Original post 25 July 2020 It’s #OpenHouseMelbourne virtual weekend, lots to scroll through, I found the Governor Dessau's husband Tony Howard doing a tour of #GoovernmentHouseMelbourne, where he repeats the often told story that the ballroom is bigger than that at #BuckinghamPalace (1856), which displeased Queen Vic, who said make it shorter, but too late … Continue reading The Government House Ballroom IS longer than the Buckingham House one.
Original post 24 July 2020 Photos 15 July Unusual - looks like what was maybe a pair of Victorian houses or an usually wide one, executed in nice #polychromebrick, that got fine over if day in the 30s, with a new stylish entry, but leaving the bricks mostly untouched. It may have been a private … Continue reading Mr Fletcher’s boarding house, Port Melbourne
Original post 24 July 2020 And suddenly it’s nearly all there - looking much bigger curvy and concretey than I thought - but I think I like it ! I hadn’t realised that it really cascades down, right to the footpath wall, the part I didn’t like, but I see it fits really. #victorianpridecentre, @grantamonarchitects … Continue reading Pride Centre update
Original post 23 July 2020 Deserve to preserve ? This is the chapel at #KostkaHall, Xavier’s junior school in #Brighton that they’ve just said they’re closing. It was built in 1966-7, designed by prolific church architect #AlanGRobertson, one of the few circular churches/chapels in Vic, nice spire thing, but prob the best part is the … Continue reading Modernist Chapel, Kostka Hall, Brighton, 1967
Original post 4 October 2019 Not #facadism, seeing as they kept the whole front section, but shows how you can still make it look terrible - in this case by having it sit in front of a huge wall of new building, like a stubbed toe, made even worse that the streetscape is also a … Continue reading MCG Hotel / Parade Hotel, East Melbourne, almost facadism, looks bad.
Original post 21 July 2020 Photos 29 June Perfectly nice if not outstanding Victorian house in #FitzroyStreetStKilda, but the interesting thing is it was abandoned in the 80s/early 90s, the owner sitting on it hoping for some #demolitionbyneglect, but before it got to that point the then #StKildaCouncil passed a local law about deliberate dilapidation, … Continue reading Victorian house on Fitzroy Street, saved (30 years ago)
Original post 20 July 2020 Photos 14 July Sad sight on #BayStreetPortMelbourne, been this way since a fire in 2015 (I think). Its yet another surviving (partly) very early cinema, being built as the Port Theatre in 1913, and closing in 1956, and used for retail ever since. In 2018 a permit was issued to … Continue reading Port Melbourne Theatre, 1913, burnt
5 October 2020 Photos August 2018 The old #ABCstudios in Selwyn Street #Elsternwick that’s proposed to be demolished is a rather quirky bit of #postmodernism, by @armarchitecture, 1993 - channeling 60s brown brick factories, either side of a 50s style one (or maybe that part is an old factory). The proposal is rather huge, though … Continue reading ABC studios, Elsternwick, 1993
Original post 6 October 2019: One of the more peculiar #midcenturymodern #officebuildings in the city is this one at 406 Lonsdale Street. It was built speculatively by the AMP society in 1958, up to the then still in force 132ft height limit. It was designed by Bates Smart McCutcheon, who were busily also designing a … Continue reading AMP, Lonsdale Street, 1958
Original post 19 July 2020 Photos 29 June #Kingsclere in #FitzroyStreetStKilda has a rather late Edwardian facade for its 1926 date, but has an interesting interior, being built around a courtyard, very rare in Melbourne. Though seems architect #PJOconnor didn’t think the it needed to be anything other than very plain #redbrick; it’s quite lushly … Continue reading Kingsclere, Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, 1926
If the Nazi's never took power, would Berlin have Europe's tallest skyscraper and East Prussia be a honeymoon destination ?
Storey of Melbourne 