VOLUME 6, No. 47, 1947.

THE ARCHITECTURAL STUDENTS' SOCIEY OF THE ROYAL VICTORIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS PRESENTS

S M U D G E SEditor: NEIL CLEREHANDistribution: STUART G. WARMINGTONAdvertising:. LESLIE M. PERROTT, Jm*. OCTOBER

ARCHITECTURE AND BUREAUCRACYIF THEY MUST DO IT,

WHY NOT MAKE IT BETTER ?

Photo, courtesy Vic. Railways.

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By G. S.uort WARMINGTON*

It might have been expected that the cessation of hostilities in 1945 would mark the last days of the Air Raid Shelter. To make such an obvious observation may involve the risk of being branded as a half-wit. Yet 1947 witnesses a series of structures very much resembling air raid shelters stead­ily growing in the suburbs. We have been informed that they are railway stations.

Carrum was the first since the end of the war to be blessed with one. ("a mirthless mausoleum in Ministerial Moderne"—Smudges, January 1947)

And now Darebin and Eaglemont follow.Technically sound, and therefore certainly not bad architecture, the rail­

way station steers a supposedly "safe" course aesthetically. It appears afraid to try a new tack. Being neither blatantly "moderne," nor bravely rational, it achieves only mediorcrity, banality. It is unimaginative, unin­spired. It is the architecture of bureaucracy. . . .

What might be called the rational answer to the problem of the suburban railway station is seen in the British experimental stations which are factory produced and demountable. No heavy brickwork here, but steel and glass giving a pleasant lightness without sarificing the appearance of strength, and a feeling of precision which seems to be most appropriate in a railway station.

In Victoria we have reached the stage of using precast parts for assembl­ing the platform itself, but the advantages of this method are not utilised in the building.

At Eaglemont and Darebin the air raid shelters will face simple, unpre­tentious, well-scaled, weather-board station buildings which, at the time of

erection, pmbably benefited from limitations imposed by economy (there are no fancy frills, nothing added as an afterthought in the name of archi­tecture) and from being situated in what were then small unimportant town­ships which deserved nothing ornate.

But they are bathed in the inevitable gravy-and-fawn color scheme. The new stations exhibit little advancement from the normal standard of V.R. de­sign. This standard is exemplified in the layout and typography of V.R. pos­ters, notices, timetables, &c. "Something to interest you every Wednesday."

Since a similar standard of design is displayed in the schools of the Public Works Department, the various "beautification" schemes of the average Municipal Council, and the vast majority of work carried out by official architectural officers, one is forced to conclude that the large official or­ganisation has no soul.

"Design without feeling," is the formula under a bureaucratic system. Sound practical thinking at times, but never feeling, imagination or inspira- -ticn. The lifeless architecture of bureaucracy. . . .

We admit some exceptions to the general conservatism of typjcal official architecture: the new shelters by the Tramways Board; a cliff fence put up by one of the bayside Municipal Councils; much good sane architecture by the State Electricity Commission; a series of fire stations built by private architects for the Fire Brigade Board; the Beaufort house; and so on.

But where is the Spirit of Progress in Victorian Railways architecture?Too often the taste of officials appears to be offended by what is really

the charm of rational architecture—simplicity of line and honest.of expres­sion.

Officials prefer massiveness to lightness, even if it involves considerably greater expense. Their ideas have advanced far enough to part with the complete regalia of Classical facades, though perhaps with some reluctance and they have adopted a "safe" style. Period ornament has been strip­ped, leaving denuded buildings still essentially massive and solid. There are. no Corinthian columns but a slim steel frame is frequently hidden be­neath a heavy overcoat.

Officialdom rarely indulges in exaggerating the superficial character­istics of modern architecture—-a practice in which the theatre and the jerry- built house are rival exponents—but ittolerates rational and purely creative design only in secluded ports, where being out of sight it is also out of mind.

The complete, lack of emotional significance in the architecture of bureau­cracy is partly due to the subdivision of work in the large organisation into many specialised tasks precluding the freedom and personal expression which creates good architecture. It is also due to the tendency of the con­servative person in the large organisation to reach the position of respon­sibility by dint of years of. diligent ser-vice, and to guide official architec­ture in its "safe" but uninspired course.

The exceptions we have admitted. They are like a quiet refined voice amid a thousand ribald utterances.

“THE FIRST FIRST-CLASS POST-WAR BUILDING (‘V.M.’)

BOUQUET OF THE MONTH

A two storey, two unit flat budding by Yuncken, Freeman Bros., take a breath, Griffiths and Simpson, in Dar­ling-st., South Yarra. Open planning, exquisite detailing (as usual), a unique color scheme and a preserved peach. tree.

BLOT OF THE MONTH

It’s a small point. But it shows the civic conscience of many commercial interests. We refer to the highly col­ored “Aspro” ad. on the south s de of the Nicholas Building, right at the gateway to the city. Visitors may mis­take it for the City coat of arms.

'Its hardly the time to mention it, but Mr. Warmington will still take your Subscription orDonation at the same old address.

YARDSTech. Jubilee Exhibition

(Art School Section )It warranted and received publicity

from Clive Turnbull. It had everything— free shapes, vertical rods, yards of cor­rugated cardboard and wonderful di­rection lines on “B” floor.

The Industrial Design section was per­haps better than Architecture as ex­hibition technique, but its products with their fashionable styling were over­shadowed by the architectural projects and models.

Imagination plus a limited budget equals art.

COMMERCIAL COPYING CO.

ALL CLASSES OF PRINTING FOR ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, &C.

STUDENTS’ WORK IS OUR SPECIALTY

RING “COMMERCIAL” — MU7634

COMMERCIAL COPYING CO.

TEMPLE COURT, 422 COLLINS-ST.

VA SSIGNSome weeks ago John Buchan, a mem­

ber of the obvious firm, returned from the land of Rugged Individualism. His Press and Radio reception was the most intensive yet received by an architect, and V.A.S.S. is honored to announce Mr Buchan’s debut as our Guest Speaker next General Meeting.

FRIDAY, OCT. 31, 8 p.m.KELVIN HALL.

AT I O N $“Victorian Modern” was such a riot,

with the culture-loving Melbourne, hordes (witness the queues for ballet bookings) that the Students’ Society will hold a River Trip to try and balance the books.

Cost will be approximately seven shillings per head. Help bring V.A.S.S down from up the creek.

(Booking details later.)COME UP THE RIVER, FRIDAY DECEMBER 6.

0, The following table shows the results of the Atelier Scholarship up to the Final(En Loge) subject. Only those eligible under the conditions of the ConstitutionX are shown. ,V) Subject Total of four

< Name 1 2 ■3 4 5 6 best marksANDERSON 7.25 6.30 7.00 5.50 6.25 6.00 26.80

O BURROWES 7.75 8.70 9.00 7.75 9.25 6.00 34.70EARLE 7.75 9.00 4.00 8.00 7.00 7.50 32.25X GRAY 7.50 8.40 7.00 8.50 — 7.50 31.90u LOWENSTEIN 8.00 6.40 6.00 6.50 — 8.50 29.401/1 O’CONNOR 6.00 5.90 5.00 — — 5.50 22.40SPRAGUE 8.00 8.90 8.00 6.50 9.00 7.00 33.90O* SMITH 5.00 4.10 7.00 5.50 — — 21.60

ÜJ Individual Prize Winners:■J Note: Ultimate Scholarship winner not eligible for monthly prizes.Iti 1st Subject LOWENSTEIN and SPRAGUE (equal)H 2nd Subject EARLE< 3rd Subject BURROWES

4 th Subject GRAYui 5 th Subject BURROWESui 6 th Subject LOWENSTEIN

The En Loge (6 hours) was held simultaneously at Melbourne and Geelong, onOctober 4. Results announced at V.A.S.S . General Meeting, Friday, October 31,

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BOOKSThe group of books gathered together

in Kelvin Hall justifies its existence under the proud title of the : Library of the Royal Victorian Institute of Archi­tects. That the Institute could possibly be proud of such a conglomeration is almost unbelievable, especially when we consider that our prototype, the R.I.B.A., has the finest library in the world.

There is a complete lack of useful, up-to date information. The abundance of pre-war (Boer) books is obvious; so too, are the treatises on the use of raffia and papier-mache as a facing material for tombs, but there is a veritable dearth of data on such notables as Albert Kahn, Moholy-Nagy and Lloyd Wright.

In short, the Institute Library is about as satisfactory as the Women’s Weekly for reference. The service rendered by the excellent American Information Library makes obvious the desirability of a contemporaneous collection of in­formative books and magazines.

The American Library made no pre­tence at being an architectural library, and yet it had so many more books on City and Regional Planning that it made the Institute library look embryonic.

I know that the members of the Stu­dents’ Society realise the inadequacy of the present library and I feel sure that the members of the Institute must be aware of the very real need for the existence of a good library.

L. M. P. Jnr.

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Library Digitised Collections

Author/s:

Royal Victorian Institute of Architects. Students' Society.

Title:

Smudges. vol. 6, no. 47 (October, 1947)

Date:

1947

Persistent Link:

http://hdl.handle.net/11343/214616