Chronicle of the World

Chronicle of the World developed, extended and renovated the tip of the North Wharf in Docklands, Melbourne. The studio identified the abandoned Port Control Tower as a centre on the periphery of the new world from which a chronicle – panoramic in its vision – could be laid out. Perched above the earth, a writer was pinned in place; the student asked to compose a literary butterfly.

The studio was modelled on the experience of Jean des Esseintes in the 1884 novel ‘A rebours’ by the symbolist author Joris-Karl Huysmans. The novel has Essenties steal himself away in his country mansion to conduct intellectual experiments and to consider a new aesthetic. He is an esthete, someone who has a refined sensitivity to beauty. In the most potent scene he has a tortoise decorated in gemstones and gold to enliven the splendor of a dull rug. The tower was thought of as a site of exemption where-in the studio’s architectural experiments could take place.

Students: Ilai Bavati, Sophie Beckerleg, Nikita Bhopti, Alana Brunton, Akshar Daby, Harry Evans, Stefan Frey, Zach Henderson, Jia Yi Li, Elaheh Mohamed, Ilanan Razbash, Lucy Stanton, Dane Zain & Nathan Demoel.