By Stephen Burton | Featuring Gilbert Rochecouste, Village Well
Thirty years ago, the word “placemaking” didn’t exist in the Australian lexicon.
We used technical, hard terms like “urban renewal” and “revitalization”.
But Gilbert Rochecouste, founder of Village Well and one of the pioneers of the movement in Australia, felt something was missing.
He wanted to move beyond just painting roads or adding furniture to focus on the “being” of a place—its spirit and essence.
In this episode of The Placemakers, Gilbert explains why the secret to successful cities isn’t just in the architecture, but in the “soul.”
Gilbert defines the “soul of place” as its unique DNA—the layers of history, Indigenous stories, and landscape that make it feel like nowhere else.
This isn’t just a spiritual concept; it is a driver of value.
“A place with soul is a destination,” Gilbert explains.
When a place feels authentic, it creates “stickiness,” encouraging people to stay longer and spend more.
He points to the transformation of Melbourne’s laneways in the early 90s as a prime example.
Once used merely as service lanes for rubbish trucks, they were reimagined as the “veins of the city,” pumping life and culture through small bars and independent retail.
When asked about the common pitfalls in placemaking, Gilbert identifies “over-designing and over-controlling” as the biggest mistake.
“If you bolt every bench to the ground and dictate exactly how a space should be used, you kill the life of it,” he warns.
Great places require “looseness” and spontaneity to allow the community to add their own layers, whether through busking or simply moving a chair into the sun.
Gilbert suggests we need to shift our thinking from rigid “master planning” to “master frameworking,” where designers set the stage but let the community “perform the play”.
Ultimately, Gilbert argues that the most critical ingredient for a successful public place is Love.
While it may sound “fluffy,” he insists it is a serious economic and social driver.
“Love looks like shade on a hot day. It looks like a comfortable seat. It looks like beauty,” he says.
When developers or councils invest in quality materials and safety, they are telling the community, “You are worthy”.
This gesture is invariably reciprocated through community pride and stewardship.
🎧 Listen to the Episode
We discuss how to become a “place detective” and why trust is the currency of placemaking.
📄 Accessibility & Reference
Prefer to read? Download the full word-for-word transcript of this interview.
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