In Victoria (Australia), you probably would have used a Sands & McDougall Directory to find people in the days before telephone directories & the Internet. These impressive publications were compiled annually between 1857 and 1974 and listed the occupants at every business and residence,… Read More ›
heritage
Do sculptures really need development approvals & building permits? At what cost?
A large outdoor sculpture in a small Australian country town has faced more than its fair share of debate over the past two decades. The sculpture, known as ‘Dreamer’s Gate’, provoked a series of complaints from members of the local community and… Read More ›
Using art & social media to raise awareness about deforestation
It was great news that UNESCO unanimously rejected Australia’s bid to delist a large of area of old growth native forest in Tasmania earlier this week (especially as these areas were only awarded World Heritage status last year). However, the… Read More ›
The end of the line – Sydney’s mortuary train stations
Just as every life has a start and an end, so too does a railway line. Given that my last post (here) talked about a train station that used to be at Sydney’s Rookwood Cemetery (and is now a church… Read More ›
Train station turned church – A fabulous example of adaptive reuse in Canberra
I love to watch shows like ‘Grand Designs’ – but I often find the people behind these ambitious projects to be far more interesting than the architecture. In general they are either quite naive (‘No. I have never done anything like this before’)… Read More ›
What do pop art signs & a gasworks redevelopment have in common?
When I was in Melbourne recently, I noticed some public art on the footpath that proves that signs do not have to be boring and can even reflect the function (and potentially the character) of the destination they are promoting…. Read More ›
Great walls & fences of Australia
The avenue of poplars (mentioned in this post) in the Tuggeranong Town Park follows the line of a heritage-listed dry stone wall that once marked the boundary between two rural properties in Canberra (one of which was featured in another post – here)…. Read More ›
Thousands of bogans, seven chain mail sheep, six Christmas beetles, five hardwood poles, three old farm sheds & a sheep dog sitting on a rock wall
I had assumed that some sculptures at my local shops were dung beetles (amazing insects featured in an earlier post) – but the artist’s website says they are Christmas beetles. The beetles are accompanied by other sculptures of sheep and a sheep dog, hardwood poles decorated… Read More ›
Why not turn water tanks & reservoirs into landscape features?
A fantastic water conservation project at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne proves that reservoirs and tanks, not just ponds and lakes, can be things of beauty and landscape features in their own right. Over the past few years, ‘Guilfoyle’s… Read More ›
Antiques – the ultimate green products
Buying antiques and pre-loved items from secondhand shops is good for the soul and for the environment – as the greenest products are the ones that are already made. Your purchase avoids these discarded treasures being buried in a landfill,… Read More ›