Guide To Melbourne Architecture

Melbourne’s settlement in 1835 was a shrewd, if not entirely legal,
piece of real estate speculation, not at all like Sydney and Hobart
which began as penal colonies. Surveyor Robert Hoddle’s grid plan grew over the next 160 years, and Melbourne developed from a hick pastoral outpost to an urbane city. Today, that grid remains, housing a dense concentration of skyscrapers studded with elegant Victorian public buildings, surrounded by graceful public gardens to the north, east, and south; serviced until recently by docks to the west; and approached by the tree-lined boulevards of St Kilda and Flemington roads and Royal and Victoria parades. Modern Melbourne is an elegant city whose centre has been re- invigorated with energy conserving office and apartment buildings. Its new infrastructure of link roads, freeways and bypasses is enhanced by sculptural screens and overpasses and recent architecture is both thoughtful and inspiring — all good signs for the city’s future..

This new edition of the popular Melbourne Architecture Guide has been updated and expanded to include more than 50 buildings from the last ten years. Now printed in colour, it gives great insight into the gracious city of Melbourne. In particular it examines the issues of preservation versus development and urban planning while charting the features that create a city's spatial character. This guide was awarded the Bates Smart Award for excellence for published works which promote architecture.

ISBN 9780 949284 891 (pbk) 2nd Edition 332 pp Softcover 255mm x 135mm Colour throughout