Identity in density-Outside the box

Abstract

The suburbs of Australia, the place where still most of the Australians live, is historical deep connected with the Australian dream. Melbourne is one of the major cities in Australia consisting of 351 suburbs in total. One of them is St Albans, a suburb between the middle and outer suburbs, 15 km north-west of the city centre. This area is marked by a vast scale, repetition in the built and unbuilt environment, a limited number of dwelling types and a great amount of family living households. The exciting urban structure of the outskirts of the cities are mainly developed on a principle of freestanding villa types on extremely generous lots. At present, it is mainly the city centre of cities in Australia that are being developed, principally as high rise apartment building types in the grid structure of the city due to the forecasted population grow. The city centre of Melbourne is becoming more dense than ever and accordingly the domestic needs are changing. To meet these needs, it will require a housing brief in the middle and outer suburbs of Melbourne. As suburbs are increasingly recognised as part of a city’s wellbeing with their own alternative ideology it opened up a perfect chance to investigate in these parts of the city and offers new opportunities. How to deal with the confrontation between the forecast of a rapidly growing population and the deep historical connection Australians have with the cultural identity of the suburbs in Melbourne? This graduation project is a proposal for a new typology in suburbia. The answer is found in a re-interpretation of the Australian dream. It seeks to defrost the current situation by unlocking the design potentials hidden in the physical structures of the suburbia, initiating a new chapter a low rise high density development. As Melbourne is a place of settlement from the cultural position of colonisations, it will be a mixed housing project construct to different income groups who can not achieve the Australian dream. A dream that is a belief that home-ownership can lead to a better life and is an expression of success and security. The welfare of the state was relatively small due to this mass home-ownership. The distribution of housing costs associated with housing loans led to a demand for a well developed welfare system. The gap between renting and owning a house is too big. The project response to the problem of affordability, accessibility and density in suburbia. Adding an active strip between the neighbourhood and the hospital intended as a lively catalyst for the neighbourhood. The idea is to swap the narrative between permanent and impermanent architecture, changing people’s perspective and bringing attention to a new typology. Together with a new way of living and working, it is up to the community to decide what the project does and what it means. By stepping off from the positive qualities of these areas, in this project St Albans, such as the good public transport connections and family friendly environments. It can be transformed into a new living environment for the low and medium income population connected to the city. This study constructs a strategy of affordable and sustainable housing, an implementation for a gradual transformation of the exciting urban structure of suburbia. The urban sprawl of the suburbs in Melbourne can become the most vibrant residential areas where the new domestic requirements can be met.