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Once a building is destroyed, can the loss of a place like the Corkman be undone?
Heritage principles do not recommend rebuilding demolished buildings like the Corkman pub.
Mar 13, 20195 min read
Cremorne Pleasure Gardens in Melbourne, Australia
James Lesh studies the top leisure attraction in early colonial Melbourne.
Feb 12, 20191 min read
Federation Square heritage council submission
James Lesh's submission to the Fed Square Heritage Council hearing.
Dec 15, 201810 min read
City Dreamers: The Urban Imagination in Australia: Graeme Davison: Book Review
James Lesh reflects on the career of historian Graeme Davison in his review of City Dreamers: The Urban Imagination in Australia.
Nov 16, 20184 min read
Heritage value is in the eye of the beholder: why Fed Square deserves protection
An exploration of how and why Fed Square could be heritage listed.
Aug 11, 20185 min read
Apple store has no place in the people’s square
The Apple store is a bad deal for Victorians and an even worse deal for Fed Square.
Feb 19, 20183 min read
Fed Square: Apple is exploiting the power of its brand to claim an important part of our city
Five days before Christmas, it's been announced that Federation Square has been given to Apple for its flagship Melbourne store.
Dec 21, 20173 min read
A History of the Future: Imagining Melbourne: Exhibition Review
James Lesh reviews the exhibition 'A History of the Future: Imagining Melbourne', presented at the City of Melbourne Gallery.
Apr 14, 20175 min read
Satirising the Australian City: Bruce Petty
A reflection on Bruce Petty's contribution to the Australian urban imagination.
Dec 3, 20163 min read
Preserving cities: how 'trendies' shaped Australia' urban heritage
In the 1960s-70s, the so-called 'trendies' changed how we think about inner suburban Australian heritage.
Nov 4, 20164 min read
Sketching the National Trust of Victoria at 60 years
An exploration of 60 Years of the National Trust in Victoria.
Oct 18, 20168 min read
Brisbane and Gold Coast urban heritage in the early 1970s (and today)
James Lesh explores community heritage voices in Queensland in the 1970s.
Oct 5, 20164 min read
What is Urban History?: Shane Ewen: Book Review
James Lesh positively reviews the new survey text of urban history by Shane Ewen.
Sep 20, 20164 min read
Lockout laws repeat centuries-old mistake of denying value of cities as messy places
Sydney’s lockout laws, as well as current and proposed restrictions in other Australian cities including Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Newcastle, are perhaps more about regulating people’s behaviours in cities than about liquor licensing.
Jun 7, 20164 min read
Rialto Towers and the future of Melbourne, 1970s-80s
The 1980s Rialto Towers was a game-changer for skyscrapers, development and heritage in Melbourne.
Mar 11, 20161 min read
Larry La Trobe: The Dog Statue That Has Defined Melbourne
Larry La Trobe, explains James Lesh, has shaped Melbourne's urban imagination since the 1990s.
Feb 1, 20161 min read
The 25,000 Square Metre Rule: An Obituary
The 25,000 metre rule has shaped planning, skyscrapers and heritage in Melbourne.
Sep 9, 20154 min read
Innovation and Reaction: What Would a Minister for Cities Be Good For?
James Lesh considers the role of a Minister for Cities in Australia.
Aug 12, 20154 min read
Australia's greatest urbanist: Hugh Stretton
The Australian City in History has yet to be written. If it were, there is one person that would loom large: Hugh Stretton.
Aug 6, 20152 min read
Regenerating heritage at Melbourne's Rialto Towers
The Rialto precinct in Melbourne is undergoing another facelift in the coming months.
Jul 10, 20153 min read
Cremorne's subdivision in 1885
James Lesh examines the Cremorne Broadsheet, an 1885 land sale map, as an artefact of material culture.
Mar 11, 20151 min read
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