The sad demise of Perth's FESA building.
A rant.
As a West Australian who is not a Philistine (see December 29 post on Modernist Australia's facebook page), and a lover of Brutalist architecture, I feel it would be remiss of me not to mention the continued lack of foresight by the big-wigs who make decisions in our state.
image via Modernist Australia
This is the Fire and Emergency Services building, built in 1979. Feast your eyes on its concrete magnificence while you can, because it's about to bite the dust to make way for another five star hotel. While I know it's probably not everyone's cup of tea - it is a very special building which (i.m.o.) should be preserved as a rare (and beautiful) example of architecture of its type. There are not many buildings like this (left) here in the West.
There is a history of stuff like this happening in Perth. So many amazing buildings gone and forgotten, because, in a nutshell, money talks. In the 80's I went to school in the heart of the city, and even then as an ignorant teenager I knew it wasn't a good thing when I noticed the wanton destruction of lovely old buildings around me. And there were many of them - their replacements, for the most part, truly diabolical!
Unfortunately the FESA building missed out on a heritage listing, the new hotel destined to replace it is a done deal. What a shame. People are gonna scratch their heads about this decision one day...some of us already are.
Thanks for reading x
image via (interesting article too)
