Uncanny Composures In The City Of Adelaide

481 Pages·2015·39.72 MB·English

by  Michael Weir

IN THE SHADOWS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
UNCANNY COMPOSURES IN THE CITY OF ADELAIDE
MICHAEL WEIR
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
I)epartment of Anthropology (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences)
UniversitY of Adelaide
August 2000

CONTENTS
Page
vt
List of Figues
vii
List of Plates
ix
Acknowledgments
Abstract X
Chapter One
Introduction
Characteristics of an aesthetic terrain I
t2
Envisaging the City of Adelaide
At groirnd level: exoticising the familiar t9
Frames of contestation 30
37
Outline of the thesis
Chapter Two
Obscured and illuminated figures in the landscape
Introduction 43
Envisioned fields 45
Staking the groundwork of amnesia 47
Strate gies of domination 50
Actual and ideal panoramic views 52
Landscape as'particiPatory' 54
Inculcation: pathways to a 'vision' 58
Co-opting the image 61
Light's perspective 65
Light Square and Light's Vision 70
A'walking' city 75
Contemporary contestations - a case study: Light and the Parklands 77
Contents
ll
The Parklands as revolutionary space 84
Conclusions: oriented visions and centring Light 87
Chapter Three
Superimposing a taxonomy of hegemony
Introduction 92
Genealogical links 96
Street names as symbols 98
Landmarks and the space of everyday naming 101
Designating a name 105
tt2
Naming the City landscape: 'Garden East'
Conclusion 116
Chapter X'our
North Terrace: Triangulations of power and the refinement of the Common
people
power
Triangulations of 119
North Terrace and the City-State identity 124
Ways of seeing: triangulating relations of power and the spatial layout of North
Terrace
(a) Enduring structures of Power 130
(b) Privilege, po\¡/er and poise: the view from the Adelaide Club t37
t45
(c) Schooling an elite
Memoriae: constellations of Power 148
t49
Figures of Empire
Post-Empiric figures 15s
Controlling demeanour in the institutions of public pedagogy 159
r63
Conclusion
Contents
lll
Chapter Five
Hallowed ground: everyday and ceremonial practices on North Terrace
Introduction 165
(a) Processions of power and 'the people' in the late twentieth century r66
t73
(b) 'The state': memory and remembrance
(c) Undertones of 'concealed' power: silent mechanisms of social regulation t79
Conclusion 184
Chapter Six
Locating the Strand
t81
Introduction
In the public eye 189
Politeness and inclusion 194
Disrupted spaces of 'the Strand'
(a) Hindley Street: comrptions of the flesh 202
Cruising down Hindley Street 206
(b) Crossingthe axis mundi: King V/illiam Street 2t2
(c) Rundle Mall: the retail power block 213
(d) Rundle Street:'Bohemian' and'worldly' traces 221
Prominent landmarks in Rundle Street 226
The Adelaide Grand Prix 233
The Grand Prix Party: a means of comparison 237
Safety: 'seeing' and'being seen' 241
245
Conclusion
Chapter Seven
The Cify within the City
Introduction 247
A brief history of the Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exohange (AFPE) site 249
Contents
1V
Development and tiers of political contestation and negotiation 2s3
(a) Private interfaces: development of the AFPE site 259
(b) Everyday interfaces: 'outside' and'inside' worlds
'The retail developer' and'the public' 265
(c) The Cþ within the City: 'The residential developer' and 'heritage' 268
'The place of new ways' 275
Conclusion 283
Chapter Eight
The City Nucleus: Victoria Square
Celestial and terrestrial ordering 286
The dominant forms of Victoria Square 288
'Light' and'dark' visions of temporality 29r
Distortions of the Square 300
Indigenous forms of protest 304
Beyondthe reserve and the reserved: 'dry zones' 308
Ordering a centre 313
Policing 'the vision' 318
32r
Conclusion
Chapter Nine
'The roving eye': a view from the inside
Concluding remarks 324
The thesis in review 327
aaa
Some implications of this study JJJ
Chronology of key events 337
Contents
V
APPENDICES 340
Appendix
I Planning Difference 341
tr The Wakefield Plan 342
Itr 'The Location' 344
Iv Romantic versions of Light 346
v
Civilising impulses 348
VI Bio graphical reductions 350
vII Light versus Hindmarsh 355
utr Contemporary visions 3s7
x
Former Mayors and Lord Mayors of the City of Adelaide
and selected Premiers of South Australia 357
x The Adelaide Club and features of the City landscape 360
)(I Important statu(e)s of V/ar 362
)il
The plaques: rendering the visible 362
)iltr Institutional re gulations 372
)(IV Zones and Precincts: Divisions of the Plan 374
xv John Martin's Christmas Pageant 317
)(vI The bias towards 'the North' 319
XVII 'Fringe Camps' 380
Bibliography 381
Contents
VI
List oftr'isures Reference Page
Figure 1: Contemporary map of Adelaide 2
Figure 2: Light's map of Adelaide (copied from the original) J
Figure 3: Section of Feeling's map of the City of Adelaide, 1849 48
Figure 4: Planning aspects of the visual landscape 56
Figure 5: Plan of the Town Hall, City of Adelaide 58
Figure 6: Map of Freemasons' Lodges in South Australia, 1934 96
Figure 7: Section of North Terrace between the Adelaide Railway Station
t20
and the Botanic Gardens
Figure 8a & 8b: (a) Old Tramways map indicating proximity's of various
sites of power around the Cþ and; (b) a diagram outlining the
'triangulations of power' inscribed by their relations t47
Figure 9: 'The Strand' showing Precinct boundaries t87
Figure 10 (a): Hindley Street east of Morphett Street 202
Figure 10 (b): Hindley Street west of Morphett Street 202
Figure 10 (c): The 'Rundle Mall Precinct' 2t3
Figure 10 (d): The 'East End Precinct' 22r
Figure lL: Map of the Australian Grand Prix circuit 233
Figure l2z The Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange (AFPE) site 248
Figure 13: Map of Victoria Square and surrounding structures 288
Figure 14: Commonly used pathways of protests and ceremonies in the
City of Adelaide 300
vll
List of Plates Reference Page
Plate 1: Southern view of the City of Adelaide from the River Torrens J
Plate 2: Panoramic view of the City from North Adelaide 4
Plate 3: Participants at the Sorry Day March in 1999 48
Plate 4: Statue of Colonel Light at'Light's Vision' on Montefiore Hill,
North Adelaide 52
Plate 5: Photo-montage of images of Colonel William Light 58
Plate 6: Col. Light's image in various guises around the suburbs 59
Plate 7t: Early artistic impressions of Adelaide from Montefiore Hill 69
Plate 7b: Col. Light aligned in various perspectives 69
Plate 8: Light's grave site in Light Square 7l
Plate 9: An eastern view of North Terrace t22
Plate 10: The Adelaide Club on North Terrace r37
Plate 11: Bust of Mary Lee, Statue of King Edward VII and pedestrians r55
Plate l2z Aeialphotos and ground level views of North Terrace 161
Plate 13: Counterpoised images of Chief Justices and boy on a bicycle r66
Plate 14: Protesters on North Terrace and at the rear of Parliament House 169
Plate 15: South Australian Remembrance Day, 1993 175
Plate 16: Contrasting elements of development on North Terrace 183
Plate 17: Signage in Hindley Street (east of Morphett Street) 203
Plate 18: Protesters in King William Street and some ceremonial activities 2t3
Plate L9: Various angles on Rundle Mall 2t4
Plate 20: 'spheres' a.k.a. 'the Balls' in Rundle Mall 2t5
Plate 2L: Myer Remm Centre, interior and exterior views 216
Plate 22: Restaurants and cafes of Rundle Street, 1994 222
Plate 23: Street scenes of Rundle Street over the course of a year 222
Plate 24: Former East End Market scenes 249
Plate 25: Losing sight of stated intentions 251
vlll
Reference Page
Plate 26: Plaque and sculpture commemorating market workers 273
Plate 272 Opentng of Nostalgia Week in Rundle Mall, 1994 278
Plate 28: AFPE ('Garden East') site nearing completion,1999 279
Plate 292 Car park stations and East End traders in protest 281
Plate 30: Panoramic views along the cardinal axes of Victoria Square 289
Plate 31: City Town Hall and King William Street, facing north 29r
Plate 32: Various angles on activities within Victoria Square 301