March 2024

Visited the Dandenong Civic Square by @lyonsarchitecture with @rush.wright.associates landscaping, completed 2015.

Harmony Square is the name for the public plaza that’s at the heart of the Dandenong Civic Centre – it’s pretty much a miniature Fed Square, but with somewhat more attractive public spaces. The open space has similar earth toned patterned paving, with words etched into a part, and it focusses on a stage and big tv screen (which had a rather loud video about vaccinations), and like Fed Sq is empty without some programmed event. But on the other hand there’s cheery orange benches, a patch of trees with chairs and tables under, and the upper corner is grass. The whole thing is rather divorced from the main drag though, being up some stairs, but on yet another hand, you wouldn’t want a big empty space sitting on the main street- in fact it’s got a cafe and some shops down there. I liked it, looks attractive, but really we don’t know how to use plazas in Melb, most people just want grass and trees, which makes it a park.

It address the main strip through this gap on the corner, aiming at the old town hall, which looks great one way, not super enticing the other. But I like the interesting path anyway.

The building itself is usual zippy @lyonsarchitecture style, though the zippiness is from the shape of the windows and the (very effective) sun shades than the shape itself. I like it, though the new library in there isn’t very well signposted. There’s some very over engineered extra sunshade things.

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