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Rough Transcript
The MADA Building
The building I’ve selected to evaluate for a heritage listing the Monash Art Design and Architecture building at Monash Caulfield campus. The MADA building (or building G) is the centre for design type units on campus and so it is rather fitting that it has a striking design that stands out significantly from even the newer buildings at monash. The idea of heritage listing for what is also still a relatively new building, it was finished in 1999, seems a little odd until you actually see the shear level or renovation and construction that occurs across the Monash campuses highlighted with the loss of the iconic Rotunda from the Clayton campus earlier this year as it was demolished to make way for the new development of courtyard spaces around a new learning and teaching building.
What is the purpose of heritage listing
Heritage listing is a system to protect objects, locations and buildings that are deemed to have significance to history, culture and/or architecture.
The nature of an place or location being ‘significant’ or at least significant enough to be protected by law, is very subjective.
Even among historical societies and local council, states and government departments there is not a consistent consensus on what criteria makes a building historically significant.
As a rough guide to aid in the categorisation of the Monash Art Design Architecture building as either worthy of heritage listing or a waste of valuable, prime real estate I’ll be basing my criteria loosely of that used by the Victorian Heritage Council.
The Victorian heritage Council recommends eight different elements as basis for a building qualifying for a heritage listing. There are the three displayed here already and I’ve elected to omit the other five for now as the mostly pertain to the building’s involvement in important or endangered aspects of Victorian history which I do not think is relevant in the context of Monash university.
There is one other criteria that I have not included but it is still worth mentioning is special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria’s history, which turns out to, though not as special as this may imply, still slightly relevant but I’ll speak more about that in a later.
Culture
Looking at the the idea of cultural significance I’ve interpreted the criteria to fit monash more than the whole of victoria. In the great scheme of things, one relatively new building at Monash Caulfield campus has very little bearing on the overall cultural vibe of the state. For a more useful interpretation of the culture criteria in this context, let’s treat it is as how it applies to Monash University culture rather than Victorian culture.
The way that the MADA building has its greatest impact upon university culture is in how the space is used for teaching design type units.
A resource used to determine the heritage value of a location is the NSW SOHI guide. SOHI (statement of historical impact) are regulation governing the renovation and demolition of historic sites and focuses on ‘what would be lost if this were gone?’. Demolishing the MADA building would change the tone of design at monash. It is a space artistically designed over cost and efficiency and yet still does not compromise on function, perfectly summing up of what monash seeks to teach. It is the culture that this building informs that makes it significant and proves it to be so.
Architecture
The design of the MADA building makes it immediately stand out from the others around it on campus. The prominence of the metal on the exterior combined with the highlights of yellow and the geometric features of the squares and bars give it almost the look of a sculpture rather than just the facade of a teaching facility.
The quality of this building in its aesthetics is not just a matter of my opinion but is backed up by industry accolades.
The industrial feel created by the use of sheet metal on the outside in continued on the interior with polished concrete floors that open into work spaces filled with machinery, giving the whole space an almost factory like vibe. The interior, though industrial inspired, features artistic design elements such as a staircase that looks like it could be from a modern iteration of Hogwarts. All of which combined resulted in the designers of the building be awarded a commendation in 1999 Australian Institute of Architects National Sir Zelman Cowan Award for Public Buildings and also an award from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Chapter Institutional in the ‘New’ category.
The outwards appearance of the MADA building has a resemblance to a significant part of melbourne geography, the exhibition center. This resemblance is not just a coincidence and ties the MADA building to a significant architect group and significant landmarks which is another one of the criteria for heritage listing stated by the Victorian Heritage Council.
Related architecture
The architecture company Dent Corker Marshall, that designed the MADA building were also the architects behind the Melbourne Exhibition centre that was completed three years earlier in 1996. Both buildings have similar design elements and though the MADA building on its own is not significant, is connected to a significant building in Melbourne. The design features used on the exterior is also reflected in another significant structure in Melbourne, the Spencer Street footbridge. The person who designed the footbridge has acknowledged the style as a significant inspiration in the bridge in the selection of materials and aerodynamic design. The group was also responsible for designing the ANZAC memorial in Canberra.
Dent Corker Marshall has also been the architects behind a multitude of significant buildings overseas with their credits including but not limited to, the Scottish house of parliament, the Manchester justice buildings and court, and the viewing centre at Stonehenge.
This all means that not only is the monash design and architecture building special as a standalone structure but is part of a larger and international body of works that represents a major achievement of an australian group.
What makes a place significant?
The true purpose of the criteria is to establish if a location is significant. Significance is such an abstract concept, it is almost inherently subjective. My home and my workplace are both significant locations in my life yet to the masses these places have no real meaning at all.
The audio may not sound like much but it was recorded in the MADA building at midday on a friday. The ambient noises are quiet even at this busy time of day but you can still hear the muffled whispers of students and their footsteps echoing lightly off the walls.
I feel that in its own way, this audio can be used to make a case as for the MADA teaching and learning spaces being significant enough to be worth protecting. It all ties back a lot to the architectural and cultural arguments that have already been discussed and the nature of significance is where these ideas come together to really define this place as being worthy of a heritage listing among other monash facilities.
The architecture is beyond just a nice design but it makes the space of the building one that feels nice to be in, a space that is conductive to the activities that go on from a functional and aesthetic standpoint. This all helps promote the culture that surrounds the space of MADA that exists within the design units that occur within.
The audio is a small example of the space being used, it the sound of students and educators using the space as it is intended and being part of that culture. This is a space that is used, functional an appreciate and is used to educate and train which is an almost inarguably important task.
Significance is the place from which all of the heritage listing criteria extend from and embodies,as Dennis Denuto from the Australian classic The Castle would phrase it ‘the vibe of thing’ and because of the vibe the MADA brings to design at monash it is significant on campus.
History
As previously mentioned the Monash art design and architecture building is not new, most people who work and study there are probably older than the structure itself. Being made in 1999, it has not even existed for more than 20 years.
So how can the MADA building qualify under the historical criterion?
This begs more esoteric question of ‘at what point is something history? How old must it be?’ What makes something history or historical is hard to pin down in precepts so there is no set list of rules or regulations. As a way to circumnavigate this by not defining whether or not the MADA building is historical or not, but whether it has features that gives it the potential to become labelled as historical after whatever nebulous amount of time that is required for a place to be historical, has passed.
In defining what ‘potential’ means in this context we need to look at what aspects are consistent among locations already considered as historical. Quiet often these historical spaces are rooted in elements of culture and design and how the location is either a remnant of those features that is no longer commonly seen or is relevant to culture that is still current.
The element of heritage criteria that I think could apply here is that the MADA building has the potential to become an example of a rare or endangered aspect of victorian history.
The connection to this history is through the architecture of the building itself. The Dent Corker Marshall group designed a number of buildings in a period ranging from the mid 90’s to the very early two thousands in Australia that all feature similar design elements.
One of these structures that I haven’t mentioned yet is the design work the group did on Federation Square. The square is a very significant piece of Melbourne geography and currently aspects of it are at risk of being demolished to make way for an apple store. The public outcry and debate surrounding this proposal will, whether or not the store goes through, be a part of Victorian history that defines an aspect of public opinion help by the populace at that time. It is through this connection that I believe that, given time, this building will be in a historical category.
References
Cheng, L. (2018). NH Architecture, Woods Bagot make over MCEC. ArchitectureAU. Retrieved 27 April 2018, from https://architectureau.com/articles/nh-architecture-woods-bagot-makeover-mcec/
Criteria for Inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register | Heritage Council of Victoria. (2018). Heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 27 April 2018, from http://heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/heritage-protection/criteria-and-thresholds-for-inclusion/
Cultural + Civic – Denton Corker Marshall – architecture + urban design. (2018). Dentoncorkermarshall.com. Retrieved 27 April 2018, from http://www.dentoncorkermarshall.com/experience/cultural-civic/
Heritage, O. (2018). Statements of Heritage Impact. NSW environment. Retrieved 27 April 2018, from http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/heritagebranch/heritage/hmstatementsofhi.pdf
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