State Library Victoria (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 3 November, 2019 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

State Library Victoria

On our fifth day in Melbourne, the first item in our city tour itinerary was the nearby State Library Victoria, the state‘s premier reference and research library, a gateway to the world’s information and a Melbourne landmark and cultural icon.

The library, located in the northern center of the central business district, comprises 23 individual buildings ((including the magnificent, 19th century building) and occupies an entire city block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets.

The Classic colonnade completed in 1870. In front is the statue of Sir Redmond Barry

During our visit, the grassy lawn, in front of the library’s grand entrance along Swanston Street, was filled the city’s workers and students from the adjacent RMIT University. Originally, the lawn was enclosed by a picket fence and, in the 1870s, by a wrought iron fence and gates. In 1939, with the removal of the fence and the creation of diagonal paths, the space was opened up and is now a popular lunch-spot.

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this library:

It is Australia’s oldest public library
The Melbourne Public Library, as it was then known, was one of the first free libraries in the world,, open to anyone over 14 years of age, so long as they had clean hands.
It also houses some of the original armor of Ned Kelly.
As a result of the 1990 to 2004 redevelopment, the State Library Victoria can now be considered one of the largest exhibiting libraries in the world.
On completion, the dome of the Domed Reading Room was the largest in the world.
The library forecourt, a popular location for protest meetings and a rallying point for marches, is also the site of a speakers’ forum where orators, on Sundays, between 2:30 PM and 5:30 PM, take turns in speaking on various subjects.
The exterior of the library is prominently featured at the conclusion of the post-World War III movie On the Beach.

The Library’s vast collection includes more than five million items, reflecting the culture of Victoria over the past 150 years. There are over two million books and more than a million photographs; journals and magazines; manuscripts; maps; hundreds of thousands of newspapers, with a special focus on material from Victoria, including the diaries of the city’s founders, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, and the folios of Captain James Cook.

They also house audio, video and digital material. The complex of buildings that now houses the Library were built in numerous stages, housing various library spaces, art galleries and museum displays.

Many of the library’s electronic databases, including the full Encyclopædia Britannica; Oxford Reference dictionaries and encyclopedias; multi-subject magazine and journal article databases; newspaper archives of most major Australian and international papers from 2000 onwards; and specialist subject databases, are available from home to any Victorian registered as a State Library User.

Sir Redmond Barry (John Botterill, 1875)

The library’s collection includes 70,000 photographs in 2,000 rolls of film containing photographs of Melbourne and country Victoria from the early 1970s that are in the process of being digitized and made available to the public.

Charles La Trobe (Sir Francis Grant)

Here is the historical timeline of the library:

In 1853, at the instigation of Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe and Justice Redmond Barry, Q.C. (Sir Redmond from 1860), the decision to build a combined library, museum and gallery was made. A competition was held, won by the recently arrived architect Joseph Reed, whose firm and its successors went on to design most of the later extensions, as well as numerous 19th-century landmarks such as the Melbourne Town Hall, and the Royal Exhibition Building.
On July 3, 1854, the recently inaugurated Governor Sir Charles Hotham laid the foundation stone of both the new library complex and the University of Melbourne.
On February 11, 1856, the library’s first stage (the central part of the Swanston Street wing) was opened with a collection of 3,800 books chosen by Mr. Justice Barry, the President of Trustees.
On May 1856, Augustus H. Tulk, the first librarian, was appointed.
In 1860, Joseph Reed designed a grand complex for the whole block including a domed section facing Russell Street to house the Museum and Gallery.
In 1859, the south part of the front wing, including the elaborate first floor Queen’s Reading Room (now Queen’s Hall), was opened.
In 1864, the northern part, added by Abraham Linacre, was completed.
In 1866, a number of halls, just behind the front wing and meant to be temporary, were built for the Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia. They remained in use until 1909.
In 1870, the classical portico was completed.
In 1886, Barry Hall, along Little Lonsdale Street, was completed.
In 1887, a memorial statue of Mr Justice Sir Redmond Barry, C., by James Gilbert and built by Percival Ball, was installed on the central landing of the main stairs.
In 1889, the National Museum of Victoria moved to library site.
In 1889, the statue of Saint George and the Dragon (flanking the entrance plaza), by the English sculptor Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, was installed.
In 1892,the McCoy Hall, now the Redmond Barry Reading Room, was completed
In 1907, the statue of Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc), a replica of the statue by French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet, was installed.
In 1909, work began on the library’s famed Domed Reading Room
In 1909, the Baldwin Spencer Hall, facing Russell Street, was completed.
In 1913, the Domed Reading Room was opened
In 1932, the McAllan Gallery, along the LaTrobe Street side, was completed.
In 1937, due to deterioration, a pair of bronze lions flanking the entry from the 1860s, were removed.
In 1959, due to water leakage, the dome’s skylights were covered in copper sheets, creating the dim atmosphere that characterized the Library for decades.
In 1968, the National Gallery of Victoria moved to its new purpose built home in St Kilda Road
In 1971, the Lending Library closed.
From 1990 to 2004, the library underwent an approximately A$200 million major refurbishment designed by architects Ancher Mortlock & Woolley. It included the creation of a number of exhibition spaces, some of which are used to house permanent exhibitions – “The Mirror of the World: Books and Ideas,” “The Changing Face of Victoria” and the “Pictures Collection” (Cowen Gallery).
In 1992, the library finally filled the entire block
In 1998, the World War I commemorative statues “Wipers” and “The Driver,” at the center points of the 1939 diagonal paths, were relocated to the ground of the Shrine of Remembrance.
From 1999-2002, during renovations of its buildings, National Galley of Victoria returned to its original library home briefly, occupying the Russell Street halls.
In 1999, the reading room closed to allow for renovation, when the skylights were reinstated.
In 2003, the renamed La Trobe Reading Room was reopened.
In February 2010, the southern wing of the library, along Little Lonsdale Street, was reopened as the Wheeler Centre, part of Melbourne’s city of literature
In 2006, a statue of Charles La Trobe, by Australian sculptor Peter Corlett, was installed in the north east corner of the lawn.
In 2015, better meet the changing needs of the community, the Library embarked on a five-year, $88.1 million redevelopment project (Vision 2020), designed by Danish architectural firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Australian architecture and design studio Architectus, to transform its public spaces, programs and facilities.
On April 29, 2015, Martin Foley (Minister for Creative Industries) announced that the 2015–16 State Budget would provide $55.4 million towards the redevelopment of State Library Victoria, including the restoration of the Queen’s Hall, the creation of a rooftop garden terrace, a dedicated children’s and youth space, and the opening up 40% more of the building to the public.
In late 2017, the library’s contribution of $27 million from donations was eventually raised.
In September 2018, the main Swanston Street entrance was temporarily closed and replaced by the newly refurbished Russell Street and La Trobe Street entrances.

Check out “Shrine of Remembrance” and “Royal Exhibition Building“

Grace exploring Victoria Gallery

Upon entry, the first area we visited was the newly refurbished Victoria Gallery. The interactive Velvet, Iron, Ashes exhibition, opened on October 24, 2019, was ongoing (until July 12, 2020).

Centenary of Victoria Costume

Its showcases more than 200 items from the Library’s own collection plus additions from other major institutions and private collections. The exhibition was open to all ages and free to attend.

Ned Kelly’s Armor

Here, we learned some illustrious stories about Ned Kelly, the Ashes Urn (exclusively loaned from Marylebone Cricket Club in London and displayed from November 2019 until February 2020), Yallourn Power Station and even Nappie Wash, how fairy floss is linked to fancy dress, how the Freddo the Frog is tied to one of the greatest air races in history, and what the Ashes Urn and Ned Kelly’s armor have in common.

Map-O-Matic device in the foreground

A retro-style Map-o-Matic device, which allows visitors to print out a map, opened up a world of storytelling to a new generation of Victorians.

North Rotunda

At the North Rotunda are exhibits (September 2, 2019-September 2, 2020) of a selection of the Library’s 21st-century paintings, by living Australian artists, of Melbourne cityscapes.

Across the city, Rick Amor’s work, shows distant views of the city from remote hills, the Yarra River and docklands, and across rooftops. Abstracted views of urban sites and landmarks, which provoke reflection on our interaction with the built environment, are presented by Tony Lloyd’s Skystone, William Mackinnon’s Exit and Louise Forthun’s Toffee and Ice.

Exit (William Mackinnon)

Toffee and Ice (Louise Forthun)

There are also depictions of Melbourne’s hallowed sporting grounds – Josie Kunoth Petyarre’s view of the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, the home of Australian Rules Football, Shane Jones’s Flemington Racecourse (showing the birthplace of the internationally renowned Melbourne Cup horse race), etc..

Cowen Gallery

The Cowen Gallery, refreshed In 2018, features a permanent display of more than 40 works of art from the State Library’s 2003–18 Cowen Gallery exhibition, which included colonial and modern portraits, paintings of Victorian landscapes, iconic Melbourne landmarks and artists’ impressions of events from Victoria’s history.

Black Thursday (William Strutt)

The rehung exhibition includes a greater representation of 20th-century artists such as Eric Thake, Arthur Boyd, Fred Williams and Juan Davila. The northern end of the room is framed by William Strutt’s Black Thursday February 6th, 1851 (1864) and Juan Davila’s Churchill National Park (2009) while the southern end of the room features Reinhold Hofmann’s Melbourne 1836 (c. 1886) and Jan Senbergs’ Melbourne 1998-99 which explores the city and urbanization.

Churchill National Park (Juan Davila)

The adjacent Blue and Red Rotundas house portraits and busts of Victorians.

Redmond Barry Reading Room

The Redmond Barry Reading Room, at the eastern end of the Library, is easily the busiest room during pre-exam period in Victoria. It houses a contemporary collection of books, magazines, and periodicals. The center of the room has internet-enabled computers and shared desks while the mezzanine has folio-size books and more independent study desks. The ceiling has glass panels.

The Heritage Collections Reading Room (HCRR), though it does not hold any collections (save for map bags consisting of copies of maps of Metropolitan Melbourne, between the 1800s to 1900s), is a place to view heritage collection materials. Entry here is by appointment (however, no appointment is required to see the maps). It has 14 historical pendant lamps hanging off the ceiling plus a detailed ceramic embossed wall and ceiling.

The Heritage Collections Reading Room

The Arts Collection Reading Room, built in a courtyard (hence the angular shape of the room), maintains an extensive, world-class collection of books, periodicals, recordings and other materials pertaining to art, music and the performing arts. The main room, housing computer workstations (which provide access to the Library’s catalog, databases and the web), reading tables, laser printer, photocopier and a microfiche reader, also has an audio visual room and listening posts.

The Herald and Weekly Times Newspaper Reading Room

The Genealogy Reading Room, located in one of the courtyards, has an extensive collection of microfilms and microfiche, printed references, databases, and biographies. There are many facilities available such as computers and a laser printer.

The Herald and Weekly Times Newspaper Reading Room

The Newspaper Reading Room, located in one of the courtyards, keeps three months’ worth of physical copies of Victorian newspapers; holds microfilm of Victorian, interstate, and some international newspapers; and has modern microfilm and scanner readers (enabling patrons to save images of newspapers to USB memory stick) and facilities to help with research.

La Trobe Reading Room

Our visit to the library was highlighted by the landmark La Trobe Reading Room (formerly the Domed Reading Room). Designed by Norman G. Peebles of Bates Smart, it houses the Library’s Australiana collection, previously in the 1965 La Trobe Building annex.

The dome and its oculus

Its octagonal space, designed to hold over a million books and up to 600 readers, is 34.75 m. in both diameter and height, and its oculus is nearly 5 m. wide. The balconies overlooking the beautiful La Trobe Reading Room have now been transformed into exhibition areas.

Jandy and Grace at The Changing Face of Victoria exhibit

At the Changing Face of Victoria, in the Dome Galleries, Level 5, we explored the state’s history, discovering the people, places and events that have shaped Victoria.

Here, we encountered explorers, gain insights into life on the goldfields, and explore life in Victoria in the 20th and 21st centuries from Bells Beach to Black Saturday. Twice yearly, new items and stories are added to this exhibition, revealing different aspects of the Library’s historic collection.

Death Mask of Ned Kelly

Just one level below is the World of the Book, Australia’s largest exhibition dedicated to books that celebrates the unique place books have in our hearts and minds. This one-of-a-kind exhibition showcased the history of book design, production and illustration, from the Middle Ages to today.

World of the Book

Here, we saw rare medieval manuscripts and sacred texts, magnificent natural history and botanical illustration, stunning modern artist books and fine press editions, as well as pioneering Australian classics, children’s books, graphic novels and comics.

Australian Gothic – Picnic at Hanging Rock

The Books and Ideas section exhibits medieval manuscripts and early printed books; sacred texts from around the world and from different religious traditions;, key works of astronomy, and a special display exploring the historical “restricted books” section of the State Library Victoria.

Religions of the Book

The Books and imagination section displays famous works from the literary canon, including the Second Folio of William Shakespeare’s plays (1632); modernist masterpieces by Virginia Woolf, countercultural classics from the New Journalism group of American writers; the writings of Australian author Gerald Murnane, and 1960s Western pulp fiction.

Pulp Fiction

The Exploring the World section features atlases, maps and travel journals from European voyages of discovery, from the 16th century onwards, with a special focus on mythical animals and costumes of the world; and richly illustrated works of natural history, including a special display called “The Mystery of the Missing Beetles,” a detective story uniting the collections of this library and Museums Victoria.

Recording Nature

The Art and Nature section displays botanical art and landscape design from the 16th century to today, with a special focus on the work of female Australian botanical artists.

The John Emmerson Collection

The Artist and Books section includes fine bindings from the John Emmerson Collection, Japanese woodblock printed books about textiles, glamorous Art Deco graphic design, contemporary Australian photo books, and archival material from the Wayzgoose Press Archive, an Australian fine press.

The Art of the Book in Japan

The South Rotunda (formerly Blue Rotunda), built in 1928, is an intimate gallery space that was formerly part of the McArthur Gallery (now the Newspapers and Family History Reading Rooms), linking to the Cowen Gallery. It hosts small exhibitions and provides access to both the Heritage Collections Reading Room and the Newspapers and Family History Reading Rooms.

South Rotunda

The current exhibition during our visit was Peter Wille: Out Driving, a photographic survey of Melbourne’s modernist architecture from the 1950s and ’60s. Wille amassed a collection of more than 6,000 color photographs of Melbourne’s architectural wonders throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

The exhibition includes works by groundbreaking architects Robin Boyd, Peter McIntyre, Kevin Borland, and John and Phillis Murphy. The exhibit runs from December 1, 2018 – April 30, 2020.

State Library Victoria: 328 Swanton St., Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. Tel: 8664 7000. E-mail: inquiries@slv.vic.gov.au. Website: www.slv.vic.gov.au. Open Mondays to Thursdays, 10 AM – 9 PM, and Fridays to Sundays, 10 AM – 6 PM. Closed Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 2 November, 2019 by Benjie Layug — 3 Comments ↓

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

The first and only mass we attended in Melbourne was, fittingly, at the Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of St. Patrick (colloquially St. Patrick’s Cathedral), near Fitzroy Park, located on Eastern Hill, in an area bounded by Albert Street, Gisborne Street, Lansdowne Street and Cathedral Place. Just to the east, across Gisborne Street is St Peter’s Church, the Anglican parish church of Melbourne constructed from 1846 to 1848.

Check out “Fitzroy Park”

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the cathedral:

Although its 103.6-m. (340 ft.) length is marginally shorter than that of St Mary’s Cathedral (Sydney), St Patrick’s has the distinction of being both the tallest and, overall, the largest church building in Australia.
It the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and seat of its archbishop (currently Peter Comensoli).
Since the Catholic community of Melbourne was, at the time of it construction, almost entirely Irish, the cathedral was dedicated to St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
William Wardell, Melbourne’s foremost ecclesiastical architect, was commissioned to prepare plans for the cathedral. A remarkably ambitious and capable architect, he went on to design the second St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney in a similar style, even larger than St Patrick’s, but with a completely English square East End.
St Patrick’s Cathedral was one of the two largest churches (the other is St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, United States) brought to substantial completion anywhere in the world in the 19th century.
The bells of the cathedral are unusual in that they were cast unturned (they ring anti-clockwise instead of clockwise) and are thought to be the only ring of eight bells cast by John Murphy of Dublin which are still in operation today.
The 1992 – 1997 restoration works were awarded the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (Victorian Chapter) John George Knight Award for Heritage Architecture 1996.
One of the gargoyles, restored by the masonry team, was modeled on the then-Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett as the previous gargoyle apparently had striking similarities.

Check out “St. Patrick’s Cathedral (New York City)”

The Geometric Decorated Gothic-style facade

The cathedral, planned is in the style of a Latin cross, is built on a traditional east–west axis, with the altar at the eastern end (symbolizing belief in the resurrection of Christ).

The cathedral interior

It consists of a nave with side aisles, transepts with side aisles, seven chapels grouped in a semicircle around the central sanctuary, and sacristies. It was built in stages, between 1858 and 1940.

Apse: Its ceiling, vaulted in timber, has a Latin quotation from the book of Revelations carved around the base

Here is the historical timeline of the cathedral:

In 1848, negotiations with the colonial government for the grant of five acres of land for a church in the Eastern Hill area began.
On April 1, 1851, only 16 years after the foundation of Melbourne, the Colonial Secretary of Victoria finally granted the site to the Roman Catholic Church. Augustinian friar James Goold, the first bishop of Melbourne and the fourth bishop in Australia (after Sydney, Hobart and Adelaide) decided to build his cathedral on the Eastern Hill site.
In 1851-1852, when Bishop Goold visited Europe, he bought a peal of eight bells for £500 (with some records showing that it cost £700) for the cathedral.
In 1853, the bells arrived in Australia
On December 8, 1858, William Wardell was commissioned to plan the cathedral and that same year, its foundation stone was laid and building commenced. An earlier building, by stonemason David Mitchell (father of operatic soprano Nellie Melba and later partner of John Monash), was demolished for the cathedral.
On November 29,1868, the bells, hung in a low frame at ground level in the western aisle, were consecrated by Bishop Goold in a service attended by around 5,000 people. The bells were eventually hung at the south-eastern tower.
Before 1868, the original front entrance, with a double-arched doorway and a pillar dividing it, was removed.
In 1869, the nave and aisles were opened.
In 1871, the ringers of St Patrick’s began the custom of ringing in the New Year.
By the 1880s, St Patrick’s Cathedral became the leading tower for Australian change ringing.
In 1891, a severe depression which hit Melbourne further delayed the construction.
On May 30, 1891, the statue of Catholic emancipator Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847) by sculptor Sir Thomas Brock, was erected by public subscription and unveiled.
In 1897, under the leadership of Archbishop Thomas Carr, the remainder of the cathedral itself and the sacristy were completed and consecrated.
In 1914, the bells were rung for the requiem mass of Pope Pius X
In the late 1930s, Daniel Mannix (Archbishop of Melbourne in 1917) oversaw the addition of the spires and other elements.
From 1936-40, the spires (higher than Wardell originally intended) and confessional were added and the west door rebuilt.
In 1939, the building was officially completed.
By 1959, the belfry fell into disrepair and the bells became unringable.
In 1974, Pope Paul VI conferred the title and dignity of minor basilica on it.
In 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral and addressed clergy during his Papal Visit.
In 1988, as the major Victorian project among Bicentennial bell restorations, the cathedral’s peal was sent to Eayre and Smith Bell foundry in England.
On December 8,1988, the peals and an added ninth bell (Angelus bell), was consecrated. An electronic chiming mechanism was also installed, at this time, for all the bells with the original manual method retained in order to replicate how the bells would have sounded if they were rung by hand.
From 1992 till 1997 (the centenary of its consecration), the cathedral was closed and significant restoration and conservation works were undertaken under the guidance of Falkinger Andronas Architects and Heritage Consultants. Funds were contributed by the federal and Victorian governments, corporate and philanthropic donors and the community of Melbourne. Nothing was added to the main building.
From 1996-97, the organ was refurbished for the centenary of the cathedral.
In March 1999, the statue of Dr. Daniel Mannix (long-serving former Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne) by English sculptor Nigel Boonham, was unveiled.

Central Sanctuary

The cathedral, designed specifically in the Geometric Decorated Gothic style, in response to the revival of Gothic architecture (as promoted by Augustus Welby Pugin and others as the most appropriate for the building of churches), was based on the great medieval cathedrals of England.

West Wall

This style is at its most complex in the large west window of the nave.

South Transept

North Transept: its north wall shows four of the Stations of the Cross

The eastern arm, with its chevet of radiating chapels in the French manner, is still principally in the English Gothic style of the late Thirteenth Century (giving the most complete essay attempted in that style during the Nineteenth Century).

Blessed Sacrament Chapel: located closest to the North Transept, its altar reredos has two mosaics depicting the “Sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac” and of “Abraham and Melchisedech.” The tabernacle, made in 1900, features a pelican ( a symbol of Christ) motif, representing the Eucharist.

Sacred Heart Chapel: Originally designated to be the organ and choir gallery, this chapel, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (after the arrival of a Sacred Heart statue from Germany in 1874), has a Sacred Heart statue in the center of reredos and surrounded by relief carvings of the Nativity and the Last Supper. Below are carvings of “The Crowning with Thorns” and “The Agony in the Garden” and a carved inscription “Cor Jesus, Thronus Misericordiae” (Heart of Jesus, Throne of Mercy). The altar is made of alabaster. Its frontal features carvings of Jesus before Pilate and the scourging at the pillar. The tabernacle door is inscribed with the words ‘Cor Jesus, Salue in Te sperantium’ (Heart of Jesus, Salvation of those who hope in Thee).

The massive cathedral, made with bluestone (sourced from basalt deposits in nearby Footscray) and sandstone, is 103.6 m. (340 ft.) long on its long axis, 56.4 m. (185 ft.) wide across the transepts and 25.3 m. (83 ft.) wide across the nave.

South Aisle

The nave and transepts are 28.9 m. (95 ft.) high, the central spire 105 m. (344 ft.) high and the flanking towers and spires 61.9 m. (203 ft.) high.

St. Brigid and the Irish Saints Chapel: originally called the Chapel of the Irish Saints but later became known as the Children’s Chapel dedicated to St Brigid, children contributed to the cost of the chapel’s completion. On the archway over the chapel is inscribed a text from the 44th Psalm. The altar is constructed of alabaster, its frontal panel features small mosaics of St. Patrick and St. Columbanus. A marble statue of St. Brigid is located in the niche of the reredos. Carved images of four Irish saints (St. Dympna, St. Reyna, St. Ita and St. Bees), from the sixth and seventh centuries, are also represented in the reredos.

St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel

The 4.87 m. high and 3.65 m. wide front door has three columns, recessed and carved jambs with a Gothic arch crowned by a paneled, molded and carved gable finished with a carved cross.

Entrance doorway

Buttresses support the gables and these are topped with carved pinnacles and quatrefoil-paneled side parapets. In 1974, the original gable was replaced by a carving of the Papal Coat of Arms when Pope Paul VI conferred the title and dignity of Minor Basilica on the Cathedral.

Icon of Madonna and Child

The archway, filled with a bronze tracery grill, features St. Patrick, with St. Brigid and St. Columba on either side. In the space between and above are the monograms of the Holy Name (IHS) and of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM).

Archbishop’s Memorial: located in the northern transept, plaques here commemorating Melbourne’s Archbishops, James Alpha Goold (1848 –1866), Thomas Joseph Carr (1886–1917), Daniel Mannix (1917–1963), Justin Daniel Simonds (1963–1967) and James Cardinal Knox (1967–1974). Archbishops Mannix and Simmonds and Cardinal Knox are buried in the vault beneath the floor of this transept.

It also features four angels and eight shields bearing symbols of the Old and the New Testaments: Noah’s Ark, the brazen serpent and the instruments of the Passion, the chalice and host, and Christ as the Lamb.

Statue of St. Mary MacKillop

The Lady Chapel: located directly behind the high altar, its foundation stone was laid by Archbishop Goold on September 8, 1879. Made of English red and white alabaster, its altar is 4.11 m. high and 2.36 m. wide and its front has three ornamented panels, in the center, a mosaic of the monogram of Our Lady with slightly smaller mosaic of Star of the Sea and of the Tower of David, titles given to Our Lady, on either side. The reredos have a molded canopied niche that features a marble statue of Our Lady with the title of Regina Coeli (“Queen of Heaven”). The panels, on either side of the reredos, have mosaics depicting the “Nativity of Our Lord” and “The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin.” Above the reredos are the words: “Mater Salvatoris, ora pro nobis” (“Mother of the Savior pray for us”).

On the panels of the gates of the grill are the coats of arms of Pope Pius XII (who was the reigning pontiff when the additions were installed) and of the first three archbishops of Melbourne.

Holy Soul’s Chapel: Originally known as the Mortuary Chapel, this chapel was dedicated to the memory of Archbishop Goold (who laid the first stone in 1880) who is buried beneath the chapel (a brass memorial plaque marks his resting place). On June 9, 1888, the first Mass in the newly finished chapel was offered by Archbishop Carr for the repose of the soul of his predecessor.

The majority of stained glass in the cathedral was done by Hardman of Birmingham, with two windows by Mayer of Munich and one by Montgomery.

Stained Glass Windows: Located in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, they depict “The Sacrifice of Melchizedech” and “The Last Supper.” Made in Munich for the 1881 Melbourne International Exhibition, they were purchased by Archbishop Goold.

The stenciling and painting of the sanctuary was done by Charles Firth, the carved altars by Farmer and Brindley, and the throne, credence tables, bishop’s chair and confessionals carved by C N Bell. The intended wall mosaics and paintings were not completed.

Painting of St. Ambrose: Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as St. Ambrose, was one of the four original doctors of the Church. He was born in Trier in 337 AD and died in Milan in 397 AD. St. Ambrose was an archbishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century.

Painting of St. Augustine: On a column near the baptistery, this painting shows St Augustine with quill in hand.

The cathedral’s original pipe organ, built in the late 1870s by Robert Mackenzie to serve the liturgical needs of the cathedral (the organ is also occasionally used for recitals and recordings), was completed in 1880 by George Fincham.

Pipe Organ: built by George Fincham & Sons, Melbourne in 1962-64, it incorporates a substantial part of the instrument built in the west gallery of the cathedral in the late 1870s by Robert Mackenzie and completed in 1880 by George Fincham. Refurbished with additions by Australian Pipe Organs, Melbourne in 1996-97, it is used for occasional recitals and recordings, as well as serving the regular liturgical needs of the cathedral. The organ has 76 speaking stops involving almost 5000 pipes, 24 Spanish trumpets, and a four manual console.

The current installation in the west gallery of the cathedral, built by George Fincham & Sons, Melbourne, from 1962 – 1964, incorporates a substantial part of the original. It comprises 81 speaking stops (some dated to 1880 or 1896, when the instrument was enlarged) spread over four manuals and pedals.

Baptismal Font: located in the northwest corner of the nave, it is made of soapstone and features symbolic representations of graces received through baptism. At the foot of the font are various grotesques, representing the devils cast out by baptism. A 17th century painting of “The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple” forms a backdrop.

The peal of eight bells, all cast by John Murphy of Dublin in 1852 and bearing the coat of arms of Bishop Goold, are in F natural, with the tenor weighing 12 long cwt 1 qr 10 lb (1,382 lbs. or 627 kgs.) and the treble 4 long cwt 12 qr 14 lb (798 lbs. or 362 kgs.). The peal set weights around 3,556 kgs. (7,840 lbs.).

Statue of Archbishop Daniel Mannix: this larger-than-life statue, sculpted by Nigel Bonnham, watches over the area in front of the cathedral’s main west entrance. It was during the his reign that the cathedral was finished. The three towers and spires were enlarged and completed in 1939, to the design of Conolly and Vanheems, to commemorate the centenary of Catholicism in Melbourne.

Statue of Daniel O’Connell: located around the north side, O’Connell is often referred to as The Liberator or The Emancipator, and was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century. He campaigned for Catholic Emancipation, including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament, denied for over 100 years, and repeal of the Act of Union which combined Great Britain and Ireland.

The Cathedral Shop, located adjacent to the Presbytery Office, offers a wide range of souvenirs, gifts, CDs, handcrafted items, rosary beads, fine cards and more.

Bust of Fr. George Preca. St. George Preca (1880 – 1962) was a Maltese Roamn Catholic priest and the founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine as well as a Third Order Carmelite. He is known as “Dun Ġorġ” in Maltese and Pope John Paul II dubbed him as the “Second Apostle of Malta.” Pope Pius XII, in 1952, titled him as a Monsignor despite his uneasiness about it. He had assumed the religious name of “Franco” after becoming a Secular Carmelite.

St. Patrick’s Pilgrim Path, a wide path to the south transept door on the southern approach to the cathedral, is divided by a delightful flow of water over a sequence of small drops. Created by Green and Dale Landscape Architects, its central concept is that of flowing water which cascades down the channel that divides the two sides of the stepped pathways that progress up the incline.

Gospel of St. John 4.14

Psalms of David 23

Salutary selections of quotations, cut with gold inlays into a number of blue stone structures, features quotations from James McAuley (one of Australia’s great poets), Gospel of St. John 4.14 (1st Century AD) and from Psalms of David 23.

Quotation from James McAuley

A giant bronze bowl, the origin of the water supply, contains a submerged golden image of “The Lamb.” Water here cascades in three directions onto the seven-stepped structure below. Around the bowl’s rim are inscribed verses from the Book of Apocalypse.

Bronze bowl with submerged image of The Lamb

Verses from the Book of Apocalype

Around the path are statues of St. Francis of Assisi (c 1181-1226) and St. Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380), both sculpted by Louis Lauman, a Melbourne based artist.

Statue of St. Catherine of Siena: Located opposite the statue of St Francis, it depicts Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380) holding up a crown of thorns. Sculpted by the Melbourne – based artist Louis Lauman.

Statue of St. Francis of Assisi: this Italian Catholic friar and preacher founded the men’s Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis for men and women not able to live the lives of itinerant preachers followed by the early members of the Order of Friars Minor or the monastic lives of the Poor Clares. Though he was never ordained to the Catholic priesthood, St. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.

These were blessed and dedicated by Archbishop George Pell on December 17, 2000 in the presence of Sir James Gobbo, the Governor of Victoria, and his wife, Lady Gobbo.

Jandy and Grace at the Pilgrim Path

Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of St. Patrick: 1 Cathedral Place, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia. Tel: 9662 2332. E-mail: cathedral@cam.org.au. Open Mondays to Fridays, 9 AM – 5 PM. Masses: Saturday – 8 AM, 6 PM (Vigil), Sundays – 8 AM, 9.30 AM, 11 AM (Solemn Mass), 6.30 PM, Weekdays – 7 AM, 1 PM. The Cathedral Shop is open Mondays to Fridays, 9.30 AM to 4.30 PM, and Sundays, 8.30 AM to 1 PM.

Parliament Garden Reserve (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 2 November, 2019 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Parliament Garden Reserve

This small triangular park, beside Parliament House and Spring and Albert Streets, is a pleasant respite at the Spring Street end of town, with views of the Royal Parliamentary House, the Old Synagogue, Eastern Hill and St Patrick’s Cathedral. This grassed reserve, originally part of the Parliament House grounds, is enclosed by a wrought iron fence and surrounded by majestic palm trees and lush foliage. Here, it’s very easy to forget that you’re literally in the city center.

Check out “Royal Parliamentary House“

Garden entrance

One of the garden’s main features is a life-size memorial in bronze, created by Louis Laumen, to Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls (the pastor of Australia’s first Aboriginal Church of Christ, he is the first aboriginal person to be knighted in 1972) and Lady Gladys Nicholls (Australia Aboriginal activist). Two of Australia’s most prominent indigenous leaders and traditional owners, it reminds visitors of their contribution to aboriginal welfare.

Pastor Sir Douglas and Lady Gladys Nicholls Memorial

Memorial plaque

The unusual Coles Fountain, a gift from the G.J. Coles Co., Ltd., a retailing company, was opened on November 27, 1981 by premier of Victoria L.H.S. Thomson. A pleasant experience on a hot Melbourne day, you can walk inside the curtains of cascading water, cool off in the spray and not get soaked (not unless you want to anyway).

Bryan, Cheska and Kyle at The Coles Fountain

Made of stainless steel on bluestone paving, this series of cascading fountains resemble water balloons in full blast. In 2011, it was refurbished to use recycled water (in the past, it drew water from the city’s mains), an initiative of Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle.

Parliament Garden Reserve: 489-531 Albert Street, East Melbourne Victoria 3002.

World Heritage Environs Area Precinct (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 2 November, 2019 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Rows of terrace houses along Nicholson Street

Nicholson Street is home to several Melbourne landmarks including Parliament House and the Princess Theatre, at its southern terminus, and the Royal Exhibition Building (REB) and the Melbourne Museum, both in Carlton Gardens, just to the north. Adjacent to the REB and Carlton Gardens is the World Heritage Environs Area Precinct (WHEA), a precinct is of architectural and aesthetic significance as it retains substantially intact nineteenth century streetscapes, particularly on Nicholson Street (north of Gertrude Street), the south side of Gertrude Street, Carlton Street, and Rathdowne Street north of Pelham Street.

Check out “Royal Exhibition Building,” “Melbourne Museum” and “Carlton Gardens”

It incorporates important and intact areas of residential, commercial and institutional development within the early Melbourne suburbs of Carlton and Fitzroy, and institutional development in the northern area of Melbourne’s Central Business District.

The precinct is home to a number of terrace rows dating from the later nineteenth century. Melbourne’s flat terrain has produced regular terraced house patterns and the generic Melbourne style of terrace is distinguishable from other regional variations.

Many Melbourne terraces, featuring a unique style of polychrome brickwork heavily influenced by the early work of local architect Joseph Reed, are often highly detailed (though in many terraces this distinctive feature has been later painted or rendered over, although some have since been sandblasted or stripped back), incorporating decorative cast iron (Melbourne has more decorative cast iron than any other city in the world) balconies (of the filigree style).

Rather than built to the property line, Melbourne-style terrace houses are often set back from the street, providing a small front yard with decorative cast-iron fencing, regularly dispersed with rendered brick piers. The party wall of the end terraces would, sometimes, but not always, extend to the property line to join the fence.

Due to their proximity to the CBD, terraced houses in Melbourne are highly sought after and are often expensive, much like terraces in New York City.

The Royal Terrace (50–68 Nicholson Street Fitzroy, VHR H0172), the oldest surviving complete row and one of the largest and best known early terrace building surviving in Melbourne, was started in 1853 and completed in 1857, three years after the Glass Terrace (72–74 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, 1853–54), the earliest surviving terraced house in the city.

Royal Terrace

This row of ten completely intact terrace houses, erected by the Bryant family (who also maintained a residence at No. 68) to a unique design attributed to colonial artist John Gill, epitomizes early terrace house design in Melbourne with its austere classical decoration, simple composition, and extensive use of bluestone. It has housed notable figures such as politician and three-times Premier John O ‘Shanassy, and artist Nicholas Chevalier.

At the national level, it is significant for architectural and historical reasons as the most important terrace in Melbourne. An outstanding feature of the Nicholson Street precinct, it complements the nationally significant Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens located opposite. Although modified over time, the flagstone paving, at the footpath in front of the terraces, is important as one of the few remaining examples of this once common 19th century paving in inner Melbourne. Laid when the terraces were built, it is perhaps the oldest such example.

Grantown House (82 Nicholson Street, c. mid-1850s) and Osborne House (40 Nicholson Street, c. 1850, VHR H1607) are significant examples of mid-nineteenth century residential development, and are also prominent buildings within the streetscape.

Grantown House

The two-storey Grantown House, an outstanding example of Victorian terrace house architecture and of considerable importance in the Nicholson Street streetscape, is of considerable interest for its unusual veranda joinery, very fine cast iron decoration, very elaborate door joinery, grand and richly detailed cast iron fence and the way in which the different eras of construction (the 1850s and the 1870s) are visible in the ornate façade.

Exhibiting notable creative and technical achievement, elaborate decoration are seen at the four urns on the piered and balustraded parapet, urns to the veranda walls, a row of bearded masks under the pediment, four delicate iron lace balconies under the top-floor windows and arched iron decoration to the two-storey verandas (a mixture of timber and iron). The columns and the spirals that edge them are timber. Although decaying, it still has elegance and presence amid the cracks, peeling paint and soot. It is currently a boarding house.

Osborne House

Osborne House, the oldest documented dwelling in this municipality and one of the oldest surviving in Melbourne, is a rare example of the Regency town house in Victoria. Its central section erected in 1850 by builder William Pelling for wealthy squatter John MacPherson, was acquired in 1887 by Melbourne merchant and speculator George Nipper who converted this private residence to a boarding house (operated for 93 years) via the construction of two flanking three storey wings with encircling iron verandas. The additions of this establishment (named Osborne House in the Jubilee Year of Victoria’s reign) are in the conservative Classical mode.

This notable brick structure, part of an important early Melbourne precinct which includes nearby ‘Royal Terrace and the Carlton Gardens, is essentially intact although minor alterations have been made to partition rooms or enclose external verandas. It had a variety of distinguished tenants including John A. MacPherson, Premier of Victoria in 1869 – 70. Although the work is not positively attributed to important Melbourne architect Charles Webb, the transformation of 1887 is a characteristic work of his.

Other notable terrace houses within the precinct include Dalmeny House (21 Queensberry Street, c. 1888, VHR H0525), Cramond House (23 Queensberry Street, c. 1888, VHR H0482), the two-storey Elsmere Terrace (70 Drummond Street, 1882), Elim House (18-20 Carlton Street), Annie Villa (22-24 Carlton Street) and Canning Terrace (46-50 Carlton Street).

Academy of Mary Immaculate

World Heritage Environs Area Precinct includes a number of key heritage buildings from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some of which are landmarks in their own right. They include the Cable Tram Engine House, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Royal Society of Victoria Building, the Convent of Mercy, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Academy of Mary Immaculate Chapel.

Memorial chapel

The Academy of Mary Immaculate (88 Nicholson Street), the oldest Catholic school in Victoria, was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1857. It has a collection of largely intact, elegant 19th century religious buildings, including two almost identical regency houses (erected in 1850 to designs by architects Newson and Blackburn for John Watson and Edward Wight, merchants in partnership), some of the earliest stone houses in Melbourne. Its sandstone memorial chapel, on the corner of Palmer and Nicholson Streets, was built in memory of Mother Ursula Frayne and dedicated on March 26, 1889. It was designed by Reed Smart and Tappin (also responsible for the Convent of the Good Shepherd in Abbotsford).

Cable Tram Engine House

The former Cable Tram Engine House (1021-1029 Rathdowne Street and 440 Park Street Carlton North, Yarra City), built in 1889, consists of the brick engine house (designed by MTT architect Robert Gordon) built for the Melbourne Tramways Trust (MTT), located on the corner of Rathdowne and Park Streets, and the neighboring unadorned, utilitarian brick car shed (designed by architect Frederick Williams) built for the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company (MT&OC)

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

The monumental Greek Revival-style Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Building (250-290 Spring Street and 2-40 Victoria Parade, VHR No. H0870), designed by architects Leighton Irwin and Roy Stevenson and built by J.C. Taylor, was opened in 1935. The east and west wings to the rear were added in 1963.

Royal Exhibition Building (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 2 November, 2019 by Benjie Layug — 6 Comments ↓

Royal Exhibition Building

We took a break from our tour of the Melbourne Museum and proceeded to the foyer, with other tourists, to meet up with our guide for the 2 PM tour of the adjacent Royal Exhibition Building (“the REB”), the largest item in Museum Victoria’s collection. It was drizzling when we crossed over to the other side.The building, sitting on 64 acres at the north-eastern edge of the central business district, is 150 m. long and is flanked by Victoria, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets. When we arrived, the Great Hall was being set up for a scheduled exam, with desks being arranged.

Check out “Melbourne Museum” and “Carlton Gardens”

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this building:

It is the first building in Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, being one of the last remaining major 19th-century exhibition buildings in the world.
The building is the largest design of Reed and Barnes Architecture.
When electric lighting was installed in 1888 for the Centennial International Exhibition, it became one of the first in the world that was accessible during night time.
It is the world’s most complete surviving site from the International Exhibition movement 1851–1914
The building is one of the world’s oldest remaining exhibition pavilions
When it was built, the Great Hall was the largest building in Australia, and the highest building in Melbourne.

Plaque Commemorating the Laying of the Foundation Stone

This building, built in 1879-80 as part of the international exhibition movement (between 1851 and 1915, it presented over 50 exhibitions around the globe), is representative of the money and pride Victoria had in the 1870s.

Plaque Commemorating the Centenary of the Melbourne Museum

Designed by architect Joseph Reed of Reed and Barnes Architecture (they also designed the Melbourne Town Hall, the State Library of Victoria and the Baroque style gardens), the Royal Exhibition Building is composed of brick, timber, steel and slate.

The building’s soaring dome

Its soaring dome was modeled on Brunelleschi’s dome at the 15^th century Florence Cathedral while the main pavilions were influenced by the style of Rundbogenstil (a round-arched architectural style combining elements from Byzantine, Romanesque, Lombardic and Italian Renaissance buildings) and several buildings from Normandy, Caen and Paris.

The building, with the scale of the French Beaux Arts, has a Latin cross-shaped cruciform plan. The long, nave-like wings are symmetrically placed east-west about the central dome with a shorter wing to the north.

Grace and Jandy in front of the building

The building consists of a Great Hall, of over 12,000 sq. m., flanked by lower annexes to the north on the east and west sides, and many temporary galleries between. The Great Hall, still in beautiful condition, is crowned by an octagonal drum and dome.

The Great Hall

The dome, rising 68 m. and 18.3 m. across, has a double shell and was formed using a cast iron and timber frame. There was a viewing platform around the dome that allowed visitors to survey the progress of the booming city. Windows in the drum of the dome, at the crossing, bring in sunlight for a bright open space.

Our tour guide

The sober interior, painted in the color scheme of 1901, has murals. The great dome, painted to represent the sky, has the words (surviving from 1888) “Victoria Welcomes All Nations” underneath plus four mottos suitable for a new nation: Dei gracia (“By the Grace of God”), Carpe diem (“Seize the Day”), Aude sapere (“Dare to be Wise”) and Benigno numine (“With Benign Power”). A frieze shows the products of agriculture and hints at the wealth of the new nation.

Pendentive: Hercules

Pendentive: Venus

At the pendentives are the mythological figures of Hercules, Venus, Mars and Mercury while on the arches are lunettes (half-moon shaped spaces where the arches meet cornices) rich with allegorical symbolism representing The Arts Applied to Peace in the north, The Arts Applied to War in the south, Federation (showing Britannia welcoming the six federated states as young women) at the west and Government (showings Knowledge enthroned, surrounded by figures representing the arts, education and defense) in the east.

Lunette: Arts Applied to Peace (North)

Lunette: Government (East)

Eight women, in draped costumes, symbolize the Four Seasons, Night and Morning, and Justice and Truth. Under the dome are plaster heads (including an Indigenous Australian, a Chinese man, and an Indian) from the first decorative scheme of 1880.

Lunette: Arts Applied to War (South)

Lunette: Federation (West)

Throughout the 20th century, smaller sections and wings of the building were subject to demolition and fire. However, the main building, known as the Great Hall, survived.

Justice

Throughout the 1990s and in 2004, it received restoration. Renovations include the timber flooring, building services, externals, and stonework. For safety, most timber staircases have been replaced by concrete. Through all renovations though, the site has continued to be very authentic.

Truth

Here is the historical timeline of the building:

On December 1877, a completion was announced for the design of a suitable building for Melbourne’s proposed international exhibition. Eighteen entries were received and the winner was Joseph Reed
On February 19, 1879, the foundation stone was laid by Victorian governor George Bowen.
Built by David Mitchell (who also built Scots’ Churchand St Patrick’s Cathedral), it was completed in just 18 months.
On October 1, 1880, it was opened by the Marquess of Normanby, the governor, the Melbourne International Exhibition. The walls then were left bare and windows and door joinery colored green.
In 1885, an aquarium, museum and picture gallery was opened at eastern annex of the Exhibition Building.
On August 1, 1888, the building hosted the Centennial International Exhibition celebrating a century of European settlement in Australia. Its decoration was by interior designer John Ross Anderson (also known for the interior design of the ANZ ‘Gothic’ Bank) and the walls were painted for the first time. The exhibition closed on January 31, 1889.
On May 9, 1901, following the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on January 1, the formal opening of the first Parliament of Australia, witnessed by the Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V) and 12,000 guests, was held there. After the official opening, the Federal Parliament moved to the Victorian State Parliament House. For the next 26 years, Victorian Parliament moved to the Exhibition Building.
In 1902, the building hosted the Australian Federal International Exhibition.
On February 4, 1919, the Exhibition Building was turned into a hospital to treat Melburnians struck down by the Spanish flu.
In 1948, via a vote by members of the Melbourne City Council, it was narrowly decided not to demolish the building.
In 1953, the wing of the building which once housed Melbourne Aquariumburnt down.
In 1956, it was a venue for the 1956 Summer Olympics, hosting the basketball, weightlifting, wrestling, and the fencing part of the modern pentathlon
In the 1970s, the western annex was demolished.
In 1979, the grand ballroom, the last remaining original annex, was demolished amid controversy.
On October 1, 1980 during a visit to Victoria, Princess Alexandraof Kent unveiled a plaque which commemorated both the opening of the new mirror-glass “Centennial Hall” (which replaced the grand ballroom) and the centenary of the building. She also unveiled a second plaque commemorating the bestowal of the title “Royal” on the building by Her Majesty the Queen.
In 1987, the first conservation assessment of the building was undertaken by Alan Willingham.
On July 1, 2004, the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens was granted listing as a World Heritage Site. The heritage listing states that “The Royal Exhibition Building is the only major extant nineteenth-century exhibition building in Australia. It is one of the few major nineteenth-century exhibition buildings to survive worldwide.”
In October 2009, Museum Victoria embarked upon a major project to restore the former German Garden (covered by asphalt in the 1950s for car parking) of the Western Forecourt.

Winter

Still in use today as a commercial exhibition venue, the Royal Exhibition Building hosts various exhibitions and other events on a regular basis such as the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. It is closely tied with events at the The Melbourne Museum which offers regular tours here.

The dome

The Royal Exhibition Building is also used as an exam hall for the University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne High School, Nossal High School, Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School and Suzanne Cory High School.

However, the building is no longer Melbourne’s largest commercial exhibition centre. The Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, located in Southbank to the south of the Melbourne central business district, is the modern alternative.

Royal Exhibition Building: 9 Nicholson St. cor. Victoria Parade, Carlton Gardens, Melbourne 3053, Australia. Admission (purchased at Melbourne Museum): $10 (adults), $8 (concession) and $7 (child/member). Tours may not run when the building is in use for certain events and exhibitions. Tel: 13 11 02.

Melbourne Museum (Australia)

Posted on 2 November, 2019 by Benjie Layug — 3 Comments ↓

Jandy at Melbourne Museum

The Melbourne Museum, a natural and cultural history museum axially aligned with the adjacent Italianate Royal Exhibition Building (and referencing it, along with the skyscrapers of Melbourne’s central business district, with its monumental scale and protruding vertical facets), provides a place for education, history, culture and society to engage with each other in a contemporary setting.

Check out “Royal Exhibition Building“

The museum complex

A project of the Government of Victoria (on behalf of Museums Victoria who administrates the venue), it is a rich response to Melbourne’s urban condition and is now an important part of Melbourne’s soft infrastructure.

The is located on the site of the former Melbourne Exhibition Speedway (which operated from November 5, 1928 until March 7, 1936).

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the museum:

It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere
The museum is also one of Victoria’s top 10 destinations for travelers
The museum is consistently ranked as one of the most popular museums and tourist attractions in Australia, winning ‘Best Tourist Attraction’ at the Australian Tourism Awards in 2011
Since 2016, it housed the world’s largest IMAXTheatre screen.
Melbourne Museum was one of the venues of Festival Melbourne 2006, a citywide art festival held in conjunction of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which was held in Melbourne.
During the years 2010–2011, it received 1,428,238 visitors and, for that, received the RACV Award for major tourist attraction.
During 2010–2011, Melbourne Museum’s Science and Life gallery was honored with the Large Permanent Exhibition Award due to its outstanding design and flow.

Jandy and Kyle

The Melbourne Museum, a Post-Modernist building, was designed by Denton Corker Marshall Architects, who specializes in city planning and urban design, mainly concerns their practice with responding to social desires. One of Denton Corker Marshall’s award-winning projects, the sticks and blades that make up the Melbourne Museum are hallmarks of Denton Corker Marshall’s architecture.

Its construction was managed by Baulderstone Hornibrook. Officially opened on October 21, 2000 by the Hon. Steve Bracks, the Premier of Victoria at the time, it was completed in 2001.

The museum building, arranged in an individual layout (referencing Melbourne’s iconic Hoddle Grid, which allows the importance of each component of the buildings historical, cultural and social significance to be read in loosely equal hierarchy and individuality), features a grid-like order that embraces eccentric metal clad forms extruding out and creating an irregular sculptural composition with moments of abstract color throughout the building.

The building, dissected into different spaces (so an individual can navigate through and around the building in an orthogonal manner), was designed as both a single building and a network of individual buildings integrated into the landscape of the Carlton Gardens, a large public park.

Check out “Carlton Gardens“

The two very long and very high, sloping canopies (or blades), each acting to guide visitors from the street into the museum, are the most prominent element of the building, rising up from the centrally placed entrance opposite the north door of the Royal Exhibition Building. Another larger blade-like roof, on the northern side of the building, rises up from the center to the north, a landmark of similar scale to the central Florentine dome of the Royal Exhibition building.

Beside the main entrance is a prototype, constructed in 1947, of a CAC (Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation) delivery van.

A florist delivery van called the CAC Deliverette

A 3.86 m. high statue of Mercury, modeled by sculptor and painter C. Douglas Richardson, was inspired by Giambologna‘s bronze statue, made in Florence in 1580. Made of 20 pieces of beaten copper which were riveted together and cast by W.H. Rooke of Melbourne, circa 1899, it was donated to the museum by David Syme & Co. Ltd. On April 14, 1997.

Bronze statue of Mercury

Suspended over the entrance foyer is the full scale replica of John Duigan‘s 1910 biplane (the first Australia-built airplane to fly), built by Ronald Lloyd Lewis between 1984 and 1995, and donated to the museum in 1999.

Duigan Biplane Replica

Outside the main galleries are various displays relating to Victoria’s and Australia’s history, including CSIRAC (an early computer built in Australia) and a large, articulated skeleton of a pygmy blue whale at the Main Foyer.

Skeleton of Pygmy Blue Whale

At the Upper Level Balcony are some wind turbine models. A wind turbine model, commissioned by Pacific Hydro Limited, Melbourne, circa 2001, and was made in Denmark.

Wind Tubine Model

This model, based on contemporary wind turbines that were installed in Victoria during the early 2000s, is 5.5 m. high, has a rotor diameter of 4 m. and is powered by a small electric motor. Its white pole supports 3 white slimline blades.

Another windmill model, modeled on the Baker Run-in-Oil type (“Oilbath” is painted on the vane) steel windmill (first made in 1923), was made by William McCook, 1970-1990, and was constructed from metal with a rotating wheel and vane.

Federation Tapestry. L-R: “Making Do”(2001) and “Now Exploration & Settlement Underway” (2001)

The almost 41 m. long Federation Tapestry, created by 22 artist-weavers who spent an estimated 20,000 hours at their looms) from the internationally acclaimed Victorian Tapestry Workshop (renamed the Australian Tapestry Workshop in 2010), South Melbourne, was commissioned to mark the centenary of Australia’s Federation.

L-R: “Alone in the Bush”” (Reg Mombassa, 2001) and “Ngak Ngak in Limmen Bight Country” (2001)

The images, in 10 panels, range from Aboriginal dream time legends to a solitary shepherd in the bush with his sheep and dog, from the clamor and rejoicing that marked Federation in 1901 to the enigmatic ‘Sorry’ etched across the sky above the sails of the Sydney Opera House in the year 2000.

Federation Handbells

The beautifully crafted Federation Handbells, originally commissioned by Arts Victoria for the 2001 Centenary of Federation, are the world’s first true harmonic bells. Cast in silicon bronze, each set of bells have a unique design and pitch, covering two chromatic piano octaves (from E to E). Played by striking them with a mallet, the bells can be played in the style of a xylophone by a single musician controlling a set of bells, or each musician can play one bell. Ranging in size from 120 to 180 mm. high, they have an average weight of 1kg. each.

Dinosaur Walk

The 384 sq. m. Science and Life Gallery, at the west end, showcases six exhibitions – Bugs Alive, Marine Life, Dinosaur Walk, Wild: Amazing Animals in a Changing World, 600 Million Years and Dynamic Earth

Tarbosaurus bataar

The Dinosaur Walk, one of the highlights, houses a skeleton of a Diprotodon (a giant wombat-like creature) and skeletons of 10 dinosaurs such as the Tarbosaurus (Giant meat eater, Tyrannosauridae), Mamenchisaurus (Giant sauropod), Tsintaosaurus, Hadrosaurid, Pteranodon, Gallimimus and Hypsilophodon, 3 pterosaurs, one mammal-like reptile and Australian megafauna.

Wild – Amazing Animals in a Changing World

Wild: Amazing Animals in a Changing World, a permanent exhibit, presents the fragile state of Australian biodiversity, environment, and climate through the display of more than 750 animal specimens, in a spectacular vertical array, from around the world from a natural history collection, arranged in a striking theatrical style, interactive and can be viewed from many angles. It also examines how they are affected by climate change and human activity, and what we can do to help them.

Amazing Animals of Eurasia and North America

Here, we saw the wildlife (birds, reptiles, mammals and amphibians) of Victoria’s unique environments displayed by biogeographic regions. On the panoramic navigators, we looked up each animal and saw which animals are thriving and which are merely surviving and learn what you can do to help them. We also learned about the migration of shorebirds over thousands of kilometers as they move between their feeding and nesting grounds

Sam the Koala

On permanent display in Wild are a Malleefowl nest, the Murray Cod (the Murray river’s biggest resident) and the taxidermied mount of Sam the Koala, a a female koala from the forests of Mirboo North and symbol of the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

Marine Life- Exploring Our Seas

The Marine Life: Exploring our Seas Exhibit shows the wonderful life of marine Victoria and covers how Victoria’s marine creatures use camouflage, speed, poisons and spines to evade predators. Here, we investigate underwater ecosystems, inspect animal adaptations, explore marine habitats such as stunning sponge gardens and vibrant seagrass beds, and examine sharks jaws and a giant 10 m. long squid.

10 meter long squid

The 600 Million Years: Victoria Evolves Exhibit, opened in 2010, depicts the origins of Life in Victoria through fossils, models, animatronics (such as an animatronic Qantassaurus, a small dinosaur that lived in Victoria some 120 million years ago) and animations (shows how these animals moved, ate and battled to survive). Things that can be touched include the teeth of a giant shark, the skeleton of Archaeopteryx, and a sea floor that ended up high in the Grampian Mountains.

600 Million Years – Victoria Evolves

Starting with the explosion of life in the sea, you’ll see multicellular life, extraordinary body forms that have no living ancestors today, and early forms of ancient groups like crinoids, bryozoans and cephalopods. Next, we follow the evolution of life as it moved from sea to land and then diversified into the mammals, reptiles, birds and plants we know today. We also learn about the geological processes that moved landmasses, built mountains and transformed rocks.

Deserts and Ice

Rocks and fossils show how the climate of Victoria has changed, from glacial to tropical and everything between, and the effects of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago.

Sandstone (Grampian Ranges – Silurian)

Fossils and specimens from the museum’s collections include irreplaceable skulls of giant megafauna, early whales and marsuipials long-gone from Australia’s mainland and some more prehistoric animals such as the Muttaburrasaurus, Tiktaalik and Anomalocaris.

Bugs Alive

The Bugs Alive! Exhibition, created in 2004, showcases the roles and life-cycles of the the invertebrates, a critically important animal group. It features 50 living displays with an even greater number of species.

The Melbourne Gallery, at the east end, exhibits the mounted hide of Phar Lap, a beautiful chestnut gelding and race horse that won 37 races from 51 starts in 3 years, including the Melbourne Cup, during the depression era.

Phar Lap

The Melbourne Story explores the history of Melbourne and Victoria from the time of earliest contact between white settlers and local Indigenous people during early 19th century through to present day.

Little Lon, a predominantly working class area, was characterised by a series of laneways, with small properties packed together creating crowded and unsanitary conditions.

The museum is also custodian of artifacts excavated from ‘Little Lon’ is an inner-city block in Melbourne bordered by Lonsdale, Exhibition, Little Lonsdale and Spring Streets. The city’s “Red Light District,” Little Lon was also home to the city’s poorest residents and recently arrived immigrants from Ireland, Italy, China and Syria.

Model of the SS Orcades, an ocean liner serving primarily the UK – Australia – New Zealand route

The Mind and Body Gallery, a gallery regarding the human body, is the world’s first exhibition about the mind. The “Mind: Enter the Labyrinth,” a permanent exhibition, explores how the mind works and offers ways to understand such illnesses as bipolar disorder and depression.

The Ames room is a neat illusion because it can be instantiated in real space, as has been done in numerous science museums

“Empathy booths” show videos of actors performing real-life stories prepared by SANE, a mental-health advocacy group. Among its 300 exhibits are artworks, on loan from the Cunningham Dax psychiatric art collection, which include paintings by a 16-year-old girl, completed just before she committed suicide.

Mind and Body Gallery

The Evolution Gallery, at the upper level, features the exhibition “Darwin to DNA” which shows the roles of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in developing the theory of evolution. Displayed in historical showcases are actual animal specimens, that they collected, which helped them interpret evolutionary processes and patterns. The photos and specimens also illustrate conditions necessary for evolution, making youl consider how evolution acts upon genetic mutations.

Cunningham Dax psychiatric art collection

DNA evidence, which challenges previous notions of the uniqueness of humans and the concept of race and helps us examine the relationships between species, is also highlighted by this exhibition.

Forest Gallery

The Forest Gallery, the centerpiece of the museum building, is a living temperate Victorian forest environment, complete with hundreds of living plants and live animals such as birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates and other fauna.

This massive living and breathing exhibition, offering a window into the tall forests of eastern Victoria, is home to the ongoing Forest Secrets exhibition which examines the agents of change within the forests.

Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre

The Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, planned in collaboration with many Aboriginal people, including the traditional owners of Melbourne (the Boonwurrung and the Woi wurrung), includes galleries with exhibitions by and about the Koorie people and other Aboriginal peoples of Victoria.

Bunjilaka Welcome Rug

At the foyer/reception area is the amazing Bunjilaka Welcome Rug designed by artist Vicki Couzens to provide a focus and gathering point for welcoming visitors to Bunjilaka. The design symbolizes the pathway that people take to gather for a ceremony, dance or song.

Wurreka (Judy Watson)

Spanning the north wall of Birrarung Gallery and surrounding the entry to First Peoples is Wurreka, a zinc wall of 74 etched panels, each reflecting imagery from Aboriginal cultural heritage and landscapes of Victoria, designed by Waanyi artist Judy Watson from Queensland.

Te Pasifika Gallery

From the First Peoples gallery is the light filled Te Pasifika Gallery, a bright soaring space. This exhibition, which highlights the history and finely carved water crafts of Pacific island nations including Fiji, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Solomon Islands and Aotearoa (New Zealand), was developed in collaboration with the Pacific Island Advisory Group and community members in 1997 and was opened in 2001.

Here, we gaze up at the life-size crab claw sails, containing motifs of Melanesia in the north east, Micronesia in the North and Polynesia in the South East, created by the Victorian Pacific Island Council and community, and walk underneath exquisite canoes from Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Niue and the Marquesas Islands.

Te Pasifika Gallery

The Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery, housings exhibitions aimed at 3 to 8 year olds, combines hands-on exploration and discovery, open-ended play-based learning, extraordinary immersive environments and unique museum collection objects.

Te Pasifika Gallery

The Touring Hall, where international touring exhibitions are displayed, has, in the past, exhibited “A Day In Pompeii” (June 26 to October 25, 2009, Melbourne Museum’s most popular temporary exhibition), “Hatching the Past: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies’ (May 30, 2008 to August 24, 2008), “The Great Wall of China: Dynasties, Dragons and Warriors” (March 23, 2007 to July 22, 2007), “Spirit of the Games: The Opening Ceremony Revealed” (March 18 to July 23, 2006) and “Dinosaurs from China” (2005).

Museum Market Cafe

In addition to its galleries, the museum also features the free Discovery Centre, a cafe (Museum Market Cafe), a souvenir shop (Museum Shop) and an IMAX Theatre screen showing movies and documentary films in large-screen 3-D format.

Museum Shop

Melbourne Museum: 11 Nicholson St., Carlton Gardens, 3053 Melbourne, Australia. Open daily, 10 AM – 5 PM (closed Good Friday and Christmas Day).

Phillip Island – Penguin Parade Visitor Center (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 1 November, 2019 by Benjie Layug — 1 Comment ↓

Penguin Parade Visitor Center

From Cowes we again boarded our coach for the short 7.4-km. drive, via Coghlan Rd and Phillip Island Rd/B420, to the brand new (it was opened just this July 2019) Penguin Parade Visitor Center to see Australia’s largest colony of friendly, frolicking fairy penguins (Eudyptula minor) at the iconic Penguin Parade, one of Australia’s most popular tourist attractions.

Check out “Phillip Island – Cowes”

Main entrance

With an area of 4,785 sq. m. plus over 1,800 sq. m. of interpretation & public spaces, this AUD58.2 million ($48.2 million from the Andrews Labor Government, along with a $10 million contribution from Phillip Island Nature Parks), world-class center, by itself a unique Australian experience like no other, can manage visitor demands (there are over 700, 000 visitors every year), including a peak of over 3,000 people expected on at least 15 days a year. By 2030, it is expected to cater for 840,000 visitors annually.

The modern, environmentally sustainable Penguin Parade Visitor Center, sitting between three distinct landscapes on the important Summerland Peninsula (the site of a historic buy-back scheme which saw an entire 6-hectare residential estate bought back, rehabilitated and returned to wildlife habitat), replaced and doubled the capacity of the previous Daryl Jackson-designed center built in 1988.

Strategically nestled in a junction of wetland, dune and headland, this exciting and visually breathtaking center showcases the surrounding spectacular landscape and places the much-loved Phillip Island Little penguins at center stage in their unique habitat.

Lobby

Designed by Terroir (a Hobart architectural firm) and built by Kane Constructions, its spectacular architectural design, inspiration and form, combining elements of the Peninsula’s basalt bluff, coastal dunes and wetlands, has been internationally acknowledged, winning at the 2019 International Architecture Awards, out of a field of over 380 submissions from 41 countries. Its complex roof and façade geometry comprises composite glue-laminated timber, steel and concrete with a zinc shingle façade.

This architecturally acclaimed star-shaped building’s overall environmental credentials are impressive, with low carbon building materials used throughout the center’s construction. It also has an array of 666 solar panels on the expansive roof, a water filtration system to recycle rainwater for non-potable use, increased roof and floor insulation, and double-glazed windows.

Its robust interior, consisting of exposed timber structure and plywood panels with integral color and texture, is structured around a major circulation path that has the capacity for large crowds and which forms a spine off which are arranged a series of dedicated spaces for ticketing, education, retail and restaurants. The impressive laminated beams, at angled timber-clad ceilings, used sustainably sourced Victorian Ash hardwood.

The new visitor center has a wide range of new facilities including a host of fun and interactive activities for the whole family.

The interpretive habitat space provides a ‘penguins-eye’ view of the world, complete with life-size grass tussocks and cinematic projections.

The state-of-the-art, in-house theater, with seating for 100, is used for teaching and education groups, lectures, small conferences and conservation seminars, as well as the nightly showing of the Penguin Parade experience video.

Little Penguin Cafe

The dedicated education wing includes flexible activities classrooms for education rangers to deliver school programs. These will also be used as special group facilities for guided penguin viewing experiences (VIP or Guided Ranger Tours, etc.).

Gift shop

The center also has a café (Little Penguin Cafe) and a restaurant (Shearwater Restaurant), catering to all tastes and budgets (open 11 AM – 5:30 PM), where guests can enjoy an evening meal before or after their penguin viewing experience.

Two modern retail spaces, aligned with environmental priorities, also offer merchandise for sale, one of which is a specialty store focusing on Australian-made and responsibly sourced indigenous products as well as its best-selling plush penguin toys, dressed in jumpers knitted by volunteers, whose proceeds go into the park’s wildlife rehabilitation center.

Kyle

Penguin Parade Visitor Center: 1019 Ventnor Rd., Summerlands, Victoria 3922. Tel: +61 3 5951 2830. E-mail: info@penguins.org.au. Open daily, 10 AM (2PM on Christmas Day). Admission: $26.60 (adults), $13.20 (children, 4-15 years of age), $66.40 (family) and $18.55 (Concession).

Brighton Bathing Boxes (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 1 November, 2019 by Benjie Layug — 1 Comment ↓

Brighton Beach Boxes

On our third day in Melbourne, Cheska booked a Philip Island Day Tour for us. After breakfast at our apartment, we were all picked up at 11 AM, at a pick up point near our apartment, by Sophia, our Go West tour guide cum coach driver. After all the other participants were all picked up, we were on our way by 11:50 AM.

One house for the affluent at the Esplanade community

The first destination in our itinerary, a 13 km./20-min. drive away, was trendy Brighton Beach (actually called Dendy Street Beach) along Port Philip Bay where we were to visit the iconic Brighton Bathing Boxes, a row of 82 (it’s recorded that before the Great Depression, there were between 100 to 200 boxes on record) distinctive, multi-colored and uniformly proportioned wooden beach huts lining the foreshore of one of Melbourne’s most exclusive and affluent neighborhoods.

Brighton Beach

One of the most photographed spots in the city, these boxes do have a lot of history behind them and they still retain their charm and classic architectural features to this very day. They were built more than 100 years ago when Australians were a little more modest in response to very Victorian ideas of morality and seaside bathing. These boxes, made from timber frames, weatherboard sidings and corrugated iron roofing, were used by women for privacy when changing into their swimwear.

Some of the 82 colorful Bathing Boxes

In keeping with their classic 1800’s Victorian architectural features and style, even today, the boxes don’t have running water or electricity. Despite their lack of modern conveniences and the laws against camping in them, what the Brighton Bathing Boxes lack in amenities, they make up for in incredible views of Port Phillip Bay and towards the Melbourne city skyline. That view comes with a price tag. It is rare for the existing boxes to hit the market as they are tightly held and often passed down through generations.

According to Sophia, Brighton Bathing boxes can only be sold to locals living in the Bayside area. There are also strict rules outlining what the boxes can (and cannot) be used for. Owners cannot sleep in them or use them for advertising purposes.

The much photographed Bathing Box painted with the Australian flag

They cannot also be rented out to others. Today, these colorful timber boxes are used for storing fishing gear, deck chairs and sheltering from the sun on a scorching day at the beach. In 2017, a Brighton Bathing Box did hit the market and it sold for a jaw-dropping $326,000 (AUD) to a local resident.

The author with Kyle and Grace beside a Beach Box

Each of the pastel painted Brighton Bathing Boxes had its own unique characteristic, all with vibrant colors that pop, and bearing the hallmarks of individual licensees’’ artistic and colorful embellishments. Box No. 2, which features the Australian Flag, seem to be the most popular as visitors, both local and international, queued up for photos outside of it during our short visit.

A pair of seagulls frolicking along the beach

Other designs include a boxing kangaroos (Australia’s unofficial sporting mascot), a space invader, a Katsushika Hokusai-inspired blue-and-white wave box and another with a Volkswagen van declaring that “Life’s a Beach.” An eye-popping contrast to the turquoise waters of the ocean, you’ll have to walk the entire length of the beach to see each of them.

Jandy queuing for ice cream (AUD7) at an ice cream truck

Brighton Bathing Boxes: Esplanade, Middle Brighton (between Wellington Street and Dendy Street).

How to Get There: the easiest way to get to get there is to take a train from the Flinders Street Station, on the Sandringham Line, to Middle Brighton. Though it doesn’t stop at the beach, it is closer to the Brighton Bathing Boxes than the Brighton Beach station (unless you fancy a longer, 1.3-km. walk along the beach). From the station, it’s about a 1.2-km./15-min. walk to the beach. To guide your way, there are shops along the way as well as blue plaques with the beach boxes on them. If you’re travelling by car, you can park close to the beach. If you are getting there by bus, take the 216 or the 219 bus from Melbourne’s Central Business District.

Flinders Street Station (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 30 October, 2019 by Benjie Layug — 1 Comment ↓

Flinders Street Station

The Flinders Street Railway Station complex, served by Metro‘s suburban services and V/Line regional services to Gippsland, covers two whole city blocks and extends from Swanston Street to Queen Street.

Kyle, Grace, Cheska and Jandy checking out train schedules at station

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this railway station:

It is the busiest station on Melbourne’s metropolitan network, with over 1,500 trains passing through each day and 77,153 daily entries were recorded in the 2017/2018 fiscal year.
By 1926, Finders Street Station became the busiest passenger station in the world, surpassing Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris, Grand Central Station in New York City and Liverpool Street Station in London. On the January 11^th1922, The Argus Newspaper reported 200,000 passengers passed through the station in one day.
Flinders was the first and oldest railway station in an Australian city
In the late 1920s, it was the world’s busiest passenger station.
The main building is one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks and a cultural icon of Melbourne.
An urban myth, widely reported, is that the design and plans for the Flinders Street Station and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (originally named Victoria Terminus) in Mumbai (India) were switched, resulting in an Italian Gothic style station in India and a vaguely East-Indian style building in Melbourne.
The building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Prior to Federation Square, Flinders Street Station was a favorite and popular informal meeting place for Melbournians since the station’s opening and is often a congregation point for subculture. Although the station was not intended for this purpose plus there is no seating or other infrastructure to suggest it as a destination, the location (opposite the well-known Young and Jackson Hotel and overlooking two of the busiest tram routes in the city) meant it was accessible and visible to many of the city’s main pedestrian thoroughfares. “I’ll meet you under the clocks” (referring to the row of clocks above the main entrance) and “I’ll meet you on the steps” (referring to the wide staircase underneath these clocks) are popular Melburnian The site’s cultural significance extends beyond its main function as a transport hub.
The ghostly figure a man on platform 10 holding fishing gear, known as George, has reportedly been seen by commuters, seeming somewhat disoriented as he gazes out at the Yarra River before vanishing into thin air. Many believe he has been around since the days of Melbourne’s settlement, whereas others believe he is the spirit of George Mansfield (later identified as Ernest Leahy) who was pulled from the river, after a boating accident, on October 21, 1902.
Martin Kingham, former Victorian secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, revealed that when he worked on the station’s refurbishment in the late 1980s, the builders incorporated heating into the steps so that those sitting there wouldn’t get cold.
The 708-m. long main station platform 1 is Australia’s longest and is also, reportedly, the fourth longest railway platform in the world. Servicing the South Morang and Hurstbridge lines, it was, once upon a time, home to the Milk Dock and the Parcels Office and, up until 1986, most of Melbourne’s milk was unloaded here off trains from Gippsland.
Flinders Street Station is responsible for two of Melbourne’s busiest pedestrian crossings, both across Flinders Street, including one of Melbourne’s few pedestrian scrambles.
Flinders Street Station has appeared on screen in films including Squizzy Taylor (1982) and On the Beach (1959, starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins). It also featured in the background of Steven Spielberg’s TV mini-series The Pacific.

Check out “Grand Central Terminal“

The Art Nouveau-style main station building, with its distinctive façade, has a prominent green copper dome, arched entrance, tower and clocks. Takeaway stands line the concourse, and the upper floors were purpose-built to house a library, gym and a lecture hall (later used as a ballroom).

Here is the historical timeline of the railway station:

In 1882, the government decided to build a new central passenger station to replace the existing ad-hoc station buildings.
In 1883, the first signal boxes were opened at the station one at each end of the platforms.
By the 1890s a third island platform had been constructed.
In 1899, a design competition, essentially for the detailed design of the station building, was finally held and 17 entries were received. First prize was awarded to to railway employees James Fawcett and HPC Ashworth, of Fawcett and Ashworth, who won £500 for their French Renaissance style “Green Light” project. It included a large dome over the main entrance and a tall clock tower over the Elizabeth Street entrance. A train shed over the platforms was intended to have many arched roofs running north-south, but only an alternative plan, depicting an impressive three-arched roof (running east-west) over the concourse, survives. The location of the concourse and entrances, the track and platform layout, the type of platform roofing, and even the room layout to some extent, were already decided.
In 1900, work began on the rearrangement of the station tracks, while the final design of the station building was still being worked on.
In 1901, work on the central pedestrian subway started
By 1903, the foundations of the main building were completed.
In 1904, in mid construction, the plans were extensively modified by the Railways Commissioners. The proposed train shed was replaced by individual platform roofs, and it was decided not to include a concourse roof. To increase office space, a fourth storey was added to the main building, which resulted in the arches above each entrance on Flinders Street being lowered, decreasing their dominance.
In 1905, work began on the station building itself, starting at the west end and progressing towards the main dome. Ballarat builder Peter Rodger was awarded the £93,000 contract. The building was originally to have been faced in stone, but that was considered too costly, so red brick, with cement render details, was used for the main building instead. At ground level, on the Flinders Street side, grey granite from Harcourt was used for many details. The southern facade of the main building consisted of a lightweight timber frame clad with zinc sheets, which were scored into blocks and painted red in order to look like large bricks. That was done to created corridors instead of what were to be open-access balconies inside the train shed.
In 1906, work on the dome started. The structure required heavy foundations as it extended over railway tracks.
Between August 1906 and November 1907, the Elizabeth Street clock tower was constructed.
In May 1908, work was progressing more slowly than planned
In August 1908, with the expected completion date of April 1909 increasingly unlikely to be met, Rodger’s contract was terminated.
In May 1910, a Royal Commission was appointed finding that Rodger could be held accountable for the slow progress in 1908, but he should be compensated for the difficulties before then. The Way and Works Branch of the Victorian Railways took over the project
By mid-1909, the station was essentially finished. The veranda along Flinders Street, and the concourse roof and veranda along Swanston Street, were not completed until after the official opening in 1910.
In 1919, the first electric train service operated from Flinders Street to Essendon.
In June 1933, the Railways Department established The Children’s Nursery featuring three cot rooms, two play rooms, a kitchen and a rooftop playground. The childcare facility was used by mothers visiting the city.
In 1937, a polio outbreak led to the closure of the Children’s Nursery.
By 1942, the Children’s Nursery was permanently closed.
In 1954, to cater for the increasing numbers of passengers, the Degraves Street subway from the station was extended to the north side of Flinders Street.
In 1962, the Minister for Transport and HKJ Pty Ltd signed an agreement for a £30 million redevelopment of the station that would have resulted in the demolition of the clock tower and replacement with an office building up to 60 stories high.
In March 1966, the length of Platform One was extended to 708 m. (2,322 ft.).
In 1967, a company purchased the option to lease the space above Flinders Street Station, planning to build a shopping plaza and two office towers, the dome and clock tower being kept as part of the design, but strong opposition saw this project lapse.
In 1972, Victorian Premier Henry Bolte unveiled another redevelopment plan, to cover 110,000 m²(27 acres) of space above the Flinders Street Station and Jolimont Yard, for a complex of shops, offices, theaters and other community facilities.
In 1974, a newspaper report said that planning was still underway for the $250 million proposal
By 1975, public perceptions had begun to turn towards retention of the station. At the time, a Builders Labourers Federation green ban helped preserve it in its existing form.
In June 1980, the 87-m. long ACMI’s Gallery 1, now holding major exhibitions, was created by converting the terminals for the Epping and Hurstbridge Lines at Princes Bridge Railway Station, which was incorporated into Flinders Street Station as platforms 14, 15 and 16.
In July 1980, television displays used to display next train information were added to each platform.
In 1982, a $7 million refurbishment, divided into four phases and designed by the railways architect Kris Kudlicki, was announced by Stephen Crabb, the Minister of Transport Minister for Transport.
Completed by 1984, the first escalators at the station provided on platform 2 / 3 replaced the ramps, and new public toilets were provided, replacing those over the platforms. The main station concourse was tiled and extended westward over the tracks, with skylights added above the ramps,16 new shops opened on the concourse.
In October 1985, a restaurant, built on the southern side facing the river, was opened.
In 1994, the restaurant was converted into the “Clocks on Flinders” poker machine
In June 1985, the main steps were embedded with electrical circuits to keep them dry.
In 1989, under the John Cain Government, an agreement to construct the “Festival Marketplace” was signed. Planned to feature shops, restaurants and cafes, it was designed by Daryl Jackson architects and it was to be built over the existing platforms in a style sympathetic to the existing station, and be completed by 1992.
In 1991, the project was abandoned after the inability of the financiers to come up with the $205 million required due to the early 1990s recession.
In 1993, the Elizabeth Street pedestrian subway opened at the Southbank
In 1997/98, the tracks to the east of the station were rebuilt to clear the way for the Federation Square Jolimont Yard was eliminated, with $40 million spent to reduce 53 operating lines between Flinders Street and Richmond Station to just 12. The number of points was also reduced, from 164 to 48. Platform usage at the station was also reallocated, with country trains being shifted from platform 1 to platform 10, and Clifton Hill group trains being shifted from the deleted Princes Bridge Station to platform 1.
By 2007, the refurbishment of the building roof and concourse foundations, an upgrade of platform 10 with escalators and a lift replacing the ramp, the relocation of all ticket booking offices to the main entrance under the main dome and new LCD Passenger Information Displays installed on the platforms, subways and concourse were completed.
In 2008, the retail pavilions on the concourse were rebuilt, increasing their area.
That same year, an investigation of the potential of the abandoned spaces in the station, overseen by a task force comprising representatives from Connex, the Committee for Melbourne, Melbourne City Council, Heritage Victoria, was completed but the conclusions have not been made public
In March 2009, an escalator replaced the lift to platform 12 and 13, with platform 13 also extended westwards into daylight along the alignment of the former platform 11.
In January 2010, one of the first announcements by the new Minister for Public Transport was that the government was investigating the refurbishment of the abandoned spaces for “cultural uses.”
In November 2011, the Victorian Government launched a $1 million international design competition to rejuvenate and restore the station.
In October 2012, after receiving 118 submissions, six finalists were selected. The public could vote.
On August 8, 2013, the jury’s choice and people’s choice winner were announced. The competition winner was Hassell+ Herzog & de Meuron, while the people’s choice winner were University of Melbourne students Eduardo Velasquez, Manuel Pineda and Santiago Medina.
In mid-February 2015, Premier Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan (Minister for Public Transport) announced that $100 million would be spent for urgent refurbishment works to upgrade station platforms, entrances, toilets, information displays and the restoration of exterior of the main building.
By July 2017, the station had been almost completely repainted in the original 1910 colors.
In January 2018, as painting continued, a further round of works was announced including the renewal of the Elizabeth Street pedestrian subway and rebuilding of the subway’s south entrance to include direct access to platform 10.

At the concourse (or Swanston Street end), the building has three levels and four at the lower Elizabeth Street (or platform) end. Numerous shops and lettable spaces were provided. Some are on the concourse (especially along the Flinders Street frontage), many at lower than street level, accessed by stairs which created a fifth/basement level.

The top three levels of the main building, particularly along the Flinders Street frontage, contain a large number of rooms, mostly intended for railway use, but also many as lettable spaces.

At each entry, numerous ticket windows were located while at the concourse (or platform level) are services such as a restaurant, country booking office, lost luggage office and visitors help booth. Much of the third floor was purpose-built for the then new Victorian Railway Institute, including a library, gym and a lecture hall.

The latter was later used as a grand, 400-seat ballroom where dance classes, ballroom competitions and concerts were held. During World War II, dances were held for Allied servicemen and, in the 1950s and 1960s, it was one of the most popular dance halls in Melbourne. The last dance was held on September 10, 1983.

Next door is a gymnasium, once used by the station’s male employees, which featured a boxing ring and billiards room. These rooms have since been closed off to the public and are largely abandoned, derelict and decaying. It also had a 440-yard long rooftop running track and it is completely normal to see men running across the station roof.

A clock tower has also existed at the end of Elizabeth Street since 1883. The first clock was known as the ‘Water Tower Clock’, after a wooden framed water tower erected on the site in 1853. This clock remained in place until 1905 when work begun on the new station, the clock tower being moved to outside Princes Bridge station.

In 1911 it was moved to Spencer Street station, where it remained until the station redevelopment of 1967. Sold to a private collector, it was returned to public ownership and in 1999 was put on display at the Scienceworks Museum, Spotswood. It was returned to Southern Cross station in 2014.

Clock tower

The Elizabeth Street clock tower was constructed between August 1906 and November 1907. The distinctive clocks, a fixture of the station’s façade under the main dome, are part of 60 Bathgate indicators purchased from England for use at the Flinders Street, Spencer Street, Richmond and South Yarra stations.

It has, since the 1860s, shown the departure times of the next trains. When the old station was demolished in 1904, those at Flinders Street were placed into storage. In 1910, 28 were placed into the new station and are located at the main entry under the dome, the southern side archway, and the Degraves and Elizabeth Street entrances.

The clocks at the main entrance, changed an average of 900 times, were manually operated, during an 8-hour period, by a railway officer using a long pole. In 1983, as part of a redevelopment of the station, the original indicator clocks were removed from service, with their replacement by digital displays planned.

However, within one day, an outpouring of public outrage and sentimentality saw the decision reversed. The clocks at the main entrance were altered to automatic operation by computer but those at the Degraves and Elizabeth Street entrances were replaced by large airport-style split-flap displays.

The author

In the 1930s and 1940s, the building featured a creche next to the main dome on the top floor. It had an open-air playground on an adjoining roof. Since 1910, the basement store, beside the main entrance, has been occupied by City Hatters, a hat store known as since 1933.

The station as seen from St. Paul’s Cathedral

The Swanston Street concourse, which has undergone the most change of any part of the station, is now three times the depth of the original structure with only the canopy and roofed area on Swanston Street remaining of the original.

The author, Kyle, Grace and Jandy

Flinders Street Station: cor. Flinders and Swanston Sts., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Website: www.flindersstreetstation.com.au.

Eureka Tower and Skydeck 88 (Melbourne, Australia)

Posted on 30 October, 2019 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Eureka Tower

We decided to end our first day in Melbourne with a visit to the Eureka Skydeck 88, an observation deck that occupies the entire 88th floor of the 297.3 m. (975 ft.) high, 91 storey (with one basement level) Eureka Tower.

The beehive art installation

Opened to the public on May 15, 2007, at 285 m. (935 ft.) high, it is the highest public vantage point in a building in the Southern Hemisphere.

Here are some interesting trivia regarding this building:

Until surpassed by Ocean Heights and the HHHR Tower in Dubai, it was the world’s tallest residential tower when measured to its highest floor
When measured either by the height of its roof, or by the height of its highest habitable floor, Eureka Tower was the tallest residential building in the world when completed.
It is the second tallest building in Australia, behind Q1, Queensland on the Gold Coast
Eureka Tower is the tallest to roof (excluding spire)
It is one of only seven buildings in the world with 90 or more storeys
Eureka Tower is the equal 77th tallest building in the world.
It is also the second-tallest building in Australia and the tallest building in Melbourne.
As of 2016 it was the 15th tallest residential building in the world.
As far as can be ascertained this is the highest building with plants on
Currently, it is also the building with the most floors available for residential occupancy in the world.
In all, there are 556 apartments in 84 floors (including some floors shared between car parking and apartments), with the remainder being used for building facilities and the observation deck.
The single level basement and first 9 floors contain car parking.
Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, the developer of the tower, is a joint venture consisting of Daniel Grollo (Grocon), investor Tab Fried and Nonda Katsalidis, one of the Tower’s architects.
Eureka Tower is named after the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in 1854. The building’s gold crown represents the gold rush, the red stripe the blood spilt during the revolt, the blue glass cladding (that covers most of the building) the blue background of the stockade’s flag and the white lines the Eureka Stockade flag. The white horizontal stripes also represent markings on a surveyor’s measuring staff.
The project was designed by Melbourne architectural firm Fender Katsalidis Architectsand was built by Grocon (Grollo Australia).
The tower was built using reinforced concreteusing a slipform About 5,000 tons (4,900 long tons; 5,500 short tons) of reinforced steel and 110,000 tons (110,000 long tons; 120,000 short tons) of concrete were used.
On November 9, 2004, Eureka Tower’s lift core superseded the height of Rialto Towers.
Started in August 2002, the exterior completed on June 1, 2006 and the building was officially opened on October 11, 2006 by then Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks
An art installation resembling a manmade beehive, at the base of the tower, contains bees inside a white box, with two regular sized bees outside the box, and one queen bee on the top. Created by Richard Stringer and Nonda Katsalidis, it was completed in December 2007. The gold color of the bees complements the gold at the top of the tower.
Since 2012, the Eureka Climb event, where participants climb 1642 steps to the observation deck, has been held annually. The current record is 7 minutes to climb up 88 floors.
A system of pumps constantly moves water between the two 300,000 liter tanks, at Levels 90 and 91, to counteract wind-induced oscillations.
Eureka Tower has 24 carat (99.9%) gold plated glass windows (installation completed in March 2006)on the top 10 floors of the building.

The ticket office

To access the Skydeck, we first paid an entry fee at the ground floor. From one of its 13 elevators, we traveled up to 9 m. per second (30 ft./sec.).

Skydeck 88

The Skydeck features several free binoculars as well as 30 viewfinders that helped us pinpoint numerous significant landmarks around all parts of Melbourne.

View of Melbourne Central Business District

View of the Yarra River. In the foreground is the Arts Centre Spire.

The Skydeck also has a small outside area called The Terrace (closed in high winds) where daring people can do a “skywalk” 350 m. (1,150 ft) high. Not for us. However, we all tried out The Edge. Once inside this glass cube, the glass inside was initially opaque but once it projected 3 m. (10 ft.) out from the building, the glass became clear as we hung over the edge of the tower. Adding to our viewing experience, we were suspended almost 300 m. (984 ft.).

Nightime view of Melbourne CBD

Eureka Skydeck: 7 Riverside Quay, Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria 3006, Australia. Open daily; 10 AM – 10 PM, Admission: Adult: 23AUD; Child: 14.50AUD

This travel blog, a diary of the author’s local and international travels, aims to provide the reader with news and information on people, places and events that would interest the avid traveler and tourist. But, it also aims to be much more, providing insights on the wonders of this beautiful country, as well as the world, beyond the strict confines of the city. Have a BLAST seeing old churches, exotic temples, educational museums as well as palm-fringed islands; white sand beaches; thundering waterfalls; placid lakes; fiery sunsets; turquoise seas; cathedral-like caves; swirling rivers; majestic mountains; stupendous, amphitheater-like rice terraces; awesome volcanoes and the like. Get to know the movers and shakers in the tourism industry; find out where to titillate the palate; rejuvenate your body; feed your adrenalin, unwind and relax; satisfy your craving for history and culture; and find out what's being celebrated and where.

BENJAMIN “BENJIE” LAYUG, an architect by profession (he finished his B. S. Architecture degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1982), is also a copy editor for two publishing houses; travel writer; blogger; architectural historian; author; concert. movie and musical reviewer (for www.pep.ph); and a motivational speaker.

As a free-lance travel writer, he has, in the past, contributed articles to Travel Update, Philippine Daily Inquirer, COLORS, TODAY, 7107 Islands Magazine, Business Day and Bluprint. He currently writes for Artplus Magazine and the Business Mirror.

He is also the author of the following travel books:

A Philippine Odyssey (New Day Publishers, 2005)
Pathfinder’s Travel Guide: Boracay (Great Books Trading, 2006)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Churches (New Day Publishers, 2007)
A Tourist to Notable Philippine Historical Landmarks, Monuments and Shrines (New Day Publishers, 2010)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Museums (New Day Publishers, 2012)

Some of his books now appear in the local library shelves of the National Library of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Sto. Tomas, U.P. Diliman, Centro Escolar University, San Sebastian College, Miriam College, Silliman University, to name a few, as well as internationally at the National Library of Australia and the University of California Berkeley Library.

Now a senior citizen, he is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest, active travel blogger in the country today. He also has a lifestyle blog called F.Y.I.:Firing Your Imagination (www.firingyourimagination.blogspot.com). Benjie has traveled to two-thirds (53) of the country’s 81 provinces and over 20 countries in 4 continents.