Melbourne is well known for its surviving collection of Victorian architecture. Lately contemporary architects have been drawing attention for a colorful and unusual range of projects that may yet place Melbourne on the architectural map. There are many gaps in the urban landscape of central Melbourne, and the creative forces are doing their best to fill them in.
Perhaps the most controversial project in the Central Business District of Melbourne is the massive Federation Square complex, including the awkwardly titled New Gallery of Victoria Ian Potter Centre of Australian Art. The ambitious design is the result of a design competition won by Lab Architecture Studio of London and Bates Smart Architecture of Melbourne. Once completed, the project will connect with the Central Business District, Yarra River, Victorian Arts Centre, and Southgate. There will be a plaza that will become the new civic focal point of Melbourne. The mosaic-like exterior surfaces of brownish sandstone, glass and zinc exhibit an intricate triangular geometry. Even in its unfinished state, the appearance of Federation Square jumps out at passersby and adds another style to the already eclectic Melbourne skyline.
Denton Corker Marshall designed not only the much-acclaimed Melbourne Museum but also the earlier Melbourne Exhibition Centre (1996). This convention center employs the wild angles and colors that are developed in the latter museum design. Typical elements like columns, walls and roofs are skewed to create a tension within its design. The name of the complex is displayed in bold capital letters at an angle so that it advances past its face value as a nameplate to become an integral part of the design itself. The landscaping adjacent to the Yarra River is attractive, considering that anything alongside of a convention center can be merely an afterthought.
Not far from the Melbourne Exhibition Centre is the slick Crown Entertainment Complex, designed by Bates Smart. The multipurpose buildings house a glamorous casino, luxury hotel, posh shops, and various restaurants and food courts. The architects incorporated brass, zinc and polished pink sandstone into the design to create a sense of class and elegance to the complex.
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) is an eclectic urban campus of old, solid stone and brick structures that are now mingling with newer postmodern buildings with wild colors, layers and shapes. One of the more recent buildings has a mosaic-like facade with popsicle colors like lime green and purple.