I would like to open this little monograph with a philosophical theory: “that pleasure… is the highest good and proper aim of human life”.
This is An Exercise In: Hedonism
Melbourne is constantly morphing, changing, and transmogrifying into something new, different and unique. It is a pastiche of other architects work, with each trying to assert their own little bit of control on a city that revels in mesmerising hustle-and-bustle of its own metropolis. Joy sprouts out from the most unlikely of edges. Culture, art, and society runs through Melbourne like a tempestuous river; it is a city of aesthetic gratification; from the golden splendour of the victorian, the streamlined sophistication of the inter-war, or the alienist futurism of the high-tech there is something for any sensibility.
It is on the border that this idea of Melbourne, grows strongest. Melbourne is, at its heart, a city lived on the margins and its location at “the arse-end of the world” goes a long way to further this case. And this edge along a little slice of Punt Road between Victoria and Wellington Parade shows how this idea of Melbourne can so aptly applied.
Now while pleasure might be of the upmost import, I'm sure even the most ardent epicurean would agree that constant immersion within the fantastical reduces its potency and overall effect. Therefore it is necessary to have a qualitative background for a few select architectural gems to stand out; the black duvetyn, to the sparking diamond if you will.
Zooming into the scale of the street scape, we view dozens upon dozens of buildings along this minute fraction of punt road. Yet besides a select few, they all meld together to form a unified backdrop, regardless of style, features, and or size. Looking at the Garbage Facility, we can see how its victorian context sits along side, not competing with, but amplifying its hedonistic extravagance.
It is not to say that these backgrounded buildings are dull, far from it, but rather they divert their public attention elsewhere. The school also mimics is period surroundings but channels them into a more vernacular design. The building is far from modest; bringing to mind a little circular church; but when viewed from the street scape, blends into context.
A
PUBLIC
BUILDING
AN
ART
FACTORY
A
HOUSE
DEVELOPMENT
A
SCHOOL &
MARKET
A
HOUSE
DEVELOPMENT
A
HOUSE
DEVELOPMENT
A
HOUSE
DEVELOPMENT
A
HOUSE
DEVELOPMENT
A
HOUSE
DEVELOPMENT
A
WASTE
FACILITY
A
TERRACED
HOME
A
PUBLIC
BUILDING
A
PUBLIC
TOILET
A
PUBLIC
TOILET
A
PUBLIC
TOILET
A
PUBLIC
TOILET
A
PUBLIC
TOILET
This is idea of Melbourne requires both the overt and invert to function, they exist in a symbiotic relationship, where the sum of the parts is greater as a whole.It is about indulging the little moments that happen within a toilet cubicle, whist simultaneously celebrating the pomp-and-circumstance of a gargantuan colonnade.
So much of architecture today seems to lack a certain joy; as though fun is an indulgence unsuited to the profession. As a possible reaction to ever increasing economic pressures, artistic pleasure is seen as a frivolity that architecture can, and should, do without. Now this is not to ague against serious, or sombre design, because even the most solemn mausoleum has a perverse sense of exultation. But rather I intend to chastise the most abhorrent trait within architecture; uninspiring boredom.
Though there those that would consider my polemic to be a fatuous waste of time, money and effort, I would respond, misquoting Dr. Frank-N-Furter, There is no crime in giving yourself over to pleasure, and who knows, you might enjoy yourself. Those aforementioned vices of: time, money, and effort are so insignificant in a relation to a buildings lifecycle; can anyone really say that they care that the Sydney Opera House finished years late, and ten times over budget? The aesthetic satisfaction of a given project is all that really matters; obviously things like budgets and schedules do create limitations, but one should seek “a maximisation of effects through an economy of means”.
Melbourne is a city that provides everyone everything and so does this idea of it. The ability for a man to command over his recycling empire, from an elaborate balustrade, then descend into the gloomy underworld of a public bathroom. The ability to discreetly copulate with another man, whom had come from his own fortified castle of a home.
An architecture of hedonism is about more than just building, it is about inspiring, stimulating, and arousing the senses; it is about: excess, fantasy, bombast, frivolity, and pomposity. And while all buildings cannot, and should not, be grandiose edifices, the world might be a better place if they all tried. So come with me to the edge, enjoy the delights of hedonism; and give yourself over to absolute pleasure.