Architecture is both ‘political’ and ‘apolitical’ states Pier Vittorio Aureli in a dialogue held at AA, ‘The Architecture Exchange#2: How is Architecture Political? Up until the start of this semester I had failed to see the political face of architecture, space and urban planning. Politics and architecture always existed as autonomous entities in my vocabulary and never imagined them to coexist either in conflict or in consensus. I chose Young and the Restless (YR) studio for two main reasons; firstly, my aversion towards politics in general that lead me to be ignorant to it. In saying that YR studio was an opportunity for me to give politics a chance and hopefully learn and immerse myself in it, be it politics per se or other forms of the political.

According to the dictionary politics or the political always refer to the activities associated with the governance of a country or area and the relationship between states or parties. Others refer to the use of intrigue or strategy in obtaining any position of power or control. Maybe, this was the reason behind my distaste for politics. Digging deeper into the roots of the origins and history of politics I uncovered a lot more to politics than just the governance of an area or a group of people. These investigations lead me firstly to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and the principles of natural selection. The word ‘selection’ is already alluding to differences/conflicts; to select something is to disregard another. If the art of politics is the art of decision-making that turns conflict into coexistence our bodies by default are perpetually making decisions on what nutrients the body needs and does not need to survive. However Aureli writes, “Unlike desires, imagination, or metaphysics, politics does not exist as a human essence but only happens outside of man”. Like Aureli, we are concerned with the politics that deals with our relationship with the outside, with the world, with anything beyond ourselves. This notion can be further expanded into the level of families, extended kin groups, communities, cultures and sub-cultures, clans, political parties, and nations-all of which are potentially subject to decision making at the individual and collective levels. Secondly, that political exists everywhere as long as there is a difference, a conflict, or an opposition to something. So the recognition of the enemy (understood not as inimicus but as hostis) becomes critical for the political to exist. Hence, to host the hostis the public realm becomes the foundation for the establishment of political thought and action

The political is taking a stand for or against something. The political exists where values clash and stir up debates, arguments and controversy. For this reason, any form of creation or creative act where judgements are made, where subjectivity takes over objectivity, where opinions are expressed out loud, be it in the form of literature, visual graphics, music, film, art or architecture, the political is most evident. For instance, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange and The Shining subtly critiques authority, power and individuality, Maya Lin’s, Bob Dylan and Marvin Gaye’s sentiment towards the war in Vietnam, Rage against the Machine, N.W.A and SITE’s non-conformist attitude, George Orwell’s 1984 and Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses touches on sensitive topics such as religion, invasion of privacy, sex and totalitarianism. All of the works mentioned stems from a reaction towards a cause, an issue or an event, hence, political.

My proposition for Bentleigh emerges from this idea of difference. This division of value works on various levels. It brings to light the local communities’ reaction to the new housing policy and demographics change that is currently occurring in Bentleigh. Additionally and more importantly, my own attitude towards this change is manifested in the proposition.

The City of Glen Eira recently passed a new Housing Regulation where the maximum height of a building in a neighbourhood residential zone was fixed at 8 meters (equivalent to 2 storeys, residential growth zone at 13.5 meters (equivalent to 4 storeys) and general residential zone at 9 meters (equivalent to 3 storeys). This change in regulation has been the main catalyst for the recent developments and change in Bentleigh. The local community have mixed sentiments about this. On one side, we have the conservationists, who want to preserve what they have with the fear that the new regulations will change the tranquil, tree-lined, traditional Art Deco neighbourhood into rows of four or five storey boring box buildings that try very

hard to look ‘modern’/’contemporary’; on the other side is the opportunists, who are taking advantage of this new regulation and selling their land to foreign investors for exorbitant prices. Some are even joining hands with their neighbours and selling their combined properties as one for added value. For instance, owners of three Bent Street homes together sold for $5.76 million to a Chinese development company, more than $1 million above what they would have fetched if sold individually. In it’s place the developers plan to build a multi-level retail and apartment block. In today’s capitalist society such events and changes are unavoidable. Investors and entrepreneurs immediately grab the opportunity to make a quick buck and are continually on the look out for such moments in the economy. I certainly encourage change but a change that is not blind to local culture and history, a change that still speaks of its time, place and values. The current developments that are taking place in Bentleigh and the surrounding suburbs in Glen Eira are hideous. Like plain, lifeless stacked boxes or a blank book they lack character and personality, they are void of any stories about the place and its people. The proposal seeks to bring back these often-ignored stories and memories.

The notion of an architectural sublime and other notions of architecture’s ability to evoke emotions through memory can be linked to its ability to tap hidden or repressed memory of the unconscious mind, often creating uncanny experiences where the archaic is reinvented, giving new meaning to the old; making the unfamiliar all too familiar or vice versa. This proposal seeks to draw an architectural language and approach that is deeply rooted in the history, lived experiences, the shifts in culture, demographics and the current nature of Bentleigh and its people. This investigation into the past takes off from the arrival of the sailing ships with the first white settlers as early as the 1800s.

The project started with researching and investigating the built fabric, the community and the changing demographics in Bentleigh. There is an increasing no of Chinese and Indian immigrants moving into Bentleigh hence the typical suburban interwar house plan is used to create courtyards that are reminiscent housing

patterns in these two cultures. In doing this a couple of interesting outcomes take place, firstly is the creation of courtyards of various forms and sizes, second the collision of spaces in an irrational manner forms strange juxtapositions. This uncanny situation of finding the unfamiliar within the familiar and visa versa combined with bringing back some of the local stories and memories, forms a major part of the project. It explores architectures ability to tap hidden memories, creating uncanny experiences where the archaic is reinvented giving new meaning to the old.

Various approaches or techniques such as scaling, inverting, reworking or reorganising are applied to create the uncanny. For instance the fire place is scaled up and reworked into an entrance, something that you can walk through; roofs are scaled up and down and their function altered depending on their relationship with other objects within the site; outdoor spaces become indoor and vice versa.

My interest in found objects developed into found spaces. The collision of theses suburban houses created a number of interesting FOUND indoor and outdoor spaces in which programmes are inserted. This approach also challenges human behaviour in know familiar spaces, it forces us or our body and mind to rethink and reboot the way in which we are meant to behave in these spaces. The large circular courtyard in the centre is in part a commentary on the big corporation or the wealthy taking away from the small and marginalized community. On the other hand, the large open space recognizes Jimmy and Nancy, the last survivors of the Bunurong people to live in the region and their wish of the liberty to roam free and unconstrained.