Re-imagining Fitzroy: Re-urbanizing Atherton Gardens
Re-imagining Fitzroy: Re-urbanizing Atherton Gardens
Exhibition: 1-4 May 2008, Fitzroy Town Hall
Eight Masters of Architecture students at the University of Melbourne are
holding an exhibition of ideas for the future of the Atherton Gardens estate and Town Hall precinct in Fitzroy. The exhibition is at the Reading Room of Fitzroy Town Hall from Thursday 1 May until Sunday 4 May (daytime). The students will host a community feedback forum on Sunday from 3-5pm in the Reading Room to explain their ideas and get direct feedback from the local community.
The impetus behind the students' work relates to sustainable cities. The future sustainability of sprawling cities like Melbourne relies on urban intensification focused on better utilization of public transport and new types of pedestrian-friendly, non-car dependent urban planning and design.
Fitzroy has some of the best access to the public transport system in Melbourne and is one of the city's most sought-after places to live. It currently accommodates half the population it did in the early 20th century, a third of its residents living on the Atherton Gardens public housing estate, which contains the only significant open space in the area. Increasingly, this public asset has become an enclave socially and spatially. Atherton Gardens is bordered by Brunswick St. and close to Smith St, - two of inner-city Melbourne's iconic strips, both designated Major Activity Centres under Melbourne 2030, and both places of intense development pressure and passionate resident engagement. While many other inner-city high-rise estates have already commenced the process of redevelopment, we are not aware of any plans for Atherton Gardens.
We see this as a great opportunity to explore future possibilities.
There are precious few sites left in Fitzroy where major sustainability initiatives can be made. Atherton Gardens is a key site to explore what could be possible. The students are investigating possibilities for the re-urbanization of the Atherton Gardens/Town Hall precinct with the aim of engaging community stakeholders in a discussion about its future. What possibilities are there to cater to the needs of existing residents and provide for future needs? Indeed, what are those needs? How might the streetscapes of Brunswick and Gertrude Street be added to? How might non-residential facilities relevant to local residents and the surrounding neighbourhood be incorporated and better integrated? How might a vision for the future of Fitzroy creatively draw on the distinctive character of the place? Rather than a blank slate, the students have envisaged a set of possibilities to facilitate discussion.
A final exhibition of the students work will be held from 27 May to 3 June, in the main hall of the Fitzroy Town Hall.
For further information, please contact Ian Woodcock, Research Fellow, Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning at the University of Melbourne
E: iswo@unimelb.edu.au
M: 0413 044 080