A curious and unusual open space which seems to owe something to a tentative step towards a new urbanist-inspired notion of community open space. Car parking is a large part of the space but also some homes face directly into the space. Beacon Cove is coming up to its twentieth anniversary as a brownfield residential beachside suburb. Google map here.
A record of field trips and other explorations of a particular urban design element - the internal reserve - a 'pocket park' surrounded on all sides by residential housing but accessible by pedestrian pathways from the street. They are exclusive, secluded, sometimes neglected, sometimes celebrated, suburban spaces. This blog welcomes contributions: comments, images, memorabilia. Please email nicholsd@unimelb.edu.au
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Poet's Garden, Elwood Vic.
The name 'Poet's Garden' clearly comes because the early 20th century subdivision in the area is riddled with streets named after Victorian era British poets. This reserve could pass for the backyard of the Elwood St Kilda Neighbourhood Learning Centre. Its website claims that the Centre itself is a house built 150 years ago and it seems likely that the open space at the rear is the residual and possibly unsellable remnant of its grounds. As you can see below the space is used very effectively as a playground and community garden. When visited on a Sunday around midday there were children in the playground; adults supervising them; and three or so adults tending to the community garden. Find (the entry point to this reserve) here
Fence at the other end of the reserve from the community house features a gate with a private driveway to Mitford Street.
Apartments surrounding the space look into it & many have gates into it, too.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Kabbera Central, Kelso, NSW
Look at it here. Kelso is essentially a suburb adjoining the regional city of Bathurst but it has an identity greater than mere adjacent su...
-
A search on something else entirely led me to the June 1927 issue of one of Florence Taylor's publications, Construction and Local Go...
-
Comparison between the above from a relatively new UBD street directory and the current Google Map shows some disparity in the shape of t...
-
A place I have not yet visited but hope to within the next twelve months. An attempt to contextualise it historically can be found here . Go...