Explore Melbourne’s heritage buildings

Tuesday 10 January 2012, 11:29 AM
By The Team | Posted in Events and Places and Style

Tour groups already zigzag around our streets and laneways, learning about the city’s history, shops, chocolates and other charms, but a new series of tours is hitting the pavement, this time celebrating Melbourne’s architecture.

Architect Esther Sugihto, landscape architect Mark Skiba and urban designer Andy Fergus run Melbourne Architours. The tours are split into three time periods: Settlement to Marvellous Melbourne, Federation to Art Deco and Modernism to Contemporary.

Federation to Art Deco is running this Sunday morning, covering both well-known buildings and some that are off the beaten track. One of the guides’ favourites is Mitchell House on Elizabeth Street. ‘It’s quite prominent, it’s been well restored and it was quite progressive at the time it was built,’ says Esther Sugihto.

Another signature Art Deco building on Melbourne’s skyline is the Manchester Unity building on the corner of Collins and Swanston Streets. The tour takes in the timber and brass features inside this stunning building – the first in Melbourne to have an escalator.

As well as covering design features, the tour guides talk about the architects behind each building and put them into a historical, political and economic context.

Esther Sugihto reveals that the guides and tour groups find there is so much to talk about that they usually continue the conversation over a drink or coffee.

‘After the tours we sit around and discuss what everyone’s thoughts are and how the city is progressing,’ she says. ‘It’s such a design-rich city, and the tours are really about creating awareness of how the built environment is changing and evolving.’

At the moment this dedicated trio of archiphiles is running one tour per month, with only 15 places available for each. However, private tours can also be arranged. Full details are at Melbourne Architours.

Marvellous Melbournalia

Tuesday 6 December 2011, 4:11 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events and Places and Style and Things

Do you love Melbourne? Its creative inhabitants and its world-class shopping? Then Melbournalia is the place for you.

Spread across four locations, Melbournalia is a fun new shopping experience that has magically popped up for the Christmas season.

What makes it all so very Melbourne, you ask?

The idea. A chain of pop-up shops filled with pressies perfectly designed for posting (postal service included) in time for Christmas.

The products. All achingly awesome and sourced from over 30 of Melbourne’s most talented product designers.

The locations. Housed in warehouses, coffee shops and studios, these unconventional venues couldn’t be more Melbourne if they tried.

Expect thoughtful gift ideas, intriguingly presented and beautifully packaged. You’ll find Melbournalia at the following quintessentially Melbourne locales:

Shop #1: Home
Tractor Home
First Floor, Rear 126 Franklin Street, Melbourne
Tuesday to Friday: 11am – 6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11am – 4pm

Shop #2: Captains
Captains of Industry
Level 1, 2 Somerset Place, Melbourne
Tuesday to Friday: 11am – 5pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11am – 4pm

Shop #3: Parlour
The Nicholas Building
Level 3, Room 3, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Tuesday to Friday: 11am – 6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11am – 6pm

Shop #4: League
League of Honest Coffee
8 Exploration Lane, Melbourne
Tuesday to Friday: 7am – 4pm

 

Melbournalia’s pop-up shops are open until Christmas Eve, 24 December 2011, vanishing after the big day – much like the man in red himself.

Lighting up Melbourne for Christmas

Monday 28 November 2011, 3:23 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events and Places and Style

The elves have been hard at work decorating the City of Melbourne this Christmas. But the mastermind behind the city’s dazzling Christmas light projections, AGB Events’ Anthony Bastic, managed to find time to tell readers about the projections for 2011 Christmas Festival.

How do you design the projections? It starts with a story. The creative team work out the overall narrative and message.

Next, the design team work out how best to portray the story through images, while enhancing the building’s architectural features.

How long does it take to create the work? The design process takes around eight weeks.

What is the story underpinning the Christmas projections? We have created two very different stories, one for the State Library and one for St Paul’s Cathedral, which are told via large-scale digital projections.

The Nutcracker story on the State Library is designed especially for children. Melbourne has a fantastic tradition of presenting highly decorated shop windows expressing a Christmas theme and we’ve tried to capture this idea in the design for the State Library, while presenting the story in a modern way.

The story on St Paul’s was created for grown-ups. The images on the cathedral reflect our life in Melbourne. We are reminded of the wonderful pink skies of the summer months, the beauty of country Victoria and the pulsating sun that supplies the life force. The fireflies can be interpreted as humankind as we make our way towards being with friends and family at Christmas.

What other similar projects have you worked on? My background is in creating and producing large-scale public celebrations. I love thinking up ideas that can experienced by many people, especially when they are offered free to the public – thanks, City of Melbourne.

If you could design a projection for any building in the world, what would it be? To be honest, Melbourne has so many wonderful Victorian buildings that take light projections beautifully. I have my eye on a few of them and am thinking up ideas all the time. If I had my pick of international buildings, I think the Taj Mahal, and Grand Central Station in New York, would be wonderful.

The Christmas projections on the facade of St Paul’s Cathedral facing Federation Square and on the front of the State Libary, starting Friday 2 December at 9.45pm.

Book a place for dinner or drinks nearby and be the first to witness these projections as part of the Christmas Festival.