There’s no question as to the ubiquity of the ‘six-pack’ apartment in Melbourne’s south-east. The proliferation of this typology between 1950-1960 transformed substantial tracts of suburbia, being both the product and impetus for increasing suburban sprawl.[1] One of the most pervasive impacts of the six-pack is felt in the streetscape alone.[2] Driving this mid-century suburban landscape was a growing consumer and car culture, upon which six-pack developments thrived.
The automobile architecture of Melbourne’s six-pack streetscape was determined both by speed and way of approach. These factors pushed emphasis upon the front façade, showcasing the car in open garages and signifying its status in designs for porte cocheres. Alongside these elements were decorative, eye-catching features adorning building frontages. Working within a moving body, the moving eye had to quickly identify and interpret the six-pack streetscape.[3] Palm trees and dracaenas, ornamental signage and an array of patterning recalled the exotic architectures of West Coast American modernism.[4]
The transfer of these ideals to Melbourne’s suburbs resembled a distinct context from that of several European émigré architects arriving before, during and after the war. These architects brought with them modern functionalist tendencies and an optimism toward densification.[5] Where the exuberance of an American, automobile-centric architecture met with these contemporary European ideals of cosmopolitan living, an elegant, pared-back glamour emerged. The design of six-packs by many of Melbourne’s émigré architects incorporate gestural entrance porticos and curated garden promenades. Contrasted with the fast-paced automobile approach, these moments engender a totally different experience of the suburban six-pack apartment.
From elegance to exuberance, the diversity of design approaches is precisely what defines the rich genre of Melbourne’s six-packs. While each example derives an individual expression from its author, side by side they define a single, consistent and continuous streetscape. Taking cues from Ruscha’s work, the rolling streetscape footage documents and displays the prominence of the six-pack throughout the south-east suburbs. In contrast, various slow-paced entrance scenes describe architectural moments of Melbourne’s six-packs to be appreciated anew.
[1] Miles Lewis, “The Rise of the Flat,” in Suburban Backlash: The Battle for the World’s Most Liveable City (Hawthorn: Bloomings Books, 1999), 77-98.
[2] Charles Pickett, “The ‘six-pack’: the past and present of walk-up flats,” Australia ICOMOS: (Un)Loved Modern Conference, Sydney, July 2009.
[3] Robert Venturi, Denise Scott-Brown and Steven Izenour, “Inclusion and the Difficult Order,” in Learning From Las Vegas: the forgotten symbolism of architectural form (Cambridge, MIT Press, 1972), 56.
[4] John Chase, “Stucco Boxing – Part 1,” L.A. Forum, May 1990.
[5] Harriet Edquist, “The Jewish Contribution: A Missing Chapter,” in 45 Storeys: A Retrospective of work by Melbourne Jewish Architects from 1945 (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 1993), exhibition catalogue, 6-11.
