“All we leave behind are the memories”

Architecture students re-presenting UQ Union complex

Ian talks with Postgrad architecture students, Adele Mammone, Thomas Webster and Ali Rad Yousefnia who are offering their alternative to wholesale demolition of UQ Union complex and a new vision of the University – a social alternative to running it as ‘a business, a very bad one’. They want things like an open space run by students, a co-op, free lunch days or cheap food, an op shop and much more.

Playlist
Jumping Fences – View from a Wooden Chair

Ali Rad Yousefnia and Sercan Pesan – Ederlezi
Published first on YouTube 5 Jun 2020. The song was recorded at Alti Anti bri art gallery in Feb 2019, Ankara, Turkey. All rights reserved for Ali Rad Yousefnia and Sercan Pesan.

Banner Image – The play ‘Bacchoi’ inside Schonell Theatre
Quote – “All we leave behind are the memories” – Deen Brothers demolitions, Brisbane

Reblogged this on Workers BushTelegraph and commented:

In the 1970s and 80s the Queensland government demolished over 60 Brisbane buildings of heritage value. By opposing aboriginal land rights, government failed to recognise prior ownership and prior occupancy of Meanjin (Brisbane). One third of Boggo Road jail was destroyed by fire because of the inhuman beatings and poor conditions inside condoned by the government. Furthermore, state-approved vandalism resulted in the destruction of iconic buildings like the Bellevue Hotel and Cloudland Ballroom. Demolition experts, the Deen Bros left their calling card on site to remind people of their gruesome work.

In 2018 the University of Queensland masterplan recommended demolition of the UQ Union student complex including another icon, the Schonell Theatre. These buildings are to be replaced by something akin to a shopping mall. These facilities were once run by the student union. They became a kind of ‘common’ for students, staff and visitors to the university – a place of social and political activity.

In response to the demolition proposal, a group called Save the UQ Union Complex applied for the buildings and the forum area to be heritage listed. This was knocked back on the spurious basis that the structures had been altered and hence had lost their heritage value.

Postgrad architecture students, Adele Mammone, Thomas Webster and Ali Rad Yousefnia are offering their alternative to wholesale demolition – a vision for the University of Qld Student Union complex – social alternatives to the current demolition proposal for the UQ student union building complex. They want things like an open space run by students, a co-op, free lunch days or cheap food, an op shop and much more.

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