7 April 2024 I’m posting this not because it’s great but because it isn’t - it’s a new facilities building at the Ian Johnson Oval in Albert Park, off Fitzroy Street, where I hang out in the afternoons. Very much a failure of imagination, and possibly budget, but annoyingly neither just a plain shed, nor … Continue reading Albert Park pavilions →

9 April 2017 Long wondered about this one at #312BeaconsfieldParade - cute #midcenturymodern flats or is it cheap almost nasty ? Not sure why I think that, prob cos it's thin plate edges and tiny setbacks contrasts so much with the mainly charming pre WW2 houses and flats along #beaconsfieldparade. Anyway, #justintime, cos about to … Continue reading 60s modern on Beaconsfield Parade, gone →

6 April 2024 Im not really a huge fan of #breezeblock, but I spotted this in 2014 (ten years ago!) and thought it was a bit of alright - quite an eye bending pattern, using four different blocks ! It’s at 499 Nicholson Street, North Carlton, and seems to be a home/office, possibly just a … Continue reading Breezeblock patterns in Carlton →

Original post 6 April 2020 If you like your apartment blocks #minimalist, you’ll like #Kilpara in #ToorakRoad, cnr Orrong, built in 1971, one of the lesser known works of #YunckenFreeman. The lead architect was #BarryPatten, who designed the #penthouse for his family - gosh. Only 28 spacious apartments, a pool, some nice views, nice lobby … Continue reading Kilpara, Toorak, 1970 →

4 April 2024 This grand pile called Mittagong once stood in Grey Street St Kilda, right next to Eildon, which is fortunately still with us. The pic is of the side facing huge long gardens and the bay, just like Eildon did (pic 4). Pic 5 is a map from 1896 showing the two top … Continue reading Lost St Kilda Mansions →

2 April 2024 Some interesting early flats in Vale Street, Jolimont East, built in 1914. Sort of castley, with those octagonal turret bits, but otherwise Arts & Crafts /Edwardian, an uncertain style for a new way of living/investing in Melbourne at the time. Originally 4 flats, with a nice stair, and two squeezy corridors, and … Continue reading Early flats East Melbourne →

1 April 2024 ‘Melbourne Connect’, cnr Grattan and Swanston Street, Carlton, an extension of Melbourne University by @woodsbagot, completed 2021. I’d seen photos, thought it looked a bit odd, and it is. It’s designed around an oval courtyard, which was larger than I expected, by @aspectstudios, and has some nice planting, and on Easter Sunday … Continue reading Melbourne Connect, Carlton →

29 March 2024 Looking impossibly picturesque- the former Melbourne Teachers College, now part of #MelbourneUniversity, and called the #1888building (even though it was built 1889-91). By far the most OTT example of #QueenAnne in Melbourne, with a dash of Dutch Renaissance. Including the fence and gates. Architect #GBHAustin for the Public Works Department. Impossible to … Continue reading Melbourne Teachers College →

29 March 2024 All the Acland Street cake shops, from left to right. Seems like they’ve always been there, and as far as Google can tell me, they’ve all been trading 30 years or more. Monarch is the oldest, opened by the Polish emigre Levine family in 1934; they started out with the Monaco cake … Continue reading Acland street cakes →

30 March 2024: Clarendon Terrace, Clarendon Street, East Melbourne, long owned by the National Trust, is for sale. Built in 1857 it was designed by architect Osgood Pritchard (great name) to look like a single grand house with a Neoclassical columned portico, but it’s actually three houses. Must’ve really stood out in colonial Melbourne. By … Continue reading Clarendon Terrace East Melbourne →