in an Age of Non-Discovery

Land Mark Architecture - in an age of non-discovery RICHARD GLOVER MFA 2007 THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname: GLOVER First name: RICHARD Other name: JOHN Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: MFA School: SCHOOL OF MEDIA ARTS Faculty: COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS Title: Land Mark Architecture – in an age of non-discovery The aim of this MFA Research Documentation is to present the ideas behind the photographs produced during the MFA Degree. In Chapter 2 I will briefly analyse photographers who have influenced or provided structure for my practice. In Chapter 3 I will detail my earliest work and follow with an analysis of the recent projects completed within the research time frame for this MFA Degree. These recent projects have been summarised under the following headings: Transition, which explores the different stages in the architectural construction and deconstruction process in particular sites that would generally be considered unpresentable - sites that are in either a state of decay or dereliction or a state of re-building; Frontier, which looks at new housing developments in outer Sydney suburbs and examines the influence of social imperatives and relevance at a time when aspects of environmental concern are at the forefront of social commentary; and Monolith, examines the remnant modernist vision of high-rise residential architecture, in Sydney and London. Land Mark Architecture – in an age of non-discovery is the urban landscape of landmarks and marks on the land. They should be viewed in the context of documentary photography. I have ignored the buildings that are deemed landmarks, and by following a less obvious path, have explored local, unclassified, and aesthetically uncertain areas of the built environment. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………..……………… Signature Witness ……….……………………...…….… Date The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: Land Mark Architecture - in an age of non-discovery RICHARD GLOVER MFA 2007 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed ................................................................. Date ................................................................. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.’ Signed .............................................................................. Date .............................................................................. AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed .............................................................................. Date .............................................................................. Land Mark Architecture - in an age of non-discovery Contents: 2. Prologue 4. Chapter I: Introduction 10. Chapter II: Influences 19. Chapter III: The Work: Transition, Frontier, Monolith 44. Summary 46. Endnotes 50. List of Plates 52. Appendices 55. Bibliography RICHARD GLOVER MFA 2007 1 2004-2007 Monolith 1. from the series: 1. from PROLOGUE One day I was an ordinary boy growing up in suburban Sydney in the 1960s. The next, I was an international traveller: from provincial Australia, my family went to live for two years in the world’s greatest metropolis, New York City. From there, on a journey through 13 countries in North America, Europe and Asia, many great landmarks of nature and civilization were revealed to me, a list now reading like the itinerary of a speed-sight-seeing tour of the world. But in the 1960s, ice skating under the world’s largest Christmas tree at Rockefeller Centre, gasping at the power of Niagara Falls, surfing Waikiki, gawking at the Crown Jewels, sailing on the Rhine, going by train through the Swiss Alps, wandering among the ruins of the Colosseum, walking the teeming streets of Bombay, grasping the neck of a Thai python, eating a 14-course Peking Duck in Hong Kong, and riding in the back of a Manila jeepney were sights and experiences that were to mark my suburban 2 boy’s imagination with a taste for the exotic. As an adult I continued on my quest for “discovery” as I pictured it: in the mode of National Geographic, heading for destinations unexplored and unexposed, returning with images of previously unrecorded places, events, peoples, landscapes and structures: images that would affirm my youthful conception of landmarks. My early experience had led me to believe that at the very least I would be one step ahead of other would-be world-seekers by trekking to what were then unmarked destinations with exotic names: Ko Samui, Kalimpong, Toba and Pokhara, names full of the promise of discovery. In fact, I made no real discoveries, in the sense of being the first to see. What I did learn from these travels was that by the last quarter of the 20th century, even the furthest and most obscure of places had already been marked: by a new generation of international traveller - adventurers, tourists, voyeurs, opportunists and entrepreneurs. The myth of backpacker integrity, eschewing comfort and guided tours off the beaten track, could not disguise the fact that these places were already marked, as destinations for self-gratification, souvenirs and snapshots. The structure of the world itself changed as I grew older. Thirty years ago the generation of my youth stood on the threshold of the democratisation of world travel. Irrespective of background, we can now have the world delivered to us in packages bought on credit. Few places remain untouched by a sameness that accompanies the travel industry’s need to accommodate, in the hotels, the franchises, the billboards. The cultures of place have become mere backdrops; a landmark a reassurance that you are where the itinerary says. 3 CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION “From what we find we like – what we are easily attract- ed to – we can learn much of what we really are.”1 The aim of this MFA Research Documentation is to present the ideas behind the work produced during the MFA Degree. In Chapter 2 I will briefly analyse photographers who have influenced or provided structure for my practice. In Chapter 3 I will detail my earliest work and follow with an analysis of the recent projects completed within the research time frame for this MFA Degree. These recent projects have been summarised under the following headings: Transition, which explores the different stages in the architectural construction and decaying process in particular sites that would generally be considered unpresentable, being either in a state of decay, dereliction or re-building. Frontier, which looks at new housing developments in outer Sydney suburbs and examines the influence of social imperatives and relevance at a time when aspects of environmental

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