Postcode 3000: a city transformed?

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Research background: Postcode 3000: a city transformed? exhibition at City Gallery Melbourne examined the development of Postcode 3000, an early 90s City of Melbourne initiative to transform the then dead inner-city into a vibrant place to live and work. The exhibition was a survey of the initiative's achievements, and speculated on the recent changes in planning that continue to drive an unsustainable surge in high density residential towers in the inner city at the expensive of the experience of the public space (the street) and public amenity. Research Significance: The value of the exhibition was two fold: it documented the intersection of political powers and urban knowledge that lead to a dramatic change in urban living and a wider discourse on the city and; it evaluated the future of the hard won successes of Postcode 3000 in light of current and projected residential tower development at an unprecedented rate and scale. The importance of this exhibition was further evidenced in 'The Age' (Lucas, 'Future CBD Hong Kong without the beauty', Aug 2013). Research Contribution: The exhibition brought together a historical timeline outlining the historical development of Postcode 3000 alongside maps of the city centre locating the rapid inhabitation of Melbourne' city centre. Spooner was charged with researching selected buildings that were deemed to have been significant, including Majorca House, Maison on Bourke, 51 Spring Street, Melbourne Terrace and A'Beckett Apartment. He developed digital computer models of these buildings. The digital files were then realised as 3d printed stereolithographic models, printed large in opaque resin, and illuminated from within. Stephen Banham did the exhibiton's 2D design.