Community: Building the Modern Australia
ABP’s Hannah Lewi and David Nichols will launch their new book Community: Building the Modern Australia on the green astro turf of the Thornbury Bowling Club on 15 December 2010. It is a fitting location for a book that surveys the unique place municipal buildings occupy in the life of Australian communities.
Community: Building the Modern Australia is a result of a cross-interdisciplinary project between the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning and the Australian Centre in the School of Historical Studies, awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (2006 and 2008). Featuring work by six specialists in the field - Kate Darian-Smith, Philip Goad, Caroline Jordan, Julie Willis, as well as Hannah Lewi and David Nichols the authors examine the phenomenal rise of municipal buildings across Australia in the mid 20th century and the role these buildings had in the development of community and society.
The bookis divided into nine chapters which loosely match the life cycle of cradle to old age with building types and uses. The establishment and design of baby health centres and kindergartens is discussed before moving on to municipal libraries and swimming pools, lawn bowling clubs and civic centres in post-war Australia. There is also a chapter on public art as an expression of community and a concluding chapter that gives an insight into the style and challenges of public buildings today.
The diverse designs and aspirations of these buildings range from the ordinary to the extraordinary, and are powerful reflectors of the links between the ideology of community building, the visions of architects and planners and the expectations of the people. “These are the places that have made up the fabric of our suburbs and towns yet they have received little scholarly attention, and many are today under threat of demolition and alterations,” says Hannah Lewi.
Beautifully illustrated with photographs, building sketches and plans, Community: Building the Modern Australia fills agap in the architecture/social history publication arena. There are several books on Australian Modernist architecture and design, but none that examine community buildings in a broad sense and their incredible impact on the creation of our modern nation.
Community: Building the Modern Australia is published by UNSW Press. It is available through UNSW Press, the University of Melbourne bookshop and other good bookstores. Alternatively you can download the attached book order form and return to ABP.