CITY

A view towards Port Philip Bay from Southbank. Ever more high rise apartment blocks keep going up all in the name of progress...

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme.

MODERN LIVING

High-rise accommodation is proliferating in Melbourne at an alarming pace. An easy solution for the increased demand for housing by an unchecked population growth in a city of limited resources and failing infrastructure. Such are modern times and such is the lot of people subjected to modern living conditions...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

IN THE CITY

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

BOYD MURAL IN SHELL HOUSE

"Shell House" is the headquarters building for the Shell Company, designed by architect Harry Seidler  (25 June 1923 – 9 March 2006). It occupies a prominent corner site on the edge of the city, at Number 1, Spring St. The entry court is dominated by Seidler’s signature incorporation of a large-scale modern art work by Charles Perry, complementing his architecture.

Laid out in Seidler's signature 'S' shape, the building has two lobby floors, two mezzanine floors, 24 office levels and a 300 space below ground car park. It is located at the corner of Spring and Flinders Streets, overlooking parkland, the famous MCG and the Yarra River. It houses the Australian headquarters of Shell and also houses government and private tenants.

High up in the lobby, in one of the most inaccessible and most difficult to photograph positions is a porcelain Arthur Boyd mural: "Pulpit Rock, Bathers and Muzzled Dog", c. 1987. It is very difficult to find out more about this work, except that it was commissioned from the artist by Shell.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Monday Murals meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

VIEW FROM A SOUTHBANK APARTMENT

The view to the southwest towards Albert Park Lake and Port Phillip Bay here shows the busy arterial roads and a number of new apartment buildings built or being built. The signs at the bottom left are interesting and perhaps say something about our culture. Increasing numbers of people are now apartment dwellers in the inner city, living a café culture life. The young professionals, especially live life in the fast lane with some of the new city apartments not even having a proper kitchen (just a "galley"), as most meals are consumed out or ordered in...


The sign below is from a successful advertising campaign for Australian wine (which we do rather well...). I dare say there will be rather a lot of drinking and carousing today to celebrate our National Day! Happy Australia Day!


This is a post for the Signs, Signs meme.

MELBOURNE CITY SKYLINE FROM SOUTHBANK

The skyscrapers of Melbourne CBD are perfect counterfoil for the grand Flinders St Station by the Yarra River. Walking along Southbank, there are many opportunities for photographing picturesque views of the City skyline. Melbourne has many avenues of fine plane trees that provide cool leafy shade during the summer months.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, BARRY ST

The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria. The main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb just north of the Melbourne CBD. The university also has several other campuses located across Victoria. It is colloquially known as a sandstone university and has one of the largest financial endowments of any Australian university, standing at $1.173 billion as of 2010. The University of Melbourne consistently ranks among the best universities in Australia and the world, especially in the biological and health sciences. The university has been placed top in Australia and 37th in the world by the Times Higher Education 2011-2012 rankings of the world’s top 400 universities.

In Australia, Melbourne University is the second largest research organisation after the CSIRO. In 2010, it spent $767.5m on research and has consistently ranked first or second on the major national research indicators which are used by the Australian Government to allocate public funds for research and training infrastructure. The university has over 35,000 students, who are supported by just over 7,300 staff members. In 2008, it introduced the controversial "Melbourne Model", a combination of various practices from American and European universities, aimed at consistency with the European Union's "Bologna process" and international relevance and standing for its degrees. Glyn Davis AC is Melbourne's current vice-chancellor.

The University is ever-expanding as this series of relatively new buildings shows, mushrooming as they are from the preserved Victorian Terrace heritage buildings. As this is my Alma Mater, I maintain links with it and it is always a pleasure to go and visit, seeing that some things at east reamin the same there...

This post is part of the "Signs, Signs" meme.

GPO CLOCK TOWER - MORNING

It's December and the Christmas decorations have been up for a while now. This is a view of the old General Post Office clock tower in the morning light from the Bourke St Mall. To the left is the high rise building housing the central office of the Commonwealth Bank on Elizabeth St. The Christmas stars make for a festive addition to the bright blue morning sky.

This is a post for the Skywatch Friday meme.

SOUTHBANK - VIEW TO THE WEST

Southbank in Melbourne has seen amazing development since the Crown Casino complex was opened in 1997. High rise apartment buildings and office blocks have sprouted like mushrooms and have changed the skyline of Melbourne's CBD dramatically. Construction is still continuing at a frenetic pace. This is a view from Southbank towards the West nearing sunset. The sky is quite interesting.

This is a post for the Skywatch Friday blog meme.