The one place that my host in Melbourne refused to let me miss was Federation Square. One of the most controversial buildings in Melbourne, Federation Square was apparently built as a tribute to Australia's centennial year. It is definitely an odd-looking building, seemingly created from a bunch of odd shapes in gray and beige tones. I was told that the main plaza, in which I spent the most time, is designed to look somewhat like a desert, although it is not nearly red enough to be any desert in Australia. I could see why so many people disliked the building and thought it was a scar on the face of Melbourne, yet it was different, and interesting, so I could see why a lot of Melburnians enjoyed the new structure as well.
Getting to Federation Square is extremely easy; just across the street is the regal-looking Flinders Street station, one of the main stations in Melbourne. The roads running next to the Square all feature tramlines in their centres, although I am not sure which lines (a map of Melbourne tramlines can be found at RailPage).
I spent most of my time wandering around, but not actually going into, many of the different institutions Federation Square housed. A couple of these are the Ian Potter Centre, which I later found out is the oldest collection of Australian art in the country and holds close to 20,000 artworks, and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. There was also a market going on within the Square, which seemed to consist mostly of used books. If you get hungry, there were at least a couple dozen restaurants available to please your palate.
The part of Federation Square that I found to be the most useful was its expansive Visitor Information Centre. This was just off of the desert-themed plaza, just across from Flinders St Station, a cathedral, and Channel 7's large news ticker. On my way there, I passed a huge crowd sitting on the plaza's steps, listening to a man putting on some form of comedy show. This reminded me of Queen St in Brisbane, where entertainers often attract huge crowds as they attempt to balance themselves atop a ladder whilst juggling knives and the like.
The Visitor Information Centre doesn't warrant a huge amount of description; it had a lot of pamphlets, a lot of people full of information, and even more people frantically flipping through pamphlets and grilling people for information. As I had already planned my trip down the Great Ocean Road for the next day, I didn't have much need for pamphlets, but it was fun to look through and see what I could possibly do on my next trip to the city.
I made it back to Federation Square later in the day and used it as a starting point for my walk down the Yarra, past Birrarung Marr, to Melbourne's major sporting complexes, which is described in another entry. Overall, I rather agree with the side of Melbourne that find the structure interesting and different, and while it isn't a huge attraction that will take up large portions of your day, I think it is worth taking a look at.