30 September 2017:
The Supreme Court of Victoria, built as the Law Courts. This is the design that won the 1873 #competition compared to what was built- it was far more articulated, and it had a sort of forecourt space that it doesn’t actually have. Probably they added more rooms, plus it’s simplified, with one arcade between the end bays, and losing the unnecessary extra tower, and the dome seems rounder too. It’s a grand building, but I’ve always thought it should’ve addressed the street corner rather than the middle of the block, but symmetry rules I suppose ! It was completed about 1884.
The competition was actually a bit scandalous, because AE Johnson was a judge from the public works department, and helped choose AL Smith as the winner, but they shared a studio; then Johnson resigned from the department, went into partnership with Smith (as the prolific Smith & Johnson) and they were contracted to build it ! He later claimed Smith never worked on it when he was in the studio…
6 May 2025
The Supreme Court dome from across the street in 2016. Often said to be based on the dome of the Four Courts in Dublin, completed 1802, and it pretty clearly is ! Though I can’t find a contemporary account saying so.
Repost 2017
So I looked closely at this 1884 photo of the Supreme Court, and noticed there was this fabbo sculptural thing topping the main #pediment but it’s gone ! I kept reading about the #FigureofJustice who was not blindfolded, ‘contrary to tradition’, but that sculpture (swipe), looks like a 60s #bronze to me, very similar to the original as far as I can tell, but stylised; the original was probably carved stone. The whole thing must’ve become decayed or unstable, and just removed, or maybe someone just thought it was a bit excessive compared to the restraint of the rest of the building. Such a pity, we don’t have many #baroque fantasies like this in Melbourne. I’m told this might have happened in the 80s 😮
Storey of Melbourne 