Comment – Page 3 – heritage.city by james lesh

Road to nowhere? (on the Eastern Freeway heritage listing)

16 January 2020 admin Comment

Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway is likely to be state heritage listed next year. Heritage Victoria has identified it as aesthetically and historically important. But should freeways be managed within the heritage system? Or is a freeway the kind of 20th century relic which we should be prepared to let go of?

How can a place be heritage-listed after 17 years? What it means for Melbourne’s Fed Square

27 August 2019 admin Comment

Federation Square in Melbourne has been listed on the Victorian state heritage register just 17 years after its completion. The push for heritage status was provoked by the now-abandoned Apple store proposal for the city centre site. Heritage considerations will now guide this important public space, widely known as Fed Square, as it evolves now and over future generations.

Forty years of the Burra Charter and Australia’s heritage vision

14 July 2019 admin Comment

As the Burra Charter turns 40, James Lesh looks back at the global influence of its innovative approach to heritage value and asks how it may need to evolve to meet the challenges of future conservation and changing sensibilities.

“I’ve just discovered my building is covered in flammable cladding”

25 March 2019 admin Comment

Last week I found out that I am one of potentially hundreds of thousands of Australians who live in a fire-prone and unsafe apartment.

Once a building is destroyed, can the loss of a place like the Corkman be undone?

13 March 2019 admin Comment

Since the illegal demolition of the historic Corkman Irish Pub in Melbourne in 2016, debate has raged about the best way forward for this historic place. The state planning minister is pursuing an order, via the Victorian Administrative Appeals Tribunal, for the two-storey pub to be rebuilt. This final legal case is set down to be heard in June 2019.

Federation Square heritage council submission

14 December 2018 admin Comment

The Heritage Council of Victoria is accepting public submissions for a potential heritage listing of Federation Square. Here’s my response.

Heritage value is in the eye of the beholder: why Fed Square deserves protection

10 August 2018 admin Comment

The proposed redesign of Federation Square includes demolishing the iconic Yarra building for an Apple store.

Apple store has no place in the people’s square

19 February 2018 admin Comment

FEDERATION Square CEO Jonathan Tribe told us in these pages that the square faces significant challenges. Apparently, its buildings are deteriorating, its visitor numbers are in free fall and its visitor experience is old-fashioned.

Apple is exploiting the power of its brand to claim an important part of our city

20 December 2017 admin Comment

Five days before Christmas, news has dropped that a section of Federation Square has been given to Apple for its flagship Melbourne store. The Yarra Building will be demolished, and its tenants, including the Koorie Heritage Trust, relocated to make way for a globally familiar glass cube design.

Satirising the Australian City: Bruce Petty

3 December 2016 admin Comment

Bruce Petty was awarded the gong for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Journalism’ at the annual Australian Walkley journalism awards this evening. I first came across Petty as part of my research into Australian urban history. From the 1960s onwards, his political satire appeared across various periodicals including the Bulletin magazine, the Australian and the Age newspapers.