Repost this day in 2017 : The #GeelongRegionalLibrary west side in the last rays of sunlight - fantastic sparkle. Definitely a #crystalline #grotto, shades of griffins capitol theatre perhaps, or the sparkle of thought within the #bigbrain. It's a #dome with #geodesic panels but it's not a #geodesicdome (I think). Actually not a dome but … Continue reading Geelong Library, ARM architecture, 2015 →

Repost from a visit in May 2019 : The fantastic #MintonTile floor of the vestibule of #ParliamentHouseMelbourne. It spells out a rather nice sentiment from Proverbs 11:14: ‘Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety’, even if half the time we don’t think much of our representatives, … Continue reading Parliament House interiors →

Some excellent #brickwork on these flats in #Elwood on the corner of Ormond Rd and Selwyn Street, which i recognised from adding to the wiki page on #MewtonAndGrounds; designed not long after they started their joint practice in late 1933, this shows that they weren’t Modernist or nothing, at least at first. Though in the … Continue reading Mewton & Grounds before they went modern →

Repost 2017: From this angle the new 35 Spring Street (in a variation on #BatesSmart patterned #glass curtain wall house style) is just a tad #dominating. Partly because the pattern, which I quite like, is in blocks that are often two or three storeys high, so it makes everything else look small, but the most … Continue reading 35 Spring Street, bit too big →

May 2018 One of #victorianmelbourne's #flatiron buildings, a branch of the #ColonialBankofAustralasia, built at the height of the #landboom in 1889, designed by the prolific firm #SmithandJohnson. Became a home for the #IndependentOrderofRechabites in 1919, then just offices on 1979. Great bldg, opp the vicmarkets, but a bit lost across the huge intersection.

Repost this day 2019: The back end of the #StateLibraryOfVictoria was built in 1906, and has a very well proportioned classical #portico entrance with a little Baroque scroll flourish, but the upper level is intriguing, being so stripped down it becomes almost Modernist, could be something from the 1930s. This end was supposed to be … Continue reading Museum front, Russell Street →

Yesterday was #WorldArtDecoDay, so here’s my belated contribution- the fabulous but very short lived Park Theatre in Albert Park, opened 1939, closed 1962, and demolished for a petrol station soon after (its now the Albert park library). It was designed by cinema specialists #TaylorAndSoilleux, who did very inventive work, not your typical streamlined or jazzy … Continue reading Park Theatre, our best Deco cinema only lasted 23 years. →

Repost from this day in 2019: The 1934 lobbies at #HerMajestysTheatreMelbourne are a bit on the plain side imho; nice details, but there’s lots of blank wall between them. [found some original photos, the walls seem to have had a coloured textured finish, plus the nice light fittings and flowers made a difference]. Just noticed … Continue reading Her Majesty’s Theatre lobbies, 1934 →

Repost from 9 March 2017: Fabulous #GothicRevival house in #EastMelbourne, designed by #JosephReedArchitect in 1861. Shows how Reed could go from classical to gothic (and later polychrome brick Romanesque) with ease. (eg #StateLibraryVictoria, #MelbourneTown Hall, #WesleyChurchMelbourne and #RipponLeaEstate). Built for Deputy Surveyor-General, Clement Hodgkinson, who designed a few things himself, like the 1859 layout of … Continue reading Gothic Revival in East Melbourne →

Not Melbourne but Quite Interesting - I had no idea that around London new outer suburban houses were so historicist ! I sort of like them, nice brickwork, nice details, but a bit toyland scale, and obviously deliberately scattered in different styles to create interest, but still, all the same really. At least they have … Continue reading The London suburbs are ….. Victorian (style) →