Communication & Social Relations RMIT University, 2010
Authors:
1. Marcin Nagorski
2. Arthur McCarthy
3. Chung Wennie
4. Hui Peng
1. Video Billboard
Recent architecture in Melbourne has been more adventurous than ever before
in the past. Building designs in particular have begun to incorporate technology
into their structures and facades.
The APN Outdoors advertising billboard is as much an advertisers dream
as it is a design marvel. It is an aesthetically pleasing LED screen mounted across
the street from one of Australia’s busiest train stations.
Appearing (from the left to the right) to be made of smaller LED blocks
that build to make up the whole it is designed to be a technological marvel as
well as a billboard. It’s image quality is almost unaffected by weather and
viewing angle and it contrasts greatly against it’s host, the Young and Jackson
hotel building.
Although the billboard is mounted onto an older building, if one looks
right at home, giving the entire building a more “modern” look. Krajina (2009)
describes this effect on the façade of a building as “liquid”, the architectural
surface of a city is now in a state of constant change.
The incorporation of a screen such as the one on Flinders Street into the
physical facade of a building creates the opportunity to breathe a new life into
the whole of a city. “Light” has always been one of the main factors that gives any
city life (Krajina, 2009). These screens offer a new form of light, adding
movement to it, and creating a new constantly changing and shifting life within
the city.
Federation Square is a prime example of where this has become a reality.
Several LED screens advertising movie times have been designed into the
building’s western face. The constant movement gives the area a feel of
busyness, even when the area is deserted. This gives the feeling of community to
people, the city is communicating with its publics and with itself (Struppek,
2006).
The design of these screens is increasingly becoming more apparent
throughout Melbourne and the world, where entire networks of these digital
billboards are being created. Design is incorporating “evolving technology” to
morph into something more consumable (Brill, 2002).
The APN billboard is the first step to reaching the goal of an ever-‐
changing and morphing consumer environment. People have been enthralled by
architecture for as long as they have been building things, and this is evident
enough from the sheer diversity of our structures all over the world, and in
Melbourne.
Melbourne has been in the process of becoming a digitally liquid city for
some time now. With the completion of Federations Square in 2002 (and the
add-‐on in 2006) as well as with the mounting of the APN Outdoors billboard the
first steps to reaching the ultimate goal of the eternally unique city. Standing out
from the rest of the world is what Melbourne has tried to do for a long time with
its design. By copying many of the world’s most celebrated buildings in it’s own
CBD and surrounding areas, and adding the “liquid façade”, Melbourne will
finally have its unique identity.
2. State Library of Victoria
The State Library of Victoria, which represents the heart of the city of Melbourne,
dates back to 1856 making it one of the oldest buildings in Victoria. Many famous
people can be attributed to founding the library none more so notable and
influential than Sir Redmond Barry and Lieutenant Joseph Charles La Trobe.
Barry, the Chairman of the trustees of the library insisted that the library would
provide etiquette and knowledge to a post gold rush society wanting to build a
‘great emporium of learning
and philosophy, of literature,
science and art’. (Redmond
Barry 1856)
By the year 1865 the
State Library of Victoria
housed in excess of 38,000
books and the need for
expansion was soon
becoming evident. This
resulted in the construction
of new buildings including
the spectacular domed
reading room which opened
in 1913. This magnificent
reading room was designed
to seat 320 readers and to
house 32,000 books on the
shelves around its walls. The remainder of the Library’s ever-‐growing collection
was stored in stacks, available to readers on request.
Leslie Cannold labels The State Library of Victoria as Victorians major
reference and research centre, saying describing the building itself as “beautiful”
and “cleverly renovated”. It is a building that offers students, scholars and
creators a “wealth of resources”. Her issue with the library surrounds “hordes” of
secondary students that through “giggling”, “whispering”, “texting” and
“flirtatious dashing from one table to the next” create a culmination of noise that
abhorrently ignores the sign and tradition of libraries being “a quiet area for
silent work and study”. (Leslie Cannold 2010)
In light of 2004 being the 150th anniversary of The State Library of
Victoria, Philip Goad wrote a blog to explain the origins of the building itself. The
State Library which has also at times been home to the National Museum and
National Gallery begun in 1853 and was designed by competition winner Joseph
Reed. Goad revealed that Reed chose to design the library with ‘Roman Revival’
design, however it must be noted that the building has been added to a few
times. (Phillip Goad 2004)
Over its 150 year heritage it has been renovated 4 times and overall has
had 11 architects. Between 19061911, Bates, Peebles and Smart designed what
for a small time would be the world’s largest re-‐enforced dome. The polygonal
dome which rises over 4 levels is now iconic to the city of Melbourne and now
stands proudly as one of Melbourne’s most loved institutions.
The State Library of Victoria whilst renowned for its literature and
research is also one other significant thing; a meeting point and often the centre
of rallies and protests. On January 9th 2009, about 100 Israel supporters
gathered on the steps of State Parliament chanting "no more terror" only to be
outnumbered by around 1000 pro Palestinian supporters. Due to the iconic
status of the library it is often a representation of society and thus these
protesters gathered their not only because it is in the heart of Melbourne but
because they were making a social and political stand. (Mitchell 2009)
The library’s founder Sir Redmond Barry envisioned Melbourne to be the
Rome of the south and whilst the State Library of Victoria resembles aspects of
Roman architecture the core essence of the library is Australian, holding social
and cultural artefacts significant to Victoria. It would be fair to say that whilst
Melbourne as entity hardly resembles Rome, it has created a unique city of which
the iconic library stands proudly at the heart of.
3. Hosier Lane
Hosier Lane is a part of Andy Mac’s City Lights project – ‘an independent public
art project utilising permanent light box exhibition sites and produces
ephemeral events focusing on collaboration, street art, and emerging artists’
(Mac, 2009).
It is located on the Southern part of Melbourne CBD, opposite Federation
Square on Flinders Street. It is well known for its ever-‐changing graffiti and
street art.
Graffiti is not only an art displayed on public space, it forms a lifestyle that
is concealed from the public. Most importantly, Graffiti acts as a social and
political medium. It can offer important information on the motivations and
ideologies of the artists, and is continuously changing according to current
issues. Also, graffiti can be seen as a new form of visual cultural production that
is able to enhance the everyday urban life (Austin, 2010).
Evidence to this is that graffiti can even be linked back to the Pluralist
Decade (Austin, p 37) – how graffiti was created in a direct dialogue and used to
communicate with the society. During that period of time, new ideas of finding
civil rights and social identity were passed on through graffiti. It can be said that
the people used graffiti when their freedom of speech was taken. This shows that
graffiti can be influenced by social changes and ethnic communities.
Graffiti changes with the city – ‘New contexts reflect and shape new
meaning (Austin, p 42).’ Graffiti provided a way of seeing something new; offers
another public site for discussion, information sharing and creation.
Graffiti can be used as an advertising (communication) tool. This is
because graffiti artists have just as much right to use public spaces for
advertisement as corporation uses large billboards (Farmer, p 20). There are
also a number of similarities between graffiti and billboards advertisement. They
both communicate with the public – billboards persuade and attract the public
whereas graffiti can change the public.
Graffiti can be influenced by its surroundings and how people convey
their ideas through them. It contains the artist’s ideologies politically and
socially. Artists express their angst towards the country’s political affair through
graffiti and how the message is passed on (Farmer, 2007). Artists place their
ideologies not in words, but pictures where only some people may understand
them. Through graffiti, they spread their ideologies, and when the public adopts
these ideas, it may create a strong political or social response. The aesthetic
criteria and motives behind the artist’s work far outweigh arguments on legality
or unconventional presentation (Werwath, para. 2).
In conclusion, graffiti not only act as a medium for expressing political
and social messages, but it changes with the environment. People who cannot
express their dissatisfactory through words, regardless of who they are, can
express them through graffiti. Although graffiti is always associated with
negative issues such as vandalism and crime in the past, it now acts as a common
communication tool for the public. It is definitely a very strong tool to express
political and social messages.
4. Chinatown’s Archway: “Paifang”
The main cities of the Western countries have their Chinatowns. In Melbourne,
Chinatown was established in the city CBD, and located in Little Bourke Street
and its lanes between Swanston and Russell streets.
Chinatown began as a staging post for the greater quantity of Chinese
people passing through Melbourne on their way to the goldfields. The Chinese
set up their shops alongside brothels, houses, herbalists and opium dens
(Armstrong, M 1997, p.17), but nowadays, Melbourne’s chinatown is made up f
stalls, restaurants and is an iconic streetscape in Melbourne’s inner city. And the
Chinatown gate is one of it’s communication features.
‘Paifang’, also called ‘Pailou’ or arch in English, is a wooden or stone
archway built mainly to commemorate a great achievement or loftiness of a
family’s ancestors. Each ‘Paifang’ has its own cultural connotations and
symbolisms, which are expressed in the gorgeously colourful painting and
patterns (Travel China Guide, 2009).
As the ‘Paifang’ symbolizes Chinese culture and long history, one is able to
comment on the definitions of the patterns and items on the ‘Paifeng’ from a
design perspective. Although the ‘Paifang’ of Melbourne’s Chinatown is not
pretty large, like the royal family’s, it is not difficult to see its painting, colours
and engravings and embossing on the top are exquisite. The gold Chinese
unicorns on the top of archway roof, and some gold decorations under the roof,
some blue and green paintings on the ‘Paifang’s’ surface are great examples of
this.
The ‘Paifang’ wpuld be
decorated with lanterns and
festoons during Chinese festivals,
and would play an active role in
traditional lion dances and the
lighting of firecrackers. Becoming
a living addition to the
streetscape of Chinatown.
Archways generally built
of wood, brick or stone and
display inscriptions. ‘Paifang’
does not ‘live’, does not keep out
wind and rain, but has a religious connotation aiding in prayer to Buddha for
help. Nevertheless, depending on its decorative forms and various social
functions, its “inner secret” is very varied and ancient.
Thus ‘Paifang’ has profound historical significance and special status in
the traditional Chinese culture (Der, 1929). Melbourne is one multicultural city,
like a big family, different nationalities live, work, study and communicate in
Melbourne. Chinatown is representative of Chinese culture, and the archway
directly illustrates a marked symbol of Chinese culture. Nowadays, the arch in
Chinatown is one of Melbourne’s landmarks. That is why people, whether
Chinese or others see the ‘Paifang’ easily recognize this area as Chinatown.
In an influential book called A Primer of Visual Library, author Donis Dondis
(1973) proposed that visual information is processed on three levels:
representational, abstract and symbolic. Symbolic information also includes
geometry, line, icons and colour and considers the image’s effect on the viewer.
Six possible uses for icons in contemporary society are; to make a mark
on the word, as in a signature. To communicate when alphabetic or numeric
systems fail. To converse with those who do not understand our language. To
initiate a story. To project out image onto others and to offer information that
needs to be quickly understood (Helmers, M 2006). In Melbourne city, I believe
that you would not find another Chinese archway so full of culturally unique
characteristics of art as in Chinatown. Chinatown’s ‘Paifang’ is not only a gate,
but also a Chinese symbol in Melbourne and even in the world.
REFERENCES: Brill, L, M 2002, LED Billboards: Outdoor Advertising in the Video Age, Sign Industry, viewed 15 April 2010, <http://www.signindustry.com/led/articles/2002-‐07-‐30-‐LBledBillboards.php3> Krajina, Z 2009 “Exploring Urban Screens”, Culture Unbound, Vol. 1, pp. 401-‐430 Struppek, M 2006, “Urban Screens – The urbane Potential of Public Screens for Interaction”, Intelligent Agent, Vol. 6, No. 2 Leslie Cannold, The Age Newspaper, (February 23, 2010), Society & Culture, ‘Chattering classes invade library quiet’, <http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-‐and-‐culture/chattering-‐classes-‐invade-‐library-‐quiet-‐20100222-‐oro0.html > Philip Goad, (1 March 2004) Walking Melbourne, ‘The State Library of Victoria’ <http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=469> Geraldine Mitchell , Herald Sun (January 4 2009), “Gaza protests spill onto Melbourne Streets”. <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/gaza-‐protesters-‐hit-‐city-‐streets/story-‐e6frf7kx-‐1111118473662> 2009, Headaches due to wind cold, Memorial Arch (Paifang), viewed 17 April 2010, <http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/architecture/culture/paifang.htm>. Der, L 1929, Two Years in the Forbidden City , Dodd, Mead and Company, viewed 17 April 2010, University of Virginia Library.
Dondis, D, A 1973, A Primer of visual Literacy, 1st edn, The Mit Press, Cumberland, USA Helmers, M 2006, ‘The elements of critical viewing’, The elements of visual analysis, 1st edn, Pearson Education, Inc, pp. 26-‐57. Austin, J. 2010, ‘More to see than a canvas in a white cube: For an art in the streets’, City, Edn 14: 1, Routledge, London, pp. 33 – 17. Farmer, S.L. 2007, ‘An Evaluation of Graffiti as a Tool for Conveying Political and Social Messages’, BSc Digital Arts and Technology, University of Plymouth. Mac, A. <n.p.> 2009, ‘About City Lights Project’, blog, n.d., City Lights Projects, viewed 13 April 2010, < http://citylights-‐projects.blogspot.com/ >. Werwath, T. 2006, The Culture and Politics of Graffiti Art, Wilde Lake High School, viewed 14 April 2010, < http://www/graffiti.org/faq/werwath/werwath.html >.