Architecture students at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) will explore the alternate future of Launceston, in a unique design studio sponsored by the Dick and Joan Green family award.
In 1955, Dick Green was part of a group that proposed a plan to infill the block south of Launceston’s pedestrian mall to modernise the city’s shopping experience.
Caroline Johnston and her mother Joan Green with a model of the 1955 plan to modernise and develop Launceston. Image credit: UTAS
Students will use this proposal to re-interpret Launceston’s CBD and the eclectic block between Brisbane and York, and St John and Charles Streets.
“There are some beautiful drawings and inspiring ideas for Launceston, with sets of designs and plans, and lengthy documents outlining the proposal to the council of the day,” says coordinator of the Bachelor of Architecture and Built Environments, Dr Andrew Steen.
“It represents an alternate future that never happened. In this design studio, students will rewind the clock and then press play again. We will explore how Launceston may have developed and students will create their own proposals for the city, new alternate timelines branching off from 1955.”
The Green Family Award, launched on March 27 at UTAS’s Inveresk campus, will also support a series of lectures that will bring highly-acclaimed international architects to Launceston. These lectures will be open to students and the public.
