Historic buildings form an important part of how people perceive and value their local area. This is recognised in the planning regime, where they receive protection through the designation of listed building and conservation area status. Some public-sector funding exists in the form of grants...

2016 marks the 30th anniversary of Richard Lowenstein’s acclaimed Dogs in Space, a fictionalized cinematic memoir of nominal bohemians in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. Set 6-8 years before the film’s release, Lowenstein utilised genuine participants in the events/milieu depicted, as well as key locations...

What imbues a place with meaning, making it ‘iconic’? Can labels such as ‘icon’ fit alongside Māori concepts of place, and if so how?

In 1972 artist Robert Ingpen, writing of Swan Hill’s Pioneer Folk Museum, suggested that “seeing how our forebears lived, we discover how they fitted themselves into the new land and established a balance which we must maintain for the sake of future generations.” For fifty...

An original component of the 1811 grid plan for New York City, Union Square has acquired an association as a place in which the ideals of American republicanism and democracy are both signified and enacted. The square is occupied by a central lawn, a series...

The paper discusses the Sirius apartments located in Sydney’s historic Rocks precinct. It is informed by personal communication with the building’s architect, Tao (Theodorus) Gofers. The paper situates the building in the context of the 1970s redevelopment plans for the Rocks, its critical reception as...

Change has engulfed the coastal fringe of Australia. In balancing the built and natural environment, community needs, cultural significance and economic sustainability, planners aim to improve quality of life and create vibrant communities. Yet managing place change, particularly in coastal areas, is fraught with tensions...

The Canterbury earthquakes of 2010-2012 have trigged a reappraisal of building policy and regulation – both for new buildings and existing buildings. This reappraisal is influenced by the recommendations of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission and currently being implemented by the earthquake-prone policy review of...