(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)
Abstract
The heritage-listed 1956 Grant House, designed for my Grandparents by prominent Australian architect Peter McIntyre, can be used to read the history of both post-war Melbourne architecture, and post-war Melbourne itself. Uniquely representative of a period of material austerity, the house was heritage-listed in 2019. However, this evaluation lies far beyond the building’s reality as a poorly insulated, small building on a large and lucrative suburban block. Importantly, too, it is one from which the subsequent history of the building has been struck, as the Grant House is perpetuated not as a family home, but as a frozen Mid-Century image – an object, a context, and a set of value judgments which grow distinct, and detached from the continued lived experience of the building. Stemming from questions raised in the preservation of the home – and the erasure of my family’s history within it – this piece aims to navigate the perceived ‘threat’ of heritage, asking how the stasis of heritage valuation might be reconciled to a contemporary, continuous domestic life. Drawn equally across built form, family history, ecology and archaeology – alongside discussions with the architect himself – the paper outlines firstly an expanded narrative of the site. Then, through speculative additions to the property, it acts as a case study for how this narrative may be reified in a heritage practice of alteration and change. In doing so, the paper aims, more broadly, to propose a framework to reconcile a disconnect in value judgement which for many property owners triggers the word ‘heritage’ to loom as a threat, rather than a comfort. Ultimately, it demonstrates that through an understanding of a building as a continuous, evolving set of relationships, and changes – rather than a discrete, historical object – a heritage framework can be instigated which is not only future-proof, but future-facing.
Angus Grant is a recent graduate of the Melbourne School of Design. Primarily concerned with novel approaches to heritage, and the roles of both digital, and ephemeral artifacts in preservation, he has presented at the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand. Having experience in both architectural firms, and in archival practice, he has recently started working at Melbourne-based firm Lovell Chen, who specialise in both heritage conservation, and adaptive re-use.