Project: Revitalize the City
Project manager: Sandy Anghie Architect
Team: Sharni Howe architect, Eekos Architects, Margaret Moore – Art curator, Respoke – Fabrication
Completion date 2017
Location: Perth, Australia
Photography: Dion Robeson
Historic Heart of Perth Inc is a not for profit community organisation established with the aim of revitalising Perth’s east end – a forgotten part of the city of Perth with much potential.
Historic Heart’s first project sees 65 planter boxes and benches installed across Perth’s east end, from Barrack Street to Irwin Street. This is a patina of what’s West Australian, with the planter boxes painted by West Australian artists and planted with West Australian native plants.
The intention is to signify new energy and change in Perth’s east end. The painted surfaces of the planter boxes and benches act as street level visual activation. Clustering the planter boxes into groups for particular artists ensures a rhythmic pattern of visuals that meaningfully create sight-lines or art pathways within the area.
Perth’s east end has a rich history and is home to one of the city’s greatest collections of heritage buildings, together forming important streetscapes of late nineteenth and early twentieth century architecture. However, in past decades there has been limited investment in the area and it has lost its vitality.
Historic Heart’s vision is to reinvigorate and revitalise the Perth’s east end – creating an identifiable neighbourhood with a strong sense of place, making a contribution to the city and, importantly, to the people who live, work and visit here. The benefits of this project are wide ranging – social, urban and economic.
The name ‘Historic Heart’ is designed to bring together the history of the urban environment (Historic) and the community and natural environment (Heart). It is the premise that the physical and cultural landscapes are intertwined -a city is not just about buildings but about people and their experiences within it.
Why #potplantuprising ? At a recent summit held to discuss the lack of activity in some areas of Perth, local businesses talked about the amount of red tape required to get an approval for a pot plant or bench in front of their store. The most popular hashtag for the day: #potplantuprising.
