that saving babies in slums was limited unless a more practical solution could be found to lift the whole family out of its home and demolish the slum, and move to a more open space environment in the suburbs. (Howe 1988) Barnet gave numerous talks and lectures using provocative images often of children within overcrowded dilapidated dwellings demonstrating the unsanitary conditions of Melbourne’s inner suburbs. Many attendees of Barnett’s talks felt emotionally moved by such lectures they responded to his presentation to concur with the state of the slums and support his advocacy. (Birch 2004) Birch provides an interesting account of Barnett’s photography as a deliberate and emotive manipulative device and power of media which provoked considerable community support including senior members of the State Government led by Premier Albert Dunstan. The Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) also used similar documentary evidence to present in stark detail the harsh realities of Melbourne’s inner-city slums. (Birch 2004) These methods would be repeated by both the HCV and Brotherhood for many years especially the Commission in the 1960’s as the Victorian lobbied for further funds to expand its program and achieve its slum clearing as quickly as possible and not the twenty or thirty years it was expected to take. (HCV 1966)

During the Great Depression in 1930’s slum areas became particularly acute with growing poverty which led the Victorian Government to support the establishment of a Housing Investigation and Slum Abolition Board in which Barnett was appointed deputy chairman. (Howe 1988) This marked a significant turning point when the Royal Commission recommended the establishment of the Housing Commission of Victoria (HCV) in 1938. (HCV 1963) The HCV set to work quickly developing plans for new housing estates across the then urban fringe of Melbourne such as in Heidelberg and Broadmeadows.(HCV 1963)

The impacts of the Second World War affected the ability of the Commission to tackle the inner city ‘slums’ due to a Commonwealth restriction on the demolition of any dwellings which was not lifted until 1950. (1808/P0000/A11 19561970) Further the  availability of building materials especially brick and timber had become significantly expensive and thus alternate means of construction methods were needed to be considered. Minutes of the Housing Commissioner’s meetings would often discuss comparative costs of construction and increasingly focussed upon pursuing the most effective construction methods at the time. (8212/P0001 1957-1958) This led the Housing Commission with the support of the Commonwealth Government, to acquire a former Armaments Factory in Holmesglen in which to house Commission’s own fabrication facility. The Concrete Housing Project (CHP) became a fundamental part of the Housing Commission’s work with a dedicated technical staff involved in the manufacture of prefabricated dwellings and solely focussed upon precast concrete panels. The systems employed by CHP allowed for the efficient and rapid erection of over four thousand dwellings, especially in the new Commission Estates such as Broadmeadows, Heidelberg, and Norlane. (HCV 1963, Tibbits 1988) Most of these dwellings were single storey detached houses however the Commission also embarked upon developing the inner-city areas with walk up apartments up to 2-4 storeys. (see Image) Following the recommendations of a Royal Commission in 1956 the Concrete House Project’s production was expanded to consider high rise, and so formal investigations were undertaken to visit overseas manufacturing plants and completed housing projects across the UK, Europe, and North America. (PROV 1808 1955 GB Report 1958) By 1959 the Commission was demolishing significant areas of the inner city and erecting up to three storey apartments however due to rising land value costs greater density and yields needed to be explored.

Dalton (1988) suggests the Gaskin Burkitt Report was therefore the significant driver for HCV adopting high rise development. (Dalton; Howe 1988). Notably co-author Jack Gaskin, who would later become Director of Housing was a powerful advocate for the high-rise and even toward the end of its program restated his support for the work he had been intimately involved in despite its rejection through the community activist’s campaigns. (Howe, Nichols et al. 2014) Initially Gaskin Burkitt’s Report offered conclusions which appear more nuanced, with recommendations for a greater mix of lower rise development for Melbourne public housing needs. (Gaskin Burkit 1958; Tibbits 1988 Dalton 1988) This has been further considered by Telford et al who suggest this report and evidence of what the Commission’s bureaucrats saw gave greater impetus for their agenda. (Telford et al 2022) Expanding upon this reappraisal of the Gaskin Burkitt Report and its relevance to the high-rise tower program has also revealed the extent of the work the Commission was particularly concerned with at that time. (PROV; Hayward 1996) This included an extensive program of acquisition of existing housing properties considered inadequate for habitation, and which became known as ‘slum clearing’. Some of these were later the sites for the new high-rise towers which were to follow. (PROV 1958-1959; Tibbits 1988) Mills suggests a ‘Direct Actor Network’, of committed bureaucrats within HCV may also have contributed to the work of this period. (Mills 2020) But there is also evidence within the Commissioner Director’s Minutes that the HCV officers were acutely mindful of economic considerations in order to fund their housing programs. (PROV HCV 1958) The year that changed the course of the Housing Commission, following the election of the Bolte Government. As in accordance with the Royal Commission in the 1958 the Advisory Panel of Architects (AP) was disbanded and replaced by new Chief Architect’s Branch (CAB) within the Commission headed by Reg Prentice who was joined by Grahame Shaw who led design and research. Dalton suggests this new internal structure would be compromised and become beholden to the engineer’s and others within the HCV hierarchy. (Dalton 1988) But further availability of archival material not available at that time of Dalton’s research contradict this assumption especially those files managed by Grahame Shaw (see Chapter 4).

Whilst new high-rise tower apartment development in Melbourne was mostly related to the Housing Commission program there were some new private developments which emerged as mentioned (see Figure 7 & 8) However these new developments had not been within the problem slum areas but limited to more affluent suburbs. This was remarked upon by Grahame Shaw (HCV Research Architect) at a national planning conference, where he saw the efforts of private developers had not focussed upon the slum areas he had personally identified in Collingwood, Fitzroy, and Carlton in a report co-authored with Deputy Commissioner Davey. (Shaw 1965)  The Shaw Davey Survey identified 1000 acres (400Ha) of housing being ‘so substandard in nature that economic repair was out of the question’. The survey was derided as the ‘windscreen survey’ in derision of the manner it was taken as Shaw and Davey drove around the northern inner suburbs identifying houses based upon their external appearance. Shaw argued private developers had demolished perfectly good housing in areas such Caulfield, Elwood, Elsternwick with walk up 2-3 story developments commonly referred to as ‘six pack’ apartments. (Shaw 1965) Early Resident Action Group campaigners would later criticize the ‘windscreen’ report as an example of the HCV’s uncompromising and ill-considered approach to its reclamation program. (Howe, Nichols et al. 2014)

The determination of the HCV to tackle the slums continued throughout the 1960’s however it was apparent that the pace of its progress to demolish and complete urban renewal was going to take too long, reportedly more than 40 years according to an annual report in 1963.  (HCV 1963) Therefore, in order to speed up its program the Commission produced a series of publications such as the dramatically titled ‘The Enemy at the Gate’ which included graphic images (yet again) of the slums and depiction of poor elderly residents in appalling housing conditions. (HCV 1966) The simple text outlined the problem but more importantly established the Commission’s plan for it had the solution which could be resolved sooner if not only for increased funding from the Commonwealth and private sector. (HCV 1966)  The HCV would also expand upon this communication with a series of films such as “The City Speaks’ which extolled the virtues of the new Commission tower estates often with children running across open grass parklands. (Film 1965) As discussed by Birch the HCV were not the only organisation limited to such tactics, as the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) continued to use images of young children to campaign for better housing for Melbourne’s poor. (Birch 2004)

In the 24 years from 1945 to 1969 the State housing authorities in Australia constructed some 296,000 dwellings, about 16 per cent of the total new housing completed in that period. Apart from a brief discussion of the urban planning role of the HCV there is no specific discussion of the effects of the Commissions’ policies on urban development, although they undoubtedly do have an influence in this field. (Jones 1971) Further there is also other research which catalogues the attitude to slums in general, and the inner-city areas which had originally been made from a  physically determinist assumption. The other key aspect to the issue of the ‘slums’ in Australia was they represented areas which were ‘low rent dwellings’ and thus fulfilled an important social need. The wave of post war migrants who came to Melbourne were not able to join any ballot for public housing and therefore filled these areas making improvements and changing the culture of the city as a result. They would be joined by academics, professionals and others who enjoyed these areas as well and thus would form part of the activist committee that would resist the HCV’s program. (Stretton 1970, Spearritt 1973)

Public rejection of these projects was universal and had been foremost across North America and Western Europe; however, this has lumped with the legacy of what to do with them with either their complete removal or as has been in the case of many in North America or their enduring legacy and ability to be refurbished. (Dunleavy 1978) However, it is in other in places such as the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and more spectacularly in Singapore, Hong Kong and recent years in China, where examples of such the housing projects have endured. (Jephcott and Robinson 2023)

As imminent demise of the HCV towers beckon with the first two towers to be demolished in 2025 their legacy is being revisited with the differing experiences of its resident communities. This demonstrates an outcome following the demise of the estates in North America especially those which occurred as early as the 1970’s. The reasons for their demise differ from what the Towers have come to experience which have endured thanks to ongoing investment and improvements in community support and facilities. Their imminent demise has now led to a concerted campaign to consider their value and more pertinently how they could be further rehabilitated for the future in order to the lack of investment especially in Victoria.  (Moore and Doyon 2023)

Chapter 3 The Gaskin Burkitt Report 1958 and the photo collection

The circumstances which led to Gaskin Burkitt’s study tour have been discussed in previous chapters especially following the recommendations of the Royal Commission in 1956 with the key recommendation for the expansion of the Concrete House Project (CHP). (HCV 1963)

However, the CHP had limited experience of constructing high rise up and thus the Commission needed to see first-hand use of precast concrete in mass public housing projects overseas which was well advanced by that stage. (HCV 1963)

The year 1958 also marked another significant milestone in Melbourne’s city development with the completion of the first 20-storey office building over eighty metres high, ICI House, designed by Bates Smart McCutcheon (BSM). Before Gaskin Burkitt’s departure, the HCV would engage BSM to develop concept designs for one of the HCV’s first multi-story tower at Debney’s Paddock. (8212/P0001 1957-1958) At the same time other plans were advanced for the first tower project at Emerald Hill in South Melbourne which was opened by Premier Bolte in 1962. (HCV 1963) Therefore, plans for high-rise were well in progress before the Gaskin Burkitt Tour and report which would not be circulated until early in the following year in 1959. (8212/P0001 1957-1958)

The significance of the report which was not so much heralded the beginning of the high-rise program as stated by Dalton but added to its growing impetus and realization which was to follow especially now with the added benefit of the report’s images and other supporting material.

Naturally the images follow key aspects of the principle issues they were tasked to investigate which was construction and management of multi-storey flats, slum clearance and reclamation and finally use of lightweight and prestressed concrete in house and flat construction. (8211/P1 1958)

The itinerary states the first destination as Rome, where the author’s visited the public housing development (under construction) at Ina Casa which was part of the Rome Olympic Games Village in 1960 (see Figure 3). (8211/P1 1958) The image collection also includes a significant number of various images of other construction sites, (Figure 32) and various fabrication processes in concrete such as at the Coignet Concrete Precast Factory in Rouen, France (Figure 29 & 30)  and Larsen and Neilsen in Copenhagen amongst many others in the UK and USA. There was also a focus on utilitarian spaces such outdoor clothes drying areas at Ina Casa (Figure 36) which would be adopted with the walk-up apartments in Carlton (Figure 38). Interestingly there are virtually no interior images especially of any apartment dwelling with the exception of a communal Laundry area in Berlin. (8211/P1 1958)

In Chapter Two of their report, ‘Acquisition and Slum Clearance’, the authors recommended a comprehensive master plan which also supported the practice of clearing an entire area as this would achieve a ‘better standard.’ (8211/P1 1958) This was particularly relevant for the projects visited in the US where slum clearing had become interchangeable with urban renewal and later social, racial undercurrents. (Davis 2013)  The dilapidated state of the inner suburbs in American cities would have been familiar to the authors and which they captured an image, see Figure 21. Whilst London was still rebuilding, (Figure 18) following the destruction of the Second World War other estates especially in Europe were often located on peripheral greenfield sites such as in Copenhagen, Belgium and Finland (Figures 27-28, 35). The building type of these apartment buildings consistently followed the ‘slab block’ form, such as Hoje Gladsaxe Housing Estate in Copenhagen (Figure 23). This building type will be discussed further in Chapter 4 as it presented other technical issues the HCV chose not to pursue with its own designs.

Of particular interest has been the images from the projects in the UK such as the New Town development in Harlow Town Centre in Essex completed 1951-1952. (see Figure 17) Many of these estates demonstrate the mixed height development which was relevant for the first HCV high rise development at Emerald Hill, South Melbourne, completed 1962 (see Figure 23). A key element of the Gaskin Burkitt Report’s recommendations was to adopt the UK Housing standard of dwelling density for Greater London and arguably had a greater bearing with the HCV pursing the ‘vertical’ solution as its ultimate model as opposed to the ‘horizontal’ solution as discussed in the previous chapter. This recommendation of two hundred dwellings per hectare as most suitable which was also based upon the UK Housing Standards (see Figure 43) with the most relevant example of this type of development was Golden Lane Estate, Finsbury, London.

This also informed the new residential block layouts the HCV explored for a number of its consolidated sites such as Pidgon Street, Port Melbourne, Collingwood and North Melbourne. These densities were also significantly higher than what the MMBW had proposed in the Melbourne Plan 1954 at one hundred and twenty persons per hectare. (MMBW 1954)

Open space was further emphasised with the use of ‘pilotis’ referred to by Le Corbusier, which raised buildings from their ground plane to create universal space under and which was a fundamental element of CIAM principles. (Mumford 2002) The Kiel Housing Scheme in Antwerp drew Gaskin’s particular attention in this regard and was an important project in Belgium at the time as it demonstrated adherence to those urban ideals which continues to be celebrated to this day as a model development of its era. (8211/P1 1958, De Vos and Geerinckx 2016).

The use and capture of open spaces in the image collection are far removed from the over-crowded slums and streets, of inner-city Melbourne captured by Barnett and others. HCV’s publications and film productions also dramatized this change as further justification for clearing away the old city and creation of the new. (Figure 14) However, it was not just open space in itself  but also demonstrated greater light and outlook for inhabitants, communal uses although new uses although in the most part these were number of playground areas with the notable example at Churchill Gardens Estate and public playgrounds installed by the New York Housing Authority. (Figure 39 & 40) Whilst the authors suggested other communal facilities such as shopping retail areas there was also a curiosity for management of car parking.

Incidental images transport infrastructure including those in passing such as of an US expressway (Figure 34) and are also a curious divergence from the key focus of the author’s report. The first freeway to be built in Melbourne would not occur until 1961-62 with the Southeastern Arterial but demonstration of this future and what was to soon emerge. To add to this changing accommodation for the motor included a visit to the Redondo Beach Shopping Centre by Victor Gruen & Associates, with off street parking areas (and shopping trolleys!) also predates the first shopping centre in Melbourne at Chadstone in 1962. (Figure 4 & 33) Other ‘incidental’ images also complete this category such as detail images of garbage chutes, enclosed outdoor clothes drying areas, as well mobile vans for rent collection and grocery stores.

How might these images have been further reviewed and disseminated by all within the HCV staff is difficult to determine but it would appear a number of these images were informative to the HCV’s senior staff’s thinking such as Gaskin, as will be discussed in Chapter 4.

Chapter 4 International influences within the Housing Commission of Victoria in the 1950’s and 1960’s

The previous chapter has considered some interesting aspects of the HCV Report’s itinerary and images. We now wish this focus to take on the broader international influences and direct connections with overseas contacts and networks. While it is unclear that Shaw was connected directly to the work of Gaskin and Burkitt’s tour, both cases illustrate an overall openness and engagement with international expertise.

In a short memorandum dated 07/03/1962, Deputy Commissioner Jack Gaskin requested comment from Grahame Shaw to investigate a recently completed project at Hutchensontown, The Gorbals by architect Basil Spence for the Glasgow Development Corporation. Shaw took the opportunity in his detailed response accompanied with hand drawn sketches, (see Figure 41) not only to review this project but expanded for Gaskin’s benefit in a detailed discussion upon ‘an important link in a chain of thought on high density housing… and for this reason cover a broader field than just the building in question.’(1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965)

One of the key comments Shaw initially made was a ‘long accepted argument that high-density development, is (sic) necessary to economically use high-cost land in central redevelopment areas, cannot be achieved with terrace housing in any of its multitudinous forms and that some form of high-rise flat development is essential to achieve an economic land use.’ (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) Shaw drew upon the inclusion of Le Corbusier’s early writings which had been translated into fact with the completion of the Unite d’Habitation in 1952 in Marseille. Whilst the observation of Corbusian influences in Melbourne’s public high-rise development has frequently been commented by many researchers there is a clear reference to what the Commission was doing within its program and why some of the finer details of Corbusian ideas were not adopted in their designs.

Gaskin and Burkitt did not visit the Unite d’Habitacion (completed 1951)  in Marseille which was considered one of Le Corbusier’s finest and purest demonstration of his urban ideals especially with regard to high rise density housing (Frampton and Futagawa 1983). It was likely that this building did not incorporate precast construction but also had a more complex urban program with its mix of social and commercial uses. Shaw provided greater insight as to the significance of the Unite project and its suitability for the HCV’s own projects by citing a number of issues with its design. These being the apartments being considered too narrow whilst also having internalized bathroom amenities and internalized access corridors which were reliant on mechanical ventilation. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) This was not a practice the HCV adopted in any of its designs, with all habitable spaces and open corridor balconies located on external walls or open to outside which also meant not enclosing foyer areas which Shaw also considered a maintenance issue. Further to assist explain the design and his commentary, Shaw made sketches to compliment as means of comparison between the Gorbals Project with Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation. In contrast many of the European projects visited by Gaskin and Burkitt utilized the ‘Slab Block’ design, such as in Copenhagen and Antwerp however they too would not feature in the HCV’s own designs due to the same reasons as the Unite d’Habitation.

However, one element which did persist was the use of the ‘pilotis’, raised buildings on columns as best exemplified at Antwerp with Kiel Housing Scheme. This also provided grater open space on the ground plane which complimented increasing density of the HCV design layouts and orientation as demonstrated in the series of yield plot diagrams in the drawing archives. The examples from the USA such as the Wilson Park Public Housing Apartments in Philadelphia demonstrate the point block plan which would be later adopted and points to Gaskin Burkitt’s  comments regarding the efficiency of elevators and height. The argument of greater cost efficiency was later debunked by Jones and others as it was clear that the Tower Program relied on greater capital investment than other lower height alternatives. (Jones 1971)

Whilst it would be tempting to consider these international influences were the direct result of the Gaskin Burkitt Report but there seems to be a myriad of other sources which the HCV drew upon to develop their designs. There are numerous references of published work especially from the RIBA’s Architect’s Journal which are included in the Design Research files. Many of these publications featured projects at the height of Britain’s massive public housing program often critiqued with glowing reviews. None more so than Spence’s Gorbals project where the author described the project ‘like a mountain of apartments each with its own rock ledge garden overlooking a little shopping street which makes one think of Switzerland’. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) Shaw would also make direct requests to the editor’s or publishers of these international magazines for further details of a particular project or request a copy to be retained within the Commissions files. The Design Research Office added to the benefit of the overseas exchange of interrelated cooperation. This exchange extended to the sharing of various details of any project including building costs, construction details or architectural drawings from concept to working drawing stages. This contrasts to the more captive environment as described by Dalton (1988) of the Housing Commission engineer’s or Managers of the Concrete Housing Project holding the upper hand. After the Architects Panel (AP) disbandment presented new opportunities for private architects to seek contact with the Commission to offer their assistance and develop suitable contacts for future work. One example of this was the engagement of a letter of introduction from then Sydney based architects such as Peddle Thorpe. (1808/P0000/I1 19561965)

The CAB did not limit its correspondence to Public Housing Authorities but also extended their network to others outside government departments or their consultants but also development companies such as, Span Developments in the UK who responded to the HCV with a detailed outline of their history, business operation and brochure of a recent project in Cheltenham (Figure 42) (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965). Further to this type of information are details from other construction companies involved prefabricated concrete manufacture inquiring as to whether their system could be of interest for consideration in the HCV’s program. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965)

Connections with academic institutions developed either through open enquiry and or offer of assistance such as from the University of Melbourne. Others contributed through the media which could be attributed to Mill’s suggestion of an ‘Expert’s Campaign’ such as Professor Zdenko Strizic who upon his recent arrival and appointment at the School of Architecture at Melbourne University did not hesitate to suggest projects such as Spa Green Estate in London, similar to the Churchill Gardens (Figure 16) as the most suitable model for the Commission’s work and city’s solution to its inner city housing problem. (Gans 1959) Other academics made direct approaches to the HCV such as Professor FD Wallace Van Zyl, from the University of SA, Adelaide who not only incurred as to the HCV’s work offered a copy of his recent paper regarding the ‘Social and Economic Factors or Redevelopment in Adelaide’ and enquired as to the HCV’s approaches with regard to urban renewal. (Van Zyl 1963) Shaw responded that the HCV was presently preoccupied with a study of 300 acres in Carlton from which ‘we are deriving a great deal of information’. Shaw continued in his response that there was significant lack of urban policy embodied in the MMBW’s future population growth. However, he provided an assumption of Melbourne’s population growth by the end of the century of 5 million people with over 600,000 of the additional 2.5 million would be accommodated within developed inner suburban areas such as Carlton. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965)

Whilst much of this information flow and network connection was generated by Shaw occasionally, they came from outside the HCV. Therefore, it should be not come unsurprisingly that Shaw further developed an interest with Urban Renewal projects when directly contacted Ontario Housing Authority in which Shaw provided publications of the CAB’s yearly reports and details of the HCV’s projects. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) In another letter to the head of Atlanta Housing and Home Finance Agency, Shaw discussed the limited information available to their proposal to join an ‘Exploratory Study for Urban Renewal in Australia’. Accompanying his reply, Shaw included the Melbourne Report 1954 with the surveys and analysis which had been undertaken by MMBW. In conclusion, Shaw openly raised his intention to ‘study this subject further in the United States’ and had advised of his recent application for a Harkness Fellowship ‘with this in mind’ (1808/ P0000/I1 1956-1965) Another of the developing relationship from the University of Melbourne was an invitation for any HCV staff to join an Architecture student tour to Hong Kong and Japan in early 1961. Reg Prentice took up this opportunity and later sent a letter whilst travelling on this tour sharing details of a meeting with the Japan Housing Corporation (JHC) who provided plans and details as well as taking Prentice on a ‘site visit with one of their architects to a new five storey concrete flat complete with community facilities, shops, schools, children’s playgrounds etc and sewerage treatment works’. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965)

The archives also include details of meetings of the heads of the public housing authorities on the of national conferences and meetings with several hosted by the HCV in Melbourne.However, overseas conferences appear limited with the exception of the International Federation for Housing and Planning, 27^th World Congress, in Jerusalem in 1964. Of the listed delegates from Australia, four of the five are from the HCV with Bradley and Grahame Shaw in attendance. (1808/ P0000/I1 1956-1965) In a letter from Grahame Shaw 05/10/1964 later would seek further contact with the head of the Ontario Housing Authority, Mr R Suters, requesting copies of the ‘Plan for Downtown Toronto’ and further a copy of the Canadian Architects Journal, August 1962. On a personal level Shaw concludes this correspondence with thanks for Suters time and tour to the Niagara Falls. Burkitt would later provide details a copy of the Redevelopment Plan of Toronto of 1964 to the Town Clerk at the City of Melbourne. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965) This exchange demonstrates the flow through other cooperative network actors and not just limited within the structure of the HCV.

Finally, and as postscript to this network flow is the incidental inclusion of seemingly trivial  correspondence. One such example is a post card sent by Howard McCorkell to his work colleagues in Les Perrot’s Office whilst apparently on vacation (undated, c 1962).  The post card was of the recently completed Queens Town Housing Project in Singapore, which was one of the first high rise apartments undertaken by the Singapore’s Housing Development Board in the early 1960’s (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965). McCorkell’s comments on the back, ‘we have much to learn’  lamented the lack of quality of the HCV’s work in comparison to the new Singapore projects and perhaps reason for it ending up in HCV’s files. (1808/P0000/I1 1956-1965)

The examples of correspondence and exchanges in the archival files, demonstrate the flow of information was shared upon a wider network not just within the confines of the HCV’s Queens Street Headquarters. Through participation on tours, and direct meetings with counterparts elsewhere key individual actors at various levels of government established an ongoing relationship which was not only at an official but personal level and thus retained by the HCV in their resources for future reference. This would create further impetus to proceed with ever greater scale of works undertaken by the HCV culminating in the Park Towers (Figure 1) at thirty storeys was claimed to be one of the tallest precast concrete buildings in the world at that time. (MHCV 1990)

Conclusion

International influences had a significant bearing on the Victorian Housing Commissions work in the 1950’s and 1960’s. However as suggested these were mixed and even contradictory to the information, and investigations undertaken at the time. With the benefit of additional research material and especially access to the Gaskin Burkitt Report images demonstrate the HCV were well aware of the clear array of social housing projects globally of which many are considered worthy public housing exemplar of the time. Together with the Chief Architect’s Branch (CAB) file archives suggests a free-flowing exchange of information whereby key individuals broadened their understanding of high-rise housing programs not just locally but internationally. These were not characterized by philosophical or necessarily ideological grounds but justified a more pragmatic basis either through the design, construction, cost, and logistics. Building high rise was not the most economical solution however it was widely supported by a diverse cohort of experts, professional organisations, mainstream media, and academics. This consensus wished to curtail or at least counter act development expanding to Melbourne’s periphery which continues to this day.

The influence of the ‘New Town’ developments in the UK with its mixed low height and single high-rise tower was superseded to become all high rise as exemplified by many projects in the USA and demonstrated by the HCV’s developments in Fitzroy. (Figure 15) Appreciation of the Urban Renewal Projects in the US emboldened the HCV to pursue taller buildings discarding the low-rise apartments and raise the site density to remove the slums sooner, than their early program was achieving. In recent times there appears greater appreciation of the post war public housing estates overseas. (Hunt 2005) This has also extended to the many varied communities who have occupied the HCV towers in Melbourne over generations since they were constructed. (Jephcott and Robinson 2023) This has not always been the case especially in the US and lesser extent UK where they were reviled with many demolished displacing significant populations in the process. (Von Hoffman 2008)

The HCV Towers have long stood as ‘sentinels’ surrounding the city but as the next generation of new high-rise development expands beyond the confines of the Hoddle Grid their prominence has since diminished. With the first of the Forty-Four Towers facing demolition in 2025, their destruction will add to the debate of this policy and likely draw further upon their significance and what contribution they might have continued to make in the future especially in providing for the ever-pressing need for public housing in Melbourne.

The pathways and patterns of movement across landscapes have become a significant archaeological and historical challenge of ancient and indigenous cultures as generally our understanding has been determined by uncovering the places of settlement.

Bruce Chatwin posed the fundamental question about human restlessness and our innate need to travel when he ventured through Central Australia for his book ‘Songlines’ (Chatwin 1986). Towards the end of his journey and after interaction with various indigenous elders he speculated whether the Songlines was a universal phenomenon which have been employed by ancient cultures across the world. The ‘ancient circles, menhirs and graveyards’ which had been laid out in lines across Britain, have also been found in Finland, China and even further afield in Peru with the famous Nazca lines, ‘etched into the meringue like surface of the Peruvian desert’. But in Australia the Songlines are ‘mental constructions’ which are not just a memory connection to landscape but linked to trade which meant greater social interaction and friendship. They are also a song which has come from somewhere else. A connection beyond which follows back to the early humans who stood and moved from the Savannah of southern Africa. (Chatwin 1986)

Other cultures have also relied upon lines for paths not just for travel, but as a means of control or to mark territory. How is that some lines remain and others like the paths of Songline’s remain an intangible cultural practice completely silent to those not able to speak the language or sing to connect to place and country?

The expansion and colonization of the European powers especially after the 16-17^th centuries created a complete disruption to this not just in Australia but across Asia, Africa and the New World. (Benevolo 1995)

The new colonial city in Australia created opportunities to build a reimagined city perhaps or later an ideal garden city as promoted by Howard in the late 19^th century (Freeman). This seemed more attributable to the nature of land tenure and governance under the British Colonial office than other factors. Most Australian colonial planning seemed little more than two-dimensional with the survey grids outlaying new town centres especially following the discovery of gold in the early 1850’s in Victoria and NSW (Freeland 2008).

The establishment of the new colony of Victoria was driven by agricultural interest from Tasmanians who had long sought to establish a foothold on the mainland (Boyce 2012) However following establishment of the Melbourne township and the first leases the conditions for a settlement proved very accommodating and with the approval of Sydney administration allowed Batman, and separately Fawkner to establish the new settlement of Melbourne. (Boyce 2012)

In 1837, Robert Hoddle’s layout for central Melbourne was adapted to Governor Darling’s regulations from the 1820’s (Freeland 2008). A rectilinear layout extended beyond the new grid orientated to cardinal points. Batman’s camp was a ‘pleasant’ location to the south as was much of the Victorian countryside which presented open wooded country ideal for driving livestock, namely sheep, named “Australia Felix’ by Thomas Mitchell in his writings cataloguing his expedition during this time. Bill Gammage refers to a ‘gentleman’s parkland estate’, ideal for sheep grazing squatters who pushed through with their herds to occupy (dispossess) the countryside.

A small knoll named ‘Batman Hill’ by Hoddle to the south west of his new grid layout was to be a key survey point for a one-mile grid which radiated out a fore marker of the new arterial roads of the ever-expanding metropolis which was to follow. (Freeland 2008)

The use of surveying and alignments to cartesian coordinates has arguably been a greater determinant in the new urban settlements than other factors although geographic features also affected the expansion of the new towns and cities. Batman’s Hill is no more, cleared in 1870 to allow for new rail and port facilities to the south west of Hoddle’s Grid.

It would appear the rampant population growth and occupation due to the discovery of gold determined patterns of settlement before any other determination of site could be established. (Boyce 2012)

The layout of the new township of Ballarat by William Urquhart in 1852 is a case in point. The grid of the city plotted the first blocks of town on an elevated basalt plain which was remote and above the frantic activity of the prospectors madly excavating and cleared the timber woodlands along the Yarrowee Creek to the east. The Government camp had been established on the high ground, as the soldiers kept a keen eye on the diggers below. It should come as no surprise that tensions would fester and relations fester as the soldiers remained aloof and remote from the trials of the camp.

The urban pattern and formation of the city formation is still evident to this day. Ballarat East reflects the seemingly haphazard nature of street patterning and built form made smaller modest landholding of the prospector and smalltown street store vendor (as well as the Chinese internment camp). In his 1852 survey map, Urquhart coloured an area notated Golden Point (further south of the actual suburb today) with a gold shaded area referred to the main diggings. Later surveys would attempt to straighten outlay new allotments set to the pathways and alignments of these meandering streets following these settlements patterns rather than introduce a new overlay of the cartesian grid.

Whilst settlements in the world especially in the interior of Victoria and New South Wales also were due to the discovery of gold and mineral exploitation. The ports of which there were few with deep protected harbours also proved difficult, Portland, or Port Phillip Bay.

The Apennine Mountains run as a series of chains of along the Italian peninsula for over 1200km. Mostly ranging from 1500 to 2000 metres high with its highest peak the Como Grande, Gran Sasso Massif at 2,912 metres in Abruzzo.

The north section of these mountains was settled by Celts and Etruscans who travelled along the Apennine to develop trade and control over the Po Valley. A number of hill top settlements remain to this day.

However, after having founded the colony of Bononia in 189BCE, (now modern Bologna) the Roman Empire begun to expand from Rome, felt the need to guarantee a connection with Arezzo and Rome via the Apennines and built, on the Etruscan route, a real road, the Flaminia Militare.

One of the most tangible cultural assets of Roman structures which survive in the landscape this day are the aqueducts, bridges and roads which radiated through the European especially Italy and further, North Africa and Middle East. (Benovolo 1995). These feats of Roman engineering ingenuity have often been considered fundamental to Roman military conquest which started to emerge around 450BCE to 187BCE. (Liccio 2014)

Roman Roads were critical to maintaining its army and control over territory. This started within Italy and then expanded especially under Julius Caesar and Octavian (Augustus). Often these roads followed the same pathways established by the Etruscans however recent research is re-examining their importance and how fundamental they were to establish control of new settlement and control.

Whilst trade via the sea was far more efficient at the time, navigating the Mediterranean in winter month storms was extremely hazardous and thus a road network offered all year-round safe passage. (Licio 2019) Further it has been suggested that by maintaining such a road network the Roman Empire was able to control its ever-expanding territory with less soldiers and ensure the most essential supply lines for livestock, fodder and food.

Via Alumenia

The Via Alumenia is arguably the most prominent as it followed the edge of the Po Valley along a similar route established by the Etruscans and Villanovans (ref). The expansion of the Roman Empire followed and with-it alignment of the cities and towns between Pescara and Rimini, and a direct link to the Adriatic Sea.

In Bologna, founded in 189BCE the main throughfare of city centre of Ugo Bassi and Vue Rizzoli follows the same Roman Road, and despite the subsequent of the overlay of medieval city state development which followed.

Via degli Dei (Path of the Gods)

Despite its name there are few sacred or religious sites on this road which relate to the naming of the nearby mountains Monte Adone, Monte Venere and Monte Luario (Goddess of the Moon).

The Pathway of the Gods is now a hiking trail follows an historic Roman Road between Bononia (Bologna) and Fiesole near Florence was an important trading point. Following the fall of the Roman Empire the road became less travelled to eventually disappear altogether. Its recent discovery by two Bolognese academics demonstrated not just a theoretical understanding of Roman engineering but the nature and need for these structures. Further assisted by geo spatial mapping, new archaeological research is reconsidering the importance of these structures in the ancient within the Roman Empire at its peak. (Liccio 2019)

In 1979 Cesare Agostini and Franco Santi carefully analysed the topography of the Apennine Mountains mapping a pathway which followed the lowest grade between these cities. There early excavations soon revealed the old road which today this road has become a popular hiking trail as further exploration continues.

The importance of transportation links is fundamental to Italians today as they crisscross the country for work and/or study. Availability and affordability issues with housing necessitates many Italians to commute movement with regional stations like the Bologna Central Station exceeding 150 million passengers’ numbers a year, a similar volume to Flinders Street, with a city 5 times the population.

The other influencing factor here is the use of the grid and cartesian orientation. This is not confined to the Roman planning; one example is the Incas in Peru.  Johan Reinhard contends cartesian direction played a key part in the organization in Cusco and Macchu Picchu. The alignment to astronomical features such as the southern cross is also significant as this also had significant spiritual relationship and the junction between the mountains, and Amazon basin beyond. Location of the mountain top site of Macchu Picchu was central to these relationships

As the settlement of Sydney and other outposts established by water navigation such as Norfolk Island, Hawkesbury, Parramatta, Newcastle. Early self-sufficiency proved difficult for the fledgling settlement and reliance on external shipping from Cape Town with greater success at Norfolk Island. In 1790 the Second Fleet nearly wrecked off the coast of the Tasmanian west coast which was narrowly averted the colony would have starved. (Mundy 2010) As Sydney settlement became established, expansion of the colony followed access via sea rather land with the Hawkesbury and Hunter valleys.

Local Gundungurra and other indigenous peoples used two main routes to cross the Blue Mountains. Most Europeans saw the range as a forbidding maze of sandstone bluffs, deep gorges and dense bush. At first, the colonists were too busy surviving to consider trying to cross. (ref) The fledgling colonial settlement struggled to grow food and nearly faced starvation were it not for the arrival of the Second Fleet in 1790 (Mundy). When Governor Lachlan Macquarie arrived in 1810, a combination of drought, insect plagues and exhaustion of the soil around Sydney made finding fresh lands imperative. The natural barrier which has contained Sydney’s growth to the west was a major impediment for the new settlers to cross until William Wentworth with Blaxland and Lawson trekked from western Sydney to near present-day Bathurst. Ref State Library NSW

Whilst most of the Blue Mountains remain to the north and south with National Parks and reserves, traditional pathways are reflected in other cities. The famous Broadway cuts across the Manhattan Grid follows a traditional route of the Lenape, local indigenous Indians. Bearing remarkable similarity to the events with Batman, Dutch of the southern end of the island.

The edge of the fortification aligns with present day Wall Street with Broadway terminating at Battery Park Adjacent to the site of the Castel.

1854 – 1890 Victorian Railways

The establishment of the railway line between Melbourne and Ballarat took more than 40 years to be completed due to the steep grade of topography in the Parwan Valley, Bacchus Marsh and Pentland Hills. The rail way still follows a similar alignment after the upgrade of proposed Fast Rail Project in the early 2000’s. Further upgrade of rail has been limited since the 1950’s where increasing reliance on road transport and air travel has dominated. Investment in rail has been spasmodic, as an example the commuter times for rail declined from 1950’s through the 1990’s.

The upgrade of rail services has been hampered by the fact that passenger rail for both regional and suburban rail lines share the same track. In recent years greater investment such as the Regional Rail Upgrade completed in 2015 of which its stated aim was to improve connection and travel times to regional centres. (BITRE 2015) Arguably improved patronage growth is further encouraging greater population movement to regional centres which has also been exacerbated by increasing house prices in the major cities, especially Melbourne and Sydney

The French Explorer Nicholas Baudin entered Sydney Harbour on January 26^th 1788, was it mere coincidence that Captain Arthur Phillip and his officers made for the shore and erected a union jack declaring the eastern continent as sovereign country under George 3^rd the same day?

French naval exploration covered significant areas of the Australian coastline and interest of science, botanical. Over the next thirty years no less than 15 expeditions would visit the Australian Coastline.

The Palace of Versailles

The endless city and extent of empire suggests an expansion of the endless city and empire.

Megan Copes artwork explores the relationship of the early French explorer’s and their interaction with indigenous Australians.

Part of an exhibition which catalogues the emergence of an era now referred to as the Anthropocene where human activity is physically changing the earth systems on a global scale. Human settlement and its interface with the landscape

Early mapping of the Australian coastline and scientific discoveries of their time always seemed to experience the country from the edge, and without navigable rivers, venturing into the interior proved a greater challenge.

Pathways and layouts become more determined by axial relationships mimicking or urban emulation of European and English/French ideals. The Beau Arts tradition was an important part of local architect’s education and therefore it would seem logical a French influence would take hold in Australia.

Chapter 2 
Garden City planning influences in Australia and establishment of the city ideal of Canberra The Ideal Australian City

Following the recession of the late 1890’s coincided with the emergence of town planning as architects discussed the future city in Australia. The growth of suburbs with the established railways and electric tramways the ideal town of the future has been considered to renaissance terms, wide street, symmetrical vistas and formal parklands. However according to Freeland, planners abandoned the grid street patterns in favour attuned to the landscape (Freeland 1968). Garden city design ideal became most prominent in the late nineteenth century English planning and this in turn.

The creation of the new Federation and Commonwealth of Australia presented the opportunity to consider a new capital for the country. The selection of the site and presented a number of issues and differences as to what this city ideal should be. And together with one of the first planning conferences a number of papers were presented discussing the ideal of the city. Sir John Sulman presented a plan based upon the garden city ideal one of only a few, which bears similarity to the Garden city ideal and the winning entry. (Freeland 1995)

The competition for the new capital of Australia in 1911 was controversial even before the awarding of the winning design entry to Walter Burly Griffin and Marion Mahoney. The competition was marred by a dispute over conditions and therefore led to a boycott by many of the prominent planners of the day. (Freeland 1995) Further criticism followed that the winning scheme did not strictly follow more garden city ideals utilizing a formal alignment with Mount Ainsley, the new capital has marked influences especially to Washington DC, Chicago’s White City and New Delhi.

After Burley Griffin’s resignation in 1920, the new capital authority was led by Sir John Sulman altering the plan and the influences of American planning came to the fore of grater landscaping and boulevards. The new civic centre follows these principles, Los Verdes Estate in southern California, with the Pacific sunshine and eucalypt trees which imagines a more localized design response than something transplanted especially from Europe. Other new American cities to capture local attention was Pasadena, Palm Springs. (Freeland 1995)

The significance of American city ideas began to wane as the sprawl of Los Angeles highlighted urban problems like traffic congestion with increased air pollution from private vehicle use as well the tremendous sprawl time and dormitory suburbs.

But the enduring legacy of Canberra remained as nodes with radial lines allowing for greater space, curved street alignments, use of natural trees and landscaping. Burley Griffin’s plans for Castlecrag would later demonstrate this ideal but preceding this development were other examples such as the garden city developments in Sydney like Dacey Garden Suburbs. Most of these encapsulate an Australian suburban ideal and especially of the single detached dwelling set within generous tree lined streets and parkland rather than a more city centre urban ideal.

Conclusion

Melbourne’s development is seemingly caught between contradictory influences.

Compression or what was euphemistically referred to as ‘Urban Consolidation’ in the early 2000’s proposed greater medium density but has become more prominent especially for the city centre is the extent of high rise residential,  At the same time dispersal or expansion continues now more to the west and north which has been actively encouraged since the early days of settlement.

The outcome of these tensions presents a series of very different and often competing outcomes which as Freestone suggests allows for a variety of possible models to be experimented. (Freestone 2008)

The main driver of new development in recent years has been residential housing which is still predominately single detached dwelling despite the significant increase in unit apartment towers and town house development.  However similar to other capital cities (with the exception of Canberra), Melbourne is a laboratory of modern planning which vary in quality and outcome. However, as Elizabeth Farrelly suggests, to achieve greater quality in our city environments we must be able to deal with some of the fallacies have persisted. One is the neo-liberal agenda which allows the market to dictate such a narrow view and outcome. We must replace the consumer with citizen. Further I would suggest we need to be able to find our own or shared pathways, to connect and allow others to participate more fully.

Batman Hill is no more but Melbourne City Council’s latest iteration for Yarra River is to draw upon linking those elements which have been recently created like Birrarung Mar and link them to the new. And whilst the changes have been radical since 1835 there maybe a sense to imagine what might have been before and how might we move and connect again.

Melbourne, 2015
Site 595 m²
Building Area 186.0 m²
Office – 2 storey
—

A new rear addition to semi-detached 1930’s dwelling in Caulfield South for a couple with 2 young children.
Particular attention was made ensure limiting any disturbance to an existing large European Box tree which provides welcome shade in summer and a beautiful outlook to a large north facing open yard with chooks and the kitchen garden beyond. An economical project with simple detailing including a new kitchen refurbishment, provision for a home office and bike shed.

Melbourne, 2016
Site 595 m²
Building Area 186.0 m²
Office – 2 storey
—

The unique waterfront location of this new home in Brighton ensured that the design truly responded to its bayside
environment. The underlying sand dune profile, buffeting coastal winds and frequent salt water spray presented challenges which informed the design approach.

This new home incorporates robust design details reminiscent of nearby marine structures such as the Brighton
Marina and Sea Baths with exposed off form concrete, timber cladding, and brick masonry with a distinctive
undulating metal sheet roof acting as a counterpoint to the distant silhouette of the You Yang’s across the bay.

Careful consideration was made of the amenity of this area especially with an adjoining dwelling designed by John
Baird Architect in 1967. When viewed from the water this new house sits in sympathy to its early neighbour as was the apparent original intention when a third dwelling south of the site also formed part of this ensemble.

Melbourne, 2013-2014
Site 920m²
Building Area 2760m²
Office – 3 storeys
—

The second stage of the refurbishment of a former warehouse located on the Collingwood slope and part of the significant block of buildings which were the former Foy and Gibson retail emporium of the late nineteenth and twentieth century. This building was used as a wool store and designed by William Pitt in 1915, a prominent Melbourne architect who designed many of the buildings in the Collingwood area. The original building has been previously refurbished and converted to offices. The proposed new works will upgrade the building to meet current regulatory requirements which also includes listing on the Victorian Heritage Register. This project will also consider sustainability issues incorporating the benchmark requirements of the AGBR Green Star rating system.

Photography: Hilary Bradford

External cladding now nearing completion

The last of the roof framing is now in place, external cladding to commence shortly.

Steel framing now being erected for upper floor and roof.

View from street with adjoining house in the background designed by John Baird in 1968.

The old timber floors have now been polished and look beautiful with the last of the highlight windows now fitted.