Hé there #006
Serenity.
It’s almost Holiday time!
What a massive year – it’s been filled with many ups and downs. December sees the end of the first six months since mâché transitioned from just an idea into an actual place!
Adelaide has also seen many changes and advances this past year. Just across the road from our little space a brand new residential development (Boheme) has exploded onto the scene with rapid building works. Additional developments have also occurred within the city based around the small bar, café and restaurant scene.
The rapid development of several residential towers across Adelaide’s CBD will fundamentally change not only the immediate population of the CBD but also the surrounding areas. With the completion of the Boheme development, over 1000 additional residents will be living around our local Whitmore Square – a massive addition and our little building will eventually be up fordemolition for another addition to the square! With the additional people moving into Adelaide’s CBD (possibly the largest influx in quite a while) it will start a fundamental change toward a denser city.
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Do we value space? What about the value of a place vs a space?
Adelaide is one of the biggest cities in the world based on spread of population. Starting in Elizabeth in the north down to Victor Harbour in the south you can drive this whole length through Adelaide’s suburbs – a pretty ridiculous feat! The result of this is one of the least dense cities in the world due to the large scale of urban sprawl. With a population of over 1.3 million, there are only just over 20,000 people living within the CBD (including North Adelaide). I feel that we’ve had such a surplus of space that we don’t truly value what we have in Adelaide – or the potential for places we can create.
Adelaide has some great examples of urban interventions (such as Peel Street and Ebenezer) though both of these were heavily pushed for by local government. My hope is that the current construction trend and densification could push towards more private and independent developments along the same lines – creating more opportunities and exciting possibilities for future entrepreneurs and businesses.
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What does this have to do with mâché?
Increasing density and development run parallel with how mâché works – we encourage the bringing together of separate, normally disparate programs into a combined space. Much like the city brings in new programs, developments and businesses together to create opportunities, clashes and mixtures so - to does mâché! So much has happened since we set out to begin this little place and a wonderful group of individuals have pulled together to make it into something fantastic.
Where to from here? This coming year has so much potential – we’ve got exciting new members joining, podcasts shows being developed and more live streaming occurring. This is in addition to the back bone that our artistic group has provided for us so far, ranging from leather-working through to face painting!
mâché is currently putting together an application for the Old RAH site expressions of interest – which is part of the future development of the RAH once the hospital has made the move to its new site on the corner of North and West Terrace.
The Old RAH represents a new opportunity for Adelaide to investigate how develop and deal with dense spaces within the city and with all the potential of developing a new mâché site between a selection of new and existing businesses it seemed like a no brainer to give joining the RAH a shot! This process will take time however – the RAH site is looking to begin the process of development in the next two years so any move in this direction will take quite a while; but the opportunities are great, who doesn't want to be a part of a startup community?
So much has happened this past year, not only for Adelaide and mâché but for you too!
Luckily we have some wonderful yoga classes (hosted by the Vibrant Izzy Jane) to get you refreshed and ready for the incoming year!
Cheers!
-P
