architecture of infrastructure down under

The architecture in Melbourne is so fluid. The walls, ceilings, and rooftops flow like waves within the movements of the city. During O-week (Orientation Week for the Colleges on campus at La Trobe University) all of the students in Menzies College were put into teams to complete ridiculous tasks throughout the Melbourne CBD. Tasks ranged from swimming in the Yarra River to doing the cha-cha through city intersections. I (unfortunately) had the privilege of getting my hairstyled with Macca's (McDonalds in Aussie Language) BBQ sauce, and had to ride the tram all the way back to campus attracting all sorts of yummy insects.

Despite the minor smelly and sticky mishap, I found peace in the cultural urban environment of Melbourne CBD. I did not pay attention to the games that were going on because all I could focus on was the spectacular site of Melbourne's architecture. All of the crazy college students were running around trying to win a scavenger hunt without even taking notice to the amazing sites that surrounded them. So instead of being a keen participator of the scavenger hunt I took some pictures of the architecture I was in- framing the shots to make shapes with the sky.

In Melbourne, there are old buildings (Parliament House on Victoria Parade and the State Library of Victoria on Swanston Stree), new buildings (HardRock climbing), and buildings under construction (RMIT- Royal Melbourne Institute for Technology). The city is a palimpsest of culture and desgin- holding heritages of art-deco, neo-gothism, and contemporary art keen to the artists eye.

My favorite architecture lies inside the ACMI (Australian Center for the Moving Image, located in Federation Square across from Flinder's station). The colors are so vivid and bright and the space is so spacious and crowded at the same time. Reading about the history of the building I discovered that the designs for the film centre were developed in the early 1980's to create "an exhibition space free of the restrictions imposed in traditional display facilities." (acmi.net.au) And the state film centre of victoria envisioned the ACMI as an "open" space that could interface school and university work as well. In 1997, Lab architecture studio won the design to create the building in federation square. Today, it is by far (my favorite) an amazing building that conveys within its design the cross-roads of commercial, cultural, and educational thought and desire. It is the vital infrastructure to the growing film industry in Melbourne. :)