The restoration of the New Council Chamber at #TradesHallMelbourne was in the Age recently, so I went to conservation architects @lovellchen webpage and borrowed all these images- and it turns out only the painted wall is original, the rest is sympathetic but not at all like the original, lost in a fire in c1962. It … Continue reading Trades Hall Council Chamber restoration →

Some more #LostMelbourne, and rather surprisingly demolished in 1982! All part of a compromise to get the Rialto towers built, while saving the original Rialto. The first two pics are both c1982 from the @nationaltrustvic files, which I happen to have from work from 2016 for an app called Lost! 100 cbd places (now deactivated). … Continue reading Robbs Building, demolished 1982 →

The ‘featurist’ bank from Robin Boyd’s 1960 book The Australian Ugliness looks suspiciously like the 1956 Commonwealth Bank on Elizabeth Street, still there, painted over, but recognisable, and #heritagelisted. Would Boyd have eventually changed his mind if he’d lived longer than 1971?

3 April 2025 My least favourite waterfront tower, from an unflattering angle. Arrandale is just a huge solid block plonked on the Upper Esplanade, St Kilda, looming over the Espy itself. Fortunately it has a generous setback and garden so you don’t feel it too much while walking past. It was built c1980, one of … Continue reading Brutal St Kilda tower →

Repost this day 2019: Miami Towers, #SolSapir, 189 #BeaconsfieldParade, #MiddlePark, 1972. It has an twin in Armadale and a taller sister further down the street. The panels might be precast, with little curved edges, but they’re separated by curious vertical metal channels that poke down below the first floor; which involves a lot of cantilevering … Continue reading Sol Sapir, Miami + 2 →

8 August 2024 The competition for the Shrine was held in late 1923 - a whole lot of great images of the entries have been unearthed by researchers for an exhibition about to start at the Shrine galleries. The first image is a fabulous geometric design by Walter & Marion Griffin, but they didn’t even … Continue reading The Shrine of Remembrance competition 1923 →

Big ads on city buildings are nothing new, these #paintedsigns from the 1890s were on the side of a five storey Victorian bldg with a #mansardroof that was once next to the Nicholas Building in Swanston Street. A bit less sophisticated that modern ads - the spirit of #DawsonsWhiskey was literally an #angel! Popping out … Continue reading Blank walls always had signs…until now →

The Shrine is a curious monument, architecturally, a stepped pyramid with the front of the Parthenon attached, in granite where some blocks stained with rust - BUT the courtyards are great - such a smart solution putting them in the corners. Back in about 2000 they were thinking of accessing the space under the the … Continue reading Shrine courtyards →

It’s not often I actively dislike something but here’s one – and it’s on the Victorian chapter architects awards 2021 shortlist (!). At least the main image doesn’t disguise its awfulness. It’s just a massive thing, filling out the allowable envelope, and the serrated edges just make it extra unfriendly. It has some slight cut-outs … Continue reading So-called Collins Arch →

June 2021: So the Nicholas Building is up for sale ! Built 1926 for the Nicholas family who made their fortune from #Aspro, and got their fave architect #HarryNorris to design it. Whoever buys it, I guess it’s likely that eventually the rents will go up (when current leases run out) and it’ll be less … Continue reading Nicholas Building →