THE CASINO DILEMMA

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOOD

 Celebrate Brisbane

QUEEN'S WHARF - SHAPING THE FUTURE OF BRISBANE

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The problem we face as a community is not whether we like or dislike the buildings proposed for the new casino complex in Brisbane, but whether the development is appropriate for the location nominated in the invitation documents. The architectural character of the schemes by both proponents is typical of recent casinos the world over – flamboyant, attention-seeking, quirky, outrageous; i.e. ‘Las Vegas’ style.

Casino operators know their market and understandably have buildings designed, (not usually by local architects), which will appeal to their client groups, namely holiday makers, gamblers, and locals seeking a good night out.

Las Vegas is a casino city; Brisbane is not. Had successive State Governments made use of the urban and regional planning, and architectural expertise available in both the State Government and Local Authorities, we may not be facing the prospect of a casino complex being the ‘front door’ of our city.

In the modern era, casino cities such as Las Vegas and Reno were defined by gambling and entertainment that funded cheap accommodation and meals for the visitors.

In Australia, we took a different path. The West Point casino in Hobart marked the beginning of legalised gambling in this country. It was located well away from the CBD and government buildings. This was true also of the Gold Coast casino. The Melbourne casino complex too, has its own precinct that does not impact unfavourably on the government, cultural, educational and commercial components of the city. It is not the face of Melbourne; it is simply an ‘add on.’

The casino stands at the intersection of the government, business, commercial and cultural precincts.

Sadly this is not the case for the Brisbane proposal. The site selected by the previous Government is at the junction of the government, business, commercial and cultural precincts, with the major educational complex of the Queensland University of Technology on the doorstep. Advice given by concerned professionals at the time the offer to proponents was being formulated was disregarded.

It would appear that the brief to proponents was not underpinned by studies in traffic, urban and regional, and infrastructure planning; that it was more an ideas competition without a guiding and controlling brief.

Casual observers of the current proposal could be forgiven for not being aware that the building with the large rounded façade that visually anchors the development at the Parliament House end of the site is, in fact, the government administration building currently under construction. Although the architectural expression of this anchor is not as flamboyant as the casino buildings, it certainly seems to be an integral component of the final development.

The government administration tower (right) completes the set of towers around the central casino drum

The winning bidder has been careful to establish the connection by featuring this administration building in the extensive advertising for its proposal: ‘Queens’s Wharf - Shaping the future of Brisbane.’

Do we seriously want our State government administration building to be seen as an adjunct to a casino complex? Is this linkage between big money, gambling, and the activities of government the sign of a healthy democracy?

Imagine a casino complex abutting the British houses of Parliament in London with the government providing the land. It would be completely out of character and culturally offensive.

How does our situation in Brisbane differ?

The State Government administration building is the tower on the right.

The casino is directly adjacent to it.

Both developments overlook one another and share the same precinct and identity.

The proposed site is currently referred to as the ‘George Street Government Precinct,’ and is currently home to historically significant and prize-winning modern buildings. Is it now to be renamed ‘Casino City’?

Full page advertisement from Q Weekend 29 August 2015

Pages 37 - 44 of this publication were 'Brought to You by Echo Entertainment'

It is interesting to note that the successful proponent is spending big money on advertising its proposition. Why? Is the bidder unsure of the way forward, or is it trying to woo the doubters? Perhaps there is an opportunity to obtain a better outcome?

The State Government administration building is the tower on the right.

No doubt the government response to these comments will be: “It’s too late. Why were these issues not raised earlier?” The facts are that valid concerns were raised but politicians of all persuasions seem to have difficulty in accommodating unbiased professional advice when they are presented with commercially attractive propositions that cater to the majority. Razzamatazz usually wins over informed decision making.

Our community is entitled to be concerned about the built form of our city. If we build a casino on the most prominent site the city has to offer, i.e. next to the major building housing our government departments adjacent to our parliament house, we will send the wrong message to international investors, visitors and our own community.

By all means keep the winning bidder, but a more appropriate location for a casino complex must be considered.

Where might a new casino in Brisbane be located? There are the large, unsightly railway yards adjacent to the Transit Centre in Roma Street that could be built over in the same way that Federation Square in Melbourne was developed to conceal a mess of railway lines. Then there is Hamilton, where the freeway-free edge of the river offers grand possibilities too. Brisbane is not short of alternative sites that will allow its civic identity to be maintained, indeed enriched, overcoming the current circumstance that creates a casino core as its heart.

Edwin Codd  BArch (Hons), LFAIA, FDIA

Past President, RAIA Qld Chapter

Inaugural Head of the School of the Built Environment QUT

Board of Architects, Architect of the Year 2000

Past Chairman of the Design Council Queensland

Member of the Hall of Fame, Design Institute of Australia

23 August 22015

NOTE:
For more on the government administration building, see: 

http://voussoirs.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/queenslands-power-tower.html 

For more on the casino proposal, see:
http://voussoirs.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/brisbanes-new-casino-proposal-approved.html

VOUSSOIRS

      blogs on architecture

entablatures is a site that has been set up by SPAN as a collaborative enterprise to publish debate on issues that have been raised by the Brisbane group, ashoka, (because it is frequently issuing edicts), that meets monthly over a curry to discuss matters to do with the architectural profession. It will take a little time to get the free flowing discussions formalised into blogs, but this is the intent.

ashoka has a long history. It began informally as a regular post-lecturing event in the late 1970's when Daniel Callaghan and Spence Jamieson lecturered together at the Queensland Institute of Technology (now Queensland University of Technology). What's in a name? These meetings have continued ever since. The evenings became legendary over time and, through the years, others have asked to become involved. With the new Board of Architects' requirments for CPD, Continuing Professional Development, these evenings have taken on a new formal role: to develop a broader debate from the matters that come out of the evening's discussions and to explore other issues of group interest.

The process has started. In the meantime, visit voussoirs at http://voussoirs.blogspot.com.au where matters architectural are written about by SPAN. SPAN became the identity of 'SPence ANd others' when voussoirs was initially set up, but voussoirs has morphed into writings by Spence Jamieson. entablatures intends to be the place for the 'ANd others'. The site will be managed by Spence Jamieson who continues to write in voussoirs on matters that interest him.

For those interested in the environment, visit SPRINGBROOK LOCALe at http://springbrooklocale.blogspot.com.au/

This beautiful World Heritage region of Australia needs protection from, of all people, our politicians, as well as our developers. It is located in the hinterland of southeast Queensland's Gold Coast on the border with New South Wales. The World Heritage listing mentions Springbrook's unique biodiversity. The hope is that, unlike the Great Barrier Reef, Springbrook will never get close to being placed on the 'endangered' list.

 

 

SERENDIPITY

Pure serendipity. After setting up the blog under the title entablatures, Roy Lichtenstein’s paintings of 1971 - 1976 are discovered: see http://trendland.com/roy-lichtenstein-entablatures/ and http://paulacoopergallery.com/exhibitions/507  One can only accept the find and enjoy it. Something must be right.

How frequently does it occur? I am thinking of a design, a completed building that has been put together from the brief and the interrelated process of analysis, discovery and inspiration only to discover some time after, the identical detail or theme or idea in another, an older building never before seen?

 

I can recall detailing a square sliding glass window with a traditional timber chain Venetian blind over it within a projecting brick frame. Below this opening, and within a keyhole extension of the brick frame, was placed a smaller square louvre opening - for more flexible ventilation opportunities. This was in sub-tropical Brisbane. Traditional verandahs were enclosed in these chain Venetian blinds for privacy, shades and shelter from rain.

About a year later, while travelling in Cairns in tropical north Queensland, I photographed a verandah on an old house. It was clad in the old ‘Fibro’ sheeting and had openings in an identical keyhole form, complete with chain Venetians and lower louvres. The discovery was simply astonishing. One could only, again, accept and enjoy it. It seemed to say something about the idea - its sense and sensibility: something was right.

Years later, after developing a pattern for a brick-paved courtyard using a red and a cream brick in a positive - negative grid of tartan proportions, the identical idea was later seen in France - at Versailles. There is no sub- anything here. One can remember clearly the process of seeking out a solution that used the grid of the building as the base reference that expanded into the pattern after many various scribbles and setouts. It involved the sketching/learning experimental cycle of designing where smudges and other odd lines and errors, happenstance, make suggestions that are then worked through in a new layering of perception and outcomes.

I recall David Sylvester’s interview with Francis Bacon. Bacon tells how drugs are of no advantage or use in painting - in creating (and he should know) - but that one can learn from a smear, splodge, stain or a stroke. Such is the creative world where the mind/brain/body is alert to opportunities - staying open and receptive to possibility: to seeing opportunities; new futures.

see:

http://voussoirs.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/bacons-sacrambled-studio-francis.html

http://trendland.com/roy-lichtenstein-entablatures/

The Paula Cooper Gallery in New York will present an exhibition of works by Roy Lichtenstein from his celebrated Entablatures series.  The paintings, realized between 1971 and 1976, will be on view from September 17 through October 22, 2011. The entablature is an architectural element resembling a band or molding lying horizontally above the columns of a building. Originating in the architecture of ancient Greece, the motif was also abundantly represented in America in the early twentieth-century Beaux-Arts and Greco-Roman revival style used for public buildings such as museums and libraries. Despite the apparent reference to ancient Greek architecture these works are abstract interpretation which easily trace back to Lichtenstein’s iconic comic-style.

SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

This site is dedicated to discussions on architecture, the layers and connections invovled in the spanning of issues: the entablatures. It is presently under construction.