Monday 9 July 2012

QUEEN BEE MURAL AT EUREKA TOWER

When in Southbank one of the highlights for many Melbourne visitors is visiting the 297.3-metre tall Eureka Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. The observation deck on the top provides stunning 360˚ views of the City.

However, some visitors may miss seeing the "Queen Bee" mural which adorns one of the sides of the building. The "Queen Bee" was developed by sculptor Richard Stringer for a series of studio works in 2003-04. Nonda Katsalidis, the architect, saw these original sculptures and began the process of finding funding for a large scale version while Stringer adapted the idea to the building in regards to scale, layout and construction method.

Katsalidis and Stringer had discussed the idea of making a permanent installation on various building projects over the years and the image of a Queen Bee and colony had a obvious conceptual compatibility to the context of this gigantic residential tower. The gold finish of Stringer's works also complemented the golden glass apex of the building designed by Katsalidis.

The sculptures are made from anodised aluminium sheet using cast aluminium for all the antennae and small bees' legs. The sheets are riveted together using 110,000 anodised rivets. The work was begun in January 2006 at Stringer's Richmond studio and the completed work was installed in December 2007.

The sculptural mural provides a wonderful 3D mural creation that catches the eye and decorates beautifully the lower parts of this iconic Melbourne skyscraper.

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.











13 comments:

  1. That's brilliant- really eye catching and creative.

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  2. fascinating as we zoom in on it

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  3. Eureka tower has become such an icon in Melbourne. I was quite surprised when I first saw the bees and had not made the "colony" connection. I thought they were a modernist take on the use of bees in historical architecture e.g. The interior of St Peters Church in Rome is adorned with bees.

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  4. Indeed, very eye catching, I like it a lot. It's so different!

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  5. Amazing! I love the bees! Fascinating place and your captures are terrific as always, Nick! Hope you have a good week!

    Sylvia

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  6. these look like rather friendly bees.
    though, sadly, without any honey.

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  7. OMG I am IN LOVE! - Those are simply spectacular. Proves that when artists and architects collaborate art can be such an integral part of a site rather than an after thought. Thank you so much for the back story!

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  8. Awesome ! Even though they make me a bit afraid, an amazing idea ! Please have a wonderful Tuesday.

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  9. Really fun and inventive street art! Great find!

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  10. These are wonderful. Now you've got me wondering how big this pieces are. They look huge. La Princepessa is right, this collaboration between architects and artist enrich both their works. Thanks, Nick, for contributing to Monday Mural.

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