😢 to see some destruction of our Postmodern heritage at the Centreway Arcade, most notably the hidden artwork at first floor level – letters which spelled out the anti-capitalist message “we live in a society that places an inordinate value in goods and services”, which has been replaced by a blank wall. Why on earth did they bother ? Didn’t like the message ?? And some of the shopfronts have been removed too, not surprised by that, owners always think only fully glass shopfronts are leasable. Maybe send an email to Colliers the leasing agents like I just did and complain ! The arcade was designed by #CocksAndCarmichael, and created in 1987 by completely reworking the original 1913 rather plain one, and it won an Architecture Award in 1989. My photos from 2011 and 2019, recent ones by @tristan_davies, old arcade Graeme Butler
21 December 2024
Very sad to report that the fabulous #Postmodern #CentrewayArcade off Collins (#CocksCarmichaelWhitford, 1987) has been virtually destroyed – and replaced by plain white walls and a lower ceiling ! Oddly they left some of the upper floor intact. It’s horrible now. No idea who the owners are, but clearly they have no idea what good design is. I havnt seen it myself, thanks to @tristan_davies and Steve Stefanopoulos for the pics.
12 August 2024
The Centreway Arcade facade is an interesting bit of late Edwardian era architecture; designed by the prolific Tompkins & Tompkins in 1911, it’s a bit American ‘Beaux Arts’, with a strongly modelled base level, then just vertical fill up to a big cornice. The details are a bit fruity, with a lots of scrolls around the oval windows, and the panels between the upper windows, which contemporary US designers might have just left plain. It was also an early example of a fully steel framed structure, another US idea (where it had been common since the 1890s). Looking a bit dirty now. It’s too painful to talk about the recently destroyed postmodern arcade, but I will note that before that, the original was a quite plain one, as seen in a photo by Graeme Butler from the mid 1980s.
Storey of Melbourne 