Studio 13

Jack's Place

Yvonne Meng

Studio Description

JACK'S PLACE will explore how we approach a building’s heritage value beyond the physical fabric, and what it means for architecture to draw from 'place'. We will challenge the common practices in dealing with relics of the past, and explore the intangible cultural heritage which architecture facilitates and represents. From this, we aim to generate alternative approaches to developing historically significant sites to project into the future. The site of study will be Jack’s Magazine, tucked away on the Maribyrnong River in Melbourne’s western suburbs. Opened in 1878, the site had an important legacy in the Victoria’s industrial history, but its programmatic obsolescence saw it redundant, unused and ultimately decommissioned in the 1990’s, while the surrounding suburbs continue to develop as residential areas. The renewed programme will be a new home for the Living Museum of the West. The space will incorporate a local history library, event space and outdoor recreation.

Studio Outcomes

The studio asks the following questions: What is the value of retaining urban fabric? Should we preserve physical built form if the programme is obsolete? How can we draw from a site's narrative to inform contemporary identities? Who determines architectural significance? …. does it even matter? We will look at the cause-effect nature of architecture and human behavior. We will investigate modes of occupation, the human experience, identity, and issues around preservation. Conversations around ‘place’ and ‘identity’ can be somewhat nebulous, however this studio seeks to materialise the physical and tectonic qualities which embody, express, and communicate these concepts. We are interested in the ‘in between’ stages, and in the process where the concept begins to take a physical shape. We will be operating at the scale of both the civic and the tectonic, investigating the relationship and junctions between old and new.

Studio Leaders

Yvonne is a registered architect and director of Circle Studio Architects and has taught extensively across Melbourne’s architecture schools. Her practice focuses on human-centred design and works across a variety of projects such as bespoke residential and community spaces. Currently she is undertaking her PhD at Monash University. Her research investigates the value of overlooked urban spaces and understands them as important but contested public spaces in our cities and suburbs. Yvonne is active in Melbourne’s architecture culture and regularly contributes to public discourse through talks, articles, committees, and juries.

Reading & Reference

• Borden, Iain. 2001. The Unknown City : Contesting Architecture and Social Space : A Strangely Familiar Project. Cambridge, Mass. : Cambridge, Mass. .
• Hayden, Dolores. 1995. The Power of Place : Urban Landscapes as Public History. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
• Lack, John. 1991. A History of Footscray. North Melbourne: Hargreen Publishing Company in conjunction with the City of Footscray
• Lefebvre, Henri. 1991. The Production of Space. Oxford, OX, UK: Oxford, OX, UK.
• Lippard, Lucy R. 1997. The Lure of the Local : Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society. New York: New York : New Press.

Schedule 5PM-9PM Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday in MSD Room 239

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