Simon Knott on the RRR radio show, The Architects, talking about the failings of Melbourne’s Docklands, articulating my primary fears for Barangaroo in Sydney:
“If you look at the Melbourne city grid and the land parcels in the 1830s they were small parcels of land, they were small titles so it allows hundreds of different owners, so you might get a hundred different owners around a block and they would all have diff businesses there, and if they want to build a big building they’ll aggregate them, together. Docklands gave acres of land to one developer and said you developer the whole lot, so there is no diversity.
And theres no fine grain, nothing happens on a smaller level, its all this picture developer stuff an what that creates is this monoculture that is there, therese no ability for smaller uses, theres no social housing there, theres no affordable housing, its all one demographic right the way through.”
While the debate around Barangaroo continues to centre on Keating’s Disneyheadland and the Sydney Morning Herald’s campaign against the hotel—that may well prove an ambit claim—the more crucial non-design related questions remain to be answered. Primarily, the details of the financial deal between the government and the developer. Yes, this will be a matter of public record in time; a moot point given that the contracts have already been signed.
+ John de Manincor and Adam Russell assess the situation at Australian Design Review with a level head providing a good overview of the current circumstance.
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