Repost 2018: A #DecoDelight, Dickens Street Elwood. So many Deco flats, but this one a stand out - #heritagecolours (love the greeny green of the window frames), rounded balconies, with the one closest to Brighton Road overlapping the side lane. #WHMerritt, 1936, a makeover of an earlier building - perhaps that explains the little study/box … Continue reading Deco in Dickens Street Elwood →

18 July 2018, updated 2024: #RussellStreetPostOffice, designed 1946, by the Commonwealth Dep of Works, built 1948-1954, many delays and costing twice the estimated £1/2mill - rather retro looking by then, almost preWW2 #modernist, but I like it very much. It housed a big telephone exchange on 1st-3rd floors, and a cafeteria on the top. There … Continue reading Late 40s Modernism in Russell Street →

Looks like 18th century Portuguese #Baroque, but it’s 1954 #BrombyStreet #SouthYarra ! A donation to St Thomas Aquinas, a little 1915 Chapel-of-ease, led to this extraordinary new front (the interior wasn’t changed). It was designed by #TGPayne, looks like he had fun ! And not influenced at all by any of the modernist churches just … Continue reading Baroque surprise →

Repost this day 2018: #StoreyHall, built 1887 as the Hibernian Hall for the Irish Catholic Benefit Society, part of #RMITUniversity since 1959; the green and purple thing is an extension (foyers, gallery etc) by #ARMarchitecture, 1996 - I think they work well together. This is one of many photos I’ve taken over the last couple … Continue reading Hibernian Hall, 1887 →

16 August 2021 A fab block of #ArtDecoFlats in Dickens Street Elwood, opposite the St Kilda Botanical Gardens. Great emphasis on horizontal lines, including the window frames, set against the verticals of the chimney and stairs, with the added dash of a semi-circular widow bay for the front flats. They squeezed in a lot, 9 … Continue reading More IG Anderson Deco flat fabbness →

Repost 2019: Looming up behind the #SwanstonStreet shops at Little Lon is this beast, in Drewery Lane, a landmark related to cigarettes, concrete, and Melbs Jewish history to boot. Built in 1910 as another part of the #SnidersAndAbraham Tobacco empire, where they already had two others next to this one. Built using the Turner ‘Mushroom’ … Continue reading Sniders & Abraham Tobacco warehouse →

14 August 2021, new pics June 2024: The #StKildaBotanicGardens Conservatory 1990 - nice to have, but architecturally, I never thought tilt-slab classical was a particularly appropriate way to go. Architects Napier Thomas Mantesso Healey, according to the foundation plaque, located unhelpfully at grass level. Nice enough inside, though I always expect glasshouses to have lots … Continue reading St Kilda Conservatory →

Repost 2018, updated 2021: Aurora Melbourne, #LaTrobeStreet, vision vs reality, both images from @elenbergfraser, 2nd side by side from 2018. Surprisingly the render is exactly right, except for the colour. Funny how it’s so tall, 90 floors, but not really a landmark. It would look better in morning sun, but then this is what it … Continue reading Aurora, Latrobe Street, 2019 →

A lovely house follower michael Barrett just sent me, in Hastings Road, East Hawthorn. He thought it might be #RobertHaddon, and it might be, or might not, the very cute domed pavilion is his thing, but other than that it’s very much #Arts & Crafts details you might see anywhere. A style that’s also called … Continue reading Arts & Crafts in East Hawthorn →

Repost 2019: 😮😮 what can you say ? The delightful and quite wacko #BeverleyHillsDarlingStreet #SouthYarra was built by architect-developer #HowardLawson in 1934-5, the largest of about 15 apartment projects in this immediate area. He took steep sites and piled up as much as he could, but often with views in mind. Like the later Stratton … Continue reading Beverley Hills and more, Howard Lawson, 1930s →