Asian Melbourne: Report on the Beginnings of a Design Research Project

Abstract

The phasing out of the White Australia Policy (1966–75) paved the way for increased immigration into suburban Melbourne from Asia, leading to the development of tight-knit “enclaves” of specific cultural groups. Particular streets in Melbourne can transport those who pass through them to distinct places in Asia – Station Street in Box Hill (to China) or Victoria Street in Richmond (to Vietnam, Figures 1 and 2). The culture of those who live, work and shop in these streets is evident in the treatment of facades and organisation of streetscapes superimposed over-familiar elements of the common Melbourne building and site types. We refer to this new combined aesthetic and organisation as Asian Melbourne. The purpose of this research project we have termed Asian Melbourne is to investigate the fit betweenMelbourne’s urban structure and Asian ways of life. As a way to start, we ran a design research elective at RMIT University, which spent a semester studying parts of Melbourne with high Asian populations. Students were asked to record what they saw and consider two questions: