A faded example of 1980s playfullness with ‘#heritagecolours’, grabbing whatever they liked from a page that probably included colours only used for interiors, ignoring the fact that they were only ever plain grey #cementrender or sometimes ochre #limewash - not that I’m complaining, at least this one is relatively restrained, and so old it looks … Continue reading Fun with heritage colours in Elizabeth Street – from the 80s →

December 19 2019: Glimpsed before this view disappears for another 50 years behind the Pride Centre. Arbedour, 83 Fitzroy Street, is one of four 1880s row-mansions behind the shops on #FitzroyStreetStKilda, which are all set back the same, and all had shops built in the front gardens from the 1910s-1930s, all still there, more or … Continue reading Hidden Heritage of Fitzroy Street →

The first arches of the #VictorianPrideCentre are up ! I’m reserving opinion about the design, I like the wacky arches/tubes all piled up, and I think the interior will be magical, but I don’t think 2 storey high arches on the front of the footpath is a good idea - I think people will be … Continue reading Price Centre construction →

The truly amazing crystalline ceiling of the #CapitolTheatreMelbourne, #WalterBurleyGriffin and wife #MarionMahoneyGriffin going for it with a plaster extravaganza of indirect light effects. Cinemas in the 1920s were all about #spectacle, as much a part of the experience as the silent movies and the orchestra and often an organ too (the Capitols is at the … Continue reading The Capitol Theatre is amazing →

Got a tour of the #CapitolTheatre last week, and this was a highlight ! Seeing behind the fabbo plaster ‘prisms’ to see the one bit of original lighting kept in place, complete with plaque so that no one removes at some point in the future ! Just imagine crawling through the whole thing replacing these … Continue reading Capitol Theatre – behind the scenes →

16 December 2019 #ChristchurchStKilda, pass it often, today the sun just right, making the Sorrento sandstone (almost) glow. Designed by #PurchasAndSwire in 1854 (#AlbertPurchas wasn’t quite 30 years old), this front and the nave built by 1857. It’s a bit severe I think, though that’s not a bad thing, #EarlyEnglish style was rough with small … Continue reading Christ Church St Kilda →

#BirdsonaWire - some #RainbowLorikeets in Victoria Street #StKilda, boy are they noisy ! But delightful. Don’t know if St Kilda has more ? Didn’t see them this much in Fitzroy. Or maybe it’s #climatechange, I don’t remember them being here in the early 90s. Hmmm

December 2019 #BoerWar Memorial, #AlfredSquare, #StKilda, 1905; designed by #ArthurPeck, though its assumed that it’s probably also/mostly #RobertHaddon, who consulted a lot. He was almost the only architect in Victoria to fully embrace #ArtNouveau, and this has all the sinuous lines and vegetal motifs of that style. Also, it’s green, so green. No idea if … Continue reading St Kilda Boer War Memorial – Art Nouveau by the beach. →

#FootscrayTownHall, #JosephPlottel, 1936. A delightful essay in a very American mode, a combo of Bryzantine and Florentine, it’s more about effect than an accurate style, with lovely variegated brickwork and very crisp detailing in buff-coloured #faience, which goes a bit Celtic. Plottel had done the St Kilda Synagogue in the 20s in a more clearly … Continue reading Footscray Town Hall, exotic styling from 1936 →