Category: Architecture

Naomi and I both enjoy photographing buildings. We prefer older styles but appreciate newer ones if they have character. Occasionally we even photograph buildings we don’t like.

Mural at New Norfolk

Real Street Art V Graffiti

Now something I do not accept as art is graffiti. I hate seeing paint plastered over the sides of buildings, under bridges, on buses and trains, at railway stations and so on. People try to defend it saying it is street art. Vandalism is not art and there is no place for it in society.

I was in New Norfolk recently and we came across the back of this building which had been painted probably by an artist with these colourful murals. I was very taken with it and thought it looked fantastic. I expect they were having trouble with graffiti artists messing up the back of their business and got sick of cleaning it up. It would be a great shame if someone messed this up. I would much rather see this than so called street art everywhere. This is much better than the boring grey besser blocks too.

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30 Days, 30 Songs (29)

Don’t Tear It Down

This song by V Spy V Spy was released in 1986 and I relate to it, even more, today than I did then. It makes me both sad and angry when fine old buildings are knocked down only to be replaced by ugly concrete stacks especially when those stacks are so badly built that people can’t live in them as has happened in two recent cases in Sydney. It makes me mad when people are made homeless because a stupid reality show buys the boarding house where they lived to refurbish but not as public housing; or when the refurbishing is just a token saving of a facade. Our cities are losing their character forever. This song is a musical rant about that.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Any Kind of House

Houses and Apartments

Even as a child I loved to look at houses. I remember walking around my neighbourhood and looking at the different types of houses and gardens and thinking about which one I’d like to have. The houses in South Australia were very different from the ones I knew in England. In the sixties it was mostly what mum called “bungalows” and every house was brick or the new fangled brick veneer that was becoming popular. In my suburb, which was fairly new there was not a lot of weatherboard or fibro. I recall how when we first went to Melbourne we were fascinated to see so many weatherboard houses. I liked them. I like all kinds of houses though, the Georgian houses in Oatlands and other older towns, Edwardian villas, California bungalows, art deco. Pretty much anything built before 1970 has some interest for me. The first picture in this collection is an old bank on Murray St, Hobart which is now a private residence. The red awnings caused a lot of controversies when the residents put them up as the council did not like them but in the end, they were allowed to stay. I’ve left them red to commemorate all the fuss.

I am not really comfortable photographing suburban houses though in case the owners don’t like it. Occasionally I do if they are in a historic area or I find them especially interesting. With so many lovely old homes being demolished to make way for ugly apartment blocks and Mc Mansions I feel I want to preserve some of the memories. We have some lovely art deco buildings around the Hobart CBD and nearby Sandy Bay, here is one of them. The other is another interesting old home on Sandy Bay Road.

Art Deco style apartments in Sandy Bay, near Hobart.
House on Sandy Bay Road

Naomi’s home town of Oatlands has many interesting old buildings from the early to mid-1800s. Blossom’s Cottages are now tourist accommodation. The stork on its nest is a sculpture. In stark contrast some very ugly townhouses built on the banks of the Port River, Port Adelaide.

  • Blossom’s Cottages Oatlands
  • Blossom’s Cottages Oatlands
  • Townhouses, Port Adelaide
  • Townhouses Port Adelaide

Finally an apartment block in Little India, Singapore. There are many of these all over Singapore. I would hate to live in something like this.

An apartment building in Singapore’s Little India

A Photo A Week Challenge: Cityscape/Townscape

Adelaide

I lived in the suburbs of Adelaide for most of my life. Since we moved in 2002 I’ve only been back a handful of times. When I did go I often photographed places in the city, mainly because I was fearful that they might not be there or would be changed beyond recognition the next time I visited. These photos were taken in 2011, 2012 and 2016.

King William Street, Adelaide in 2011
Exterior of the Regent Arcade off Rundle Mall
The exterior of the Regent Arcade off Rundle Mall- 2011
Rundle Mall, Adelaide, 2011
Adelaide Arcade from Grenfell Street. 2011

When we visited in 2011 and again in 2012 there was a lot of construction going on in the city. John Martin’s department store had already been demolished and Harris Scarfe’s store was about to follow.

Construction in Rundle Mall 2012

On my last visit in 2016, I chose not to visit Rundle Mall and instead spent time around Elder Park, the Festival Centre and Adelaide Oval. Adelaide Oval had just been redeveloped and since I was there they are now “improving” the Festival Centre.

Adelaide Oval
The new entrance to Adelaide Oval
A view of the Festival Theatre and the River Torrens, Adelaide 2016
The Torrens, Adelaide 2016

A Photo a Week Challenge: Bridges

Building Bridges

I dug into my archives for this challenge and found many different types of bridge photos. Here are a few of them.

Artistic Bridges

Here are a couple of bridges that feature art in the form of sculptures.

Sandridge Bridge – A former railway bridge, now a pedestrian bridge in Melbourne.

Sandridge Bridge, Melbourne

The City to Sea bridge in Wellington, New Zealand passes over the main road to connect with the waterfront.

City to Sea Bridge Wellington
City to Sea Bridge, a public artwork.

City to Sea Bridge Wellington

The detail on the Bridge-City to Sea Bridge Wellington NZ

Historic Bridges

These bridges are beautiful as well as functional even after nearly 200 years.

Convict built bridges in Tasmania at Ross, Richmond and Campbelltown.

image Ross Bridge
The convict designed bridge at Ross.

bridge Richmond Tasmania
The bridge at Richmond built 1825 is possibly the oldest known stone bridge in Australia.

The Red Bridge, convict-built bridge, Campbelltown Tasmania

 

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Places People Live

Homes of Hobart

I love walking the streets looking at old or interesting houses I love to photograph them too and I hope their owners don’t mind me sharing these pictures. I don’t photograph local houses as much because it seems a bit cheeky. I know I would think it odd if some random person were standing outside my house taking photographs. Although, if they came and asked me if they could photograph my house for their blog I’d probably say yes.

These old houses are in North Hobart. I like the colour and style of them very much.

A street of terrace houses in North Hobart.

Leitrim North Hobart.

 

Terrace Houses

Heading back into Hobart, these apartments at the end of Salamanca Place are in a converted grain silo.

The old grain silos at Salamanca now converted to apartments

If we walk up to Princes park or climb Kelly’s Steps we come to Battery Point.

These houses on Arthur’s Circus in Battery Point are some of the oldest homes in Hobart and are frequently photographed by tourists.

Arthur Circus, some of the oldest houses in Battery Point.

Art Deco apartment building, Sandy Bay

In nearby Sandy Bay, there are many interesting and expensive houses and apartments. This is one that I could not resist photographing because I love this style of building.