Motel

The 2014 inaugural class of Critical and Curatorial Practices in Design explored the motel typology, in particular two Australian motels designed and built in the late 1950s. The MSD elective set out to examine the collection, analysis and critical curation of documents relating to the exhibition, publication and criticism of design.

MOTEL marked the beginning of a curatorial culture at the Melbourne School of Design. The newly built Dulux Gallery embedded in the ground floor of the Glynn Davis Building offered us the chance to explore a program of exhibitions, talks, film screenings, conferences and publications, which would go on to generate dialogue and collaboration across geographic, ideological and disciplinary boundaries. As a new public forum for the MSD, it was fitting that we explore the early work of the late Professor David Yencken, who was a champion for the Australian environment, the nation’s heritage, and excellence in design for over fifty years. Working in industry, politics and academia, especially through his association with the University of Melbourne, he was always a staunch advocate and activist, promoting better outcomes for strategic policy, innovation in implementation, design and practice across our cities and landscapes.

The 2014 inaugural class of Critical and Curatorial Practices in Design explored the motel typology, in particular two Australian motels designed and built in the late 1950s. The MSD elective set out to examine the collection, analysis and critical curation of documents relating to the exhibition, publication and criticism of design.

MOTEL marked the beginning of a curatorial culture at the Melbourne School of Design. The newly built Dulux Gallery embedded in the ground floor of the Glynn Davis Building offered us the chance to explore a program of exhibitions, talks, film screenings, conferences and publications, which would go on to generate dialogue and collaboration across geographic, ideological and disciplinary boundaries. As a new public forum for the MSD, it was fitting that we explore the early work of the late Professor David Yencken, who was a champion for the Australian environment, the nation’s heritage, and excellence in design for over fifty years. Working in industry, politics and academia, especially through his association with the University of Melbourne, he was always a staunch advocate and activist, promoting better outcomes for strategic policy, innovation in implementation, design and practice across our cities and landscapes.

The subject content and the opportunity to collaborate with Philip Goad, Alan Pert and Gini Lee made Critical and Curatorial a popular choice, with 26 students enrolling. Each student pursued a specific theme, from aspects such as the archival documentation for each motel to researching the typology in popular culture, with a view to providing a proposition for an exhibition. While undertaking research students were exposed to lectures from exhibiting practitioners, excursions to current exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria, and examinations of the 2014 Venice International Architecture Biennale.

The depth of the research that students were able to achieve was extremely interesting, regardless of whether one was focused on the micro-scale of the architecture and landscape design, the macroscale of the wider context of society at the time, or the personal with reminiscences of the people who built, stayed and worked at both motels. The value of the in-depth exploration has allowed for a varied and nuanced narrative to be shown to visitors through number of curatorial tactics. Although the content was similar, the conclusions, which the students reached in their final reports were diverse with many different options being proposed. From densely-built paths taking the visitor through thematically-designed rooms, to recreations at 1:1 scale of the Black Dolphin colonnade with its timber log columns, or movable stools for visitors to mimic a car journey, the class proposed a variety of immersive experiences.

After the students presented their proposals, there were certain elements that resonated. These were reflective of ideas seen in the Venice Biennale and from guest lecturers such as large-scale floor-to ceiling photographs with constructed aspects that gave the scene a three dimensional quality, large scale models with the buildings positioned in their landscape setting, and projections allowing diversity in the techniques of visually communicating a range of information. These elements were utilised for the exhibition, MOTEL.