This Used To Be The Future

2019 Oil on Italian Linen 154x154cm

In the late 20th century, a period of optimism and economic security wrought from isolation, peace and the discovery of gold, saw a flourishing of the arts, industry and technology. It was known as the Belle Époque; the Beautiful Era. 

One of it’s more unlikely manifestations were warehouses and factories designed to be beautiful. The Ottoman inspired brickwork of these Melbourne chimneys imbued these utilitarian structures with the spirit of the age: built beyond just function but for future generations. Little did the builders know what lay in store. 

The Belle Époque ended with the devastations of the First World War. The subsequent economic declines would see these industrial inner suburbs transformed into empty shells before being finally rediscovered by the urban professional. Now these mighty towers lie silent but for the hiss of coffee machines and the hum of the urbane, planning a new golden era. Or perhaps, lunch.