9 minute read
Lloyd Rees Bandstand supporters provide their perspective
Last month’s article by Jon Johanssen ‘The case of the icon misnomer’ (page 22) generated comment from groups and individuals defending the Lloyd Rees Bandstand's position within the Plaza. The following are the responses received by TVO.
In his article, Jon Johannsen misses the point about the National Trust listed Lloyd Rees Bandstand. He infers that it can’t be iconic or a heritage item because it dates from 1983 and asserts that it has received its “iconic label by default”.
The Local History section of the Lane Cove Library reveals that Lloyd Rees was involved with planning the original bandstand from 1980, donating money and corresponding with Harry Howard and John Supran (the architects) and with Council about its concept and design. Rees’ inspired view of the bandstand was as a focal point for the Plaza, “a place for public speakers, open air dramatics and concerts, a central gathering place for the people of Lane Cove.”
Nearly two generations have played on the Bandstand’s steps and on its stage, and sheltered under its canopy. The adjacent playground area which, like the Bandstand is shaded by sail-cloth, is filled every day by parents who have purchased a coffee and engaged with others, while their children play safely.
The Bandstand is a vital part of the fabric of Lane Cove. Our current Council removed its local Heritage listing and with that they took away its statutory protection. It’s a shame an architect like Mr Johannsen can’t tell the difference between a valued local item of cultural and social heritage, and a ‘carbuncle’.
June Hefferan, Lane Cove North and Bill Henningham, Riverview
The Lloyd Rees Bandstand, erected in 1983, is yet again under threat following a call for its removal by local architect Jon Johannsen, in an article that tries to undermine its pedigree. Johannsen’s call for its removal is alarming in the extreme.
His recommendation appears to arise from his negative opinions about its neglected appearance and his assumption that it will be replaced by something better. To be as confident as Johannsen is that Lloyd Rees would be ‘very supportive’ of having a new ‘iconic gesture’ appears presumptuous. Rather it may signal that once again the public space may be asked to give way to further commercial use of the Plaza that has led to boxy structures and a price to pay for sitting in them.
In 2009, the Lloyd Rees Bandstand and its associated Plaza was listed or classified by the National Trust (NSW). Lane Cove Library’s local history collection holds Lloyd Rees’s extensive correspondence and other records that unequivocally attest to his involvement with and his financing of the Bandstand. The independent ‘Dickson Rothschild Heritage Report ('May 2009) also confirmed its significance when it was threatened with demolition.
In 2013, a majority vote of the current Councillors ended the Bandstand’s brief period of legal protection when it removed it from its listing as a Heritage item in the Lane Cove Local Environment Plan (LEP).
The Bandstand’s enduring success as the absolute ‘heart’ of community in Lane Cove continues its original function as conceived and designed by Harry Howard (1930-2000), a highly awarded, leading modernist Australian landscape architect; and the involvement of Lloyd Rees (18951988) a Northwood local and one of Australia’s most pre-eminent landscape artists, a skilled draughtsman and painter.
The most recent renovation of the Bandstand involved comprehensive community consultation and input. It was carefully integrated into the Plaza upgrade, completed under the guidance of architect John Supran (who worked on the original Bandstand construction).
The National Trust Statement of Significance cites the Bandstand’s “… historical significance as an integral part of the innovative urban design of this public space, the first suburban plaza to be created through a major road closure”. It is “rare as an early Australian exercise in tensile steel and polyester construction and an unusual, modern version of a traditional community facility.”
In his letter proposing the idea to Council, Rees’s insightful suggestion that the Plaza required “a visual focus… such as a bandstand with a touch of phantasy about it; …. useful for summer shade and for public addresses and music etc” left a legacy, an enduring performance and social space for Lane Cove that is unrivalled.
It is with regret that the Lane Cove Bushland & Conservation Society confronts such an assault on a place that makes Lane Cove special. Lane Cove is diminished when such a valued, historically significant sculptural element of ‘Public Art’ for the community is left under-recognised and wilfully unprotected. Concerned residents should urge Councillors to acknowledge its significance and protect it by reinstating it as a Heritage item in the Lane Cove LEP.
Margaret Bergomi (President) and
Shauna Forrest (Secretary), Lane Cove Bushland & Conservation Society
Jon Johanssen says that the Lane Cove Bandstand is more carbuncle than ‘icon’ and should therefore be replaced. I accept that maintenance and acoustics may be problematic, but the Bandstand does seem to have served well enough for several decades. I suggest that any commitment of funds for a replacement structure should be delayed until completion of the Rosenthal Street development, so that the ensemble of civic spaces can be assessed as a whole.
Mr Johanssen also advocates a broad definition of the word ‘iconic’ as “important as a symbol”, and insists that a building, a person, and even a gesture can be characterised in this way, in effect as standing for something else. His point seems to be that ‘iconic’ is so loosely used nowadays as to be meaningless for any critical purpose. I agree with this, but would indeed go further and say that this word is a blight on the language.
Derived from a Greek word for image, ‘iconic’ has acquired the wider sense so painfully spoofed by Mr Johanssen only in the last few decades, popularized by the architectural critic Charles Jencks. In the world of marketing it might be enough that a product has a strong image. But does every building need an image, reminding us of something other than itself? Does an ‘iconic’ quality trump any conventional criteria of design quality or soundness of construction?
152-154 Longueville Road – an overscaled intrusion on the original intact line of shopfronts that could have been kept through more sensitive design.
Design excellence as a benchmark for ‘icons’
While some in the community may support this position (and noting it is not listed on a Lane Cove Council or any other heritage register), that does not necessarily justify the case for iconic status. There are many who also question the LRB design and performance merits, and its continued existence in a compromised location that is now very different to the original space for which it was conceived at the junction of Lane Cove Plaza and Birdwood Lane.
Some criticism of the article was based on the suggestion that I was advocating elimination of the LRB altogether, but if there is enough passion to warrant its retention why not move it to another more appropriate open space? The imminent Rosenthal development could provide a park setting, like bandstands in many other places.
Another comment was on the merit of the building technology from four decades ago, but today it must rate low in any assessment of design quality or construction merit. The combination of this with the unfortunate attempt for a complementary shade structure adjacent has resulted in a mishmash of forms that now clash with the latest commercial intrusions. What is needed is a simpler, more elegant and complementary design for the popular event and entertainment part of Lane Cove Plaza that can offer a much-improved venue with some design excellence.
The issue of design quality in and around Lane Cove is also one that Jon Johannsen is deserves further attention. Founding Principal of Architects Johannsen &
Many recent Lane Cove village unit Associates, and a Lane Cove developments display an unfortunate lack resident.
of architectural merit, and the public domain spaces between that we all share will be around for many years and should also receive design excellence. These spaces and the walls that define them concern not only how buildings look and the amenity for their occupants, but also how they affect the quality of our public urban places: the streets, lanes, plazas and parks that form the physical, social and cultural context for more desirable and sustainable living and working environments.
Prior to the move of Rob Stokes from the planning ministry to education after the last election, he hinted at long awaited and imminent changes to the 1979 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and inclusion of policy promoting good design in the built environment.
“Good design is critical to creating liveable, productive, sustainable and resilient communities, and we want to champion good design through a new policy and give it weight through legislative changes,” said Stokes.
The policy in its draft form showed the potential to ensure consideration of design excellence across all new development in the state, on a similar basis to what SEPP 65 and the Apartment Design Guide does for much multiresidential development.
For SEPP 65 and the ADG to work effectively however, there needs to be Design Excellence review in place to ensure proper peer review of development proposals. It is hoped the new planning minister, our own local member Anthony Roberts, will continue
this initiative, and then perhaps we might see such a panel in action for Lane Cove Council - or its amalgamated future body. Unfortunate outcomes for some recent local developments could certainly have been avoided “The issue of if such a process had been design quality in established before the current and around Lane Cove boom, as demonstrated by the couple of examples here. is one that Former president of deserves further the Australian Institute of attention.” Architects, Shaun Carter, said the draft “If there is policy would enough passion to provide the warrant the Lloyd Rees opportunity to apply Bandstand’s retention, that kind It seems that the Lloyd Rees Bandstand article last month why not move it of holistic stirred up some response and defence of the structure because of its implied cultural and social heritage. to another more appropriate problemsolving to the planning open space?” and design of precincts, towns and cities. The Government Architect Peter Poulet is also pursuing a design-led planning strategy, with consultation with local communities, industry and council stakeholders currently underway to help achieve more well-designed places through design-led planning methodology. Unfortunately we have missed the chance on this development boom, but perhaps in time for the next one – by which time there might also be a better home for the LRB? Little St car park project – a compromised design outcome on several fronts.
