Central Geelong is an amazing place waiting to happen. While the economic identity of the city is undergoing a significant upheaval, Geelong’s urban landscape echoes the past and calls out to a new identity for the city.
Blessed with an extensive and diverse network of laneways the inner city is a place that you can find the essence of Geelong as a city. While we all can enjoy the convenience of the large shopping malls dotted throughout greater Geelong region, with crisp white walls and air-conditioning, there is something a bit lifeless and homogenised about a shopping mall. Getting out and walking about the streets and laneways of inner Geelong is a great way to get to know the city in time and place. I took some photos on a recent walk through inner Geelong to record the details of the journey.
I set out to take the scenic route and explore the inner workings of the city, the spaces between the buildings. Throughout this walk I found a highly urban landscape full of rich texture, history, art and space, not usually associated with a city which prides itself on its parks, open space and beaches. These elements all provide a layered experience of the city; signs for businesses long gone, doorways and thresholds worn with a hundred years of footsteps adjoin modern utilitarian components of the city. Complex urban landscapes like inner Geelong lend themselves easily to the telling of stories, real or imagined, about the lives lived amongst these places.
The nice neat façades on the main street frontages give no indication to the eclectic nature of the laneways behind. These are the stripped back spaces left over when buildings are being designed. These spaces are often more intriguing places in a city and have a level of honesty often lacking in the more public veneer of the city. Designers sometimes try too hard to impose new and fresh spaces that can take years to gain a sense of character and place for their inhabitants. By slowing down and having a fresh look at old surroundings we may find the beginnings of captivating spaces just waiting to happen.
If you think you might have an intriguing outdoor space waiting to happen feel free to contact us to find out how we can help you get the most out of your garden.