MURAL IN LITTLE LONSDALE ST

This mural is in Little Lonsdale Street in the City. The quirky man in swimming gear is speaking Indonesian, "Mohon Doa Restu" meaning "Ask for the Blessing". It looks like an apocalyptic scene behind him, with fire, brimstone and a flood thrown in for good measure...

This post is part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Monday Murals meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

THREE BRIDGES ON THE YARRA

Three bridges on the Yarra River in Melbourne’s CBD:

1. The Sandridge Bridge (Disused Railway bridge). From 1888, crossing from Melbourne to Southbank. First bridge built 1853, second bridge built 1858, current bridge built 1888. Former rail bridge for the Port Melbourne and St Kilda railway lines, first rail crossing of the Yarra, converted to pedestrian use in 2006;
2. Southgate Bridge Pedestrian – From 1992, crossing from Melbourne to Southbank. Notice the giant mistletoe sprig for special Christmas kisses!
3. Princes Bridge (Major Road/Tram bridge) – From 1888, crossing from Melbourne to Southbank. First bridge built 1844, second bridge built 1850, current bridge built 1888.

This post is part of the Sunday Bridges meme,

and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

CHRISTMAS IN THE ROYAL ARCADE

Royal Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria. Originally constructed in 1869, the arcade connects Little Collins Street to the Bourke Street Mall, with a perpendicular passage running to Elizabeth Street in the west. It also connects to the smaller Hub Arcade near the Little Collins Street end.

Originally designed by Charles Webb, the arcade features a high glass roof and windowed stores. At the south end, the arcade features effigies of mythical figures Gog and Magog and a clock which chimes each hour. The arcade was restored between 2002-04 which resulted in additional natural light and consistency of the shopfronts.

It is a significant Victorian era arcade, listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. In addition, Melbourne's Golden Mile heritage walk runs through the arcade. Along with Melbourne's other arcade, the Block Arcade, and Melbourne's lanes, it is a tourist icon of the city. Royal Arcade is famous for its fashion stores as well as specialty stores such as tarot card reading store.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

BOX HILL TOWN HALL

The Box Hill Town Hall is a landmark civic building located on Whitehorse Road, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia. Designed in the Neo-Grec style by architects JS Gawler and JCA Isbett, the town hall was built between 1934 and 1935. It was the administrative and community headquarters of the City of Box Hill prior to that city’s amalgamation with the City of Nunawading to form the new City of Whitehorse in 1994.

The town hall is described as having "regional architectural, historic and social importance" by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria). Its imposing façade has been utilised by the television series Neighbours as the external setting for the court house in the fictional town of Erinsborough.

The interior includes a main hall and other community and meeting spaces. There are two dates engraved on the town hall’s portico – 1927, the year Box Hill was proclaimed a city, and 1994, the year of amalgamation. The crest of the former City of Box Hill is also featured on the portico. In 2006, the town hall underwent a $6.5 million redevelopment as a hub for community based services and programs and a home for the City of Whitehorse arts and historical collections.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 55 - ANGOPHORA

Angophora costata is a common woodland and forest tree of Eastern Australia and is known by a variety of names including smooth-barked apple, rose gum, rose apple or Sydney red gum. It grows primarily on sandstone soils, usually on headlands, plateaus or other elevated areas. Here it is seen growing int he shopping mall of Box Hill, an outer Melbourne suburb.

A. costata differs from the majority of gum trees in that it is not a Eucalyptus, but rather a closely related genus. A. costata is a large, wide, spreading tree. Usually seen of a height between 15 and 25 m. The trunk is often gnarled and crooked with a pink to pale grey, sometimes rusty-stained bark. The timber is brittle and limbs tend to fall readily. In nature the butts of such limbs form callused bumps on the trunk and add to the gnarled appearance. The old bark is shed in spring in large flakes with the new salmon-pink bark turning to pale grey before the next shedding.

More recently, genetic work has been published showing Angophora to be more closely related to Eucalyptus than Corymbia, and the name Eucalyptus apocynifolia has been proposed for this species if it were to be placed in the genus Eucalyptus.

This post is part of the Signs, Signs meme,
and also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

QUEENS PARK, MOONEE PONDS

Queens Park is a delightful park in Moonee Ponds, and a retreat from nearby busy streets. It is a popular park with a rose garden and a sunken garden. It is located at the corner of Mt Alexander Road and Kellaway Avenue (Melways ref: 28J6). A central feature of the park is Queens Lake with its three little islands and jets of water.

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Wild Bird Wednesday meme.

CHRISTMAS AT 333 COLLINS ST

333 Collins Street is possibly the most ambitious of all post-modern projects from the 90s office boom. The building is the latest reuse of a bank which dates back to 1891. The CBA building was significantly modified in the 1930s with a modern chicagoesque facade. The 333 Collins Street project maintains the original banking chamber dome of the CBA, via a complex feat of engineering.

On top of this the building adds a mass of granite and glass in a step back form. The tower culminates in a copper dome reminiscent of Flinders Street Station, making an impression on the skyline. The effect of cascading masses gives a picturesque sillhouette to the building. The Collins Street facade was again remodelled to a semblance of the original Victorian classical building, and a podiums which are sympathetic to neighbouring buildings. This gives the post-modern ability to be read as either a collection of buildings or the one.

The new podium has a smaller version of the main dome, and elaborate ornamentation, with granite stonework and large brass lanterns. Internal corridors are also elaborately vaulted, with renaissance classical inspiration.An impressive post-modern skyscraper which spares no expense in recreating the grandeur of Victorian Melbourne, whilst achieving a timelessness all of its own.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

ABITO APARTMENTS, FITZROY

The brief for the award winning Abito was to integrate the heritage value of the existing streetscape in a new residential project delivering environmental design innovation. The construction was very demanding given the logistical constraints of the inner-urban environment. The building features 60 luxury apartments, a double basement car park and a number of retail tenancies. The Urban Development Institute of Australia recognised Hickory’s work on Abito by awarding the project their 2006 Award for Excellence, Medium-Density Development.

The building addresses the corner and transitions its height to meet its eastern neighbours.  By directing vehicle access to the laneway, the street frontage is reserved for retail and residential entries.  The continuous ground floor and the indented upper floors respond to the residential character across Victoria Street, while the flat treatment of the eastern façade responds to the adjacent industrial architecture. The variation in the exterior walls also permits access to light and air for internal rooms and upper level landscaped terraces. The graffiti/mural finish on the lowermost walls fits in with the graffiti on other surrounding buildings, while conserving the pink/green colour scheme of the project.

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.

CITY VIEW, TWILIGHT

Princes Bridge is one of the central bridges in Melbourne and links Swanston Street to St Kilda Road. It is the third bridge on the site, and dates from 1888. In the best Melbourne tradition, the bridge is built on solid bluestone bulwarks with plenty of cast iron. Solid yet elegant, befitting the style of the city called "Marvellous Melbourne" since the late 19th century gold rush days.

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Sunday Bridges meme.

BRUNSWICK ST REFLECTIONS

Brunswick Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, known for cafés, trendy boutiques, live music venues and alternative lifestyle shops. The street runs north-south through the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North, from Victoria Parade at its southernmost end, crossing Alexandra Parade, and continuing until it reaches St Georges Road in Fitzroy North, near the Edinburgh Gardens; there, its former northward course is continued by a much smaller residential street named Brunswick Street North.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.