‘Beyond repair’: modernism, renewal and the conservation of Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market, 1967–76

The important role of citizen movements towards dissolving the conceptual and practical imperatives of urban modernism during the 1960s and 1970s is widely accepted. However, the ideological impulses and social character shaping this movement are less known, particularly in the Australian context. Amid the growing discontent towards modernism and renewal, the outlooks of resident and voluntary organizations had the potential to intersect with the perspectives of government and development bodies: both sought to achieve vibrant, prosperous, and fashionable urban environments. The intersections of these seemingly opposed points of view demonstrates that it could be simultaneously envisioned that either by encouraging or obstructing renewal, Melbourne had the potential to harness the latest international trends in urban ideas, economy and design. Adopting the case study of the nineteenth-century Queen Victoria Market, a fresh food market on Melbourne’s city edge marked for renewal to facilitate the expansion of the CBD, the article demonstrates that both overlapping and competing interests marked the end of modernism. It also identifies ensuing conceptual and practical opportunities for governance, development, design, conservation and community involvement, which facilitated the flourishing in urban thought, policy and participation in 1970s Australia.