The following formal submission have been made public
Submitter: Douglas NewtonAnzac Hall and Glazed Link
I see from the Knight Frank Town Planning “Application for Works Approval – Planning Report – Early Works” (12 March 2021) that “total new space in the Anzac Hall and Glazed Link” will be 13,995 square metres, in order “to dedicate more exhibition space to commemorate veterans of conflicts within the last 30 years.”
I find this extraordinarily inflated project difficult to reconcile with the National Capital Plan’s emphasis on the “conservation and enhancement of the landscape features” and the “conservation and enhancement of fitting sites”. The project’s emphasis on “the last 30 years” makes it appear as an imposition of the contemporary world and its values upon the heritage of the past.
This is all the more striking when it is considered that the original memorial was to commemorate the service of more than 330,000 Australian men and women in a conflict that claimed more than 62,000 of them.
The video and plans for “Main Works Package 3 – New Anzac Hall and Glazed Link” (provided by Cox Architecture) show artists’ impressions and blueprints for a space of 3,440 square metres in the Upper Gallery, with more below. This, it is explained, will be needed to display “objects”, such as a plane, submarine, and helicopter in the Anzac Hall Upper Gallery, and a jet-fighter and tanks in the Glazed Link. The presentation explains that this will almost double the space of the former Anzac Hall (currently being demolished), “to tell those modern conflicts that are under-represented in the main building today.” It stresses that the vast space of the new galleries, with an aperture linking them, is required “so that objects which are significant to various conflicts can be, you know, those conflicts can be told across multiple levels.” The confusion between objects and exhibitions is apparent. The intention is to mount exhibitions, devoted to the “under-represented” contemporary conflicts. But clearly the “objects” will eclipse the exhibitions. That is, high-tech weapons will utterly dominate this new space, whatever exhibitions are mounted on the walls. Again, this emphatically demonstrates the imposition of the contemporary world upon the heritage of the past.
The project is a telescope into our heritage – with the telescope held upside down. In my view, it is not “fitting” and clashes with the heritage and conservation values at the heart of the National Capital Plan.
I find this extraordinarily inflated project difficult to reconcile with the National Capital Plan’s emphasis on the “conservation and enhancement of the landscape features” and the “conservation and enhancement of fitting sites”. The project’s emphasis on “the last 30 years” makes it appear as an imposition of the contemporary world and its values upon the heritage of the past.
This is all the more striking when it is considered that the original memorial was to commemorate the service of more than 330,000 Australian men and women in a conflict that claimed more than 62,000 of them.
The video and plans for “Main Works Package 3 – New Anzac Hall and Glazed Link” (provided by Cox Architecture) show artists’ impressions and blueprints for a space of 3,440 square metres in the Upper Gallery, with more below. This, it is explained, will be needed to display “objects”, such as a plane, submarine, and helicopter in the Anzac Hall Upper Gallery, and a jet-fighter and tanks in the Glazed Link. The presentation explains that this will almost double the space of the former Anzac Hall (currently being demolished), “to tell those modern conflicts that are under-represented in the main building today.” It stresses that the vast space of the new galleries, with an aperture linking them, is required “so that objects which are significant to various conflicts can be, you know, those conflicts can be told across multiple levels.” The confusion between objects and exhibitions is apparent. The intention is to mount exhibitions, devoted to the “under-represented” contemporary conflicts. But clearly the “objects” will eclipse the exhibitions. That is, high-tech weapons will utterly dominate this new space, whatever exhibitions are mounted on the walls. Again, this emphatically demonstrates the imposition of the contemporary world upon the heritage of the past.
The project is a telescope into our heritage – with the telescope held upside down. In my view, it is not “fitting” and clashes with the heritage and conservation values at the heart of the National Capital Plan.