The view from Ned’s cafe looking across the small, frustrated line of traffic on Broadway.
The Nedlands Park Masonic Hall is beyond, in all it’s hard edged, deco glory. This building reminds me of the skyline of Gotham in the Batman comics.
A small taste of home for all those UWA ex-pats.
At the risk of over-blogging a single subject (all too common on Design/Archi blogs) I’ve sourced and relayed from the depths of designboom images of an exhibition on Australian vernacular/nostalgic/romantic guru, Mr Glenn Murcutt.
A self-proclaimed man-of-the-hand (to quote “I do not use a computer other than word processing and probably will never.”), this exhibition appears as a wonderful display of design-process and its relationship with an exquisitely crafted build-process adapted precisely to its environment.
….Unfortunately for those that aren’t actually in Tokyo between now and August 9, you’ll have to enjoy the images on the Gallery Ma (Tokyo) website.
One final quote from Glenn:
I have established a miniscule practice. I have no staff whatsoever. No secretary, no typist, no tea maker, no draftsperson, no computer operator and a body of clients waiting for work in the order of two years.
The method of practice compliments the project.
I’ll include 2 points of thought here. Again, if you’d like to go ahead and read the lot, click here (new window).
“31. Don’t borrow money. Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.” “42. Remember. Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.”
Amongst a myriad of heritage listed Architecture in the Notre Dame precinct of Fremantle, sits a concrete structure worthy of the first post in this category.Next time I’ll get the address so you can see it, though for reference, it isn’t too far from the main train station. Just around the corner from the cafe Long Macc at 27 Market Street. You can still see on the facade the impression of the vegemite logo of the Commonwealth Bank, and the general massing of this building suggests that of a bank. I reckon they got the colour of this concrete spot on. Any ideas on what it is used for now?
