The square from inside out: Federation Square, Melbourne
de Jong, Ursula 2004, The square from inside out: Federation Square, Melbourne, in LIMITS: proceedings from the 21st Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand, Society of Architectural Historians Australia & New Zealand, Melbourne, Vic., pp. 127-132.
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Title
The square from inside out: Federation Square, Melbourne
Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand Conference
Start page
127
End page
132
Publisher
Society of Architectural Historians Australia & New Zealand
Place of publication
Melbourne, Vic.
Summary
This XXlst Annual Conference of SAHANZ offers a timely opportunity for celebrating and critically reflecting on Federation Square, Melbourne - a project that continually crosses the line between the purely experimental and the built form (A Benjamin, 2003) and offers an opportunity to identify and investigate the different, often competing, limits within the discipline of architecture. Here in this project, considered by the city of Melbourne to point to its future aspirations; and by the RAIA as demonstrating 'the strength of design and the leap into the unknown which is where good design always comes from' (I McDougall, 2003), different approaches to the possibilities of 'limit' as a contemporary concern can be fruitfully explored. Architectural masterpieces are daringly imaginative and each in their own way challenges architects, engineers, builders and technologists - those who are to realise the dream - and makes administrators, politicians and governments put their credibility on the line. So how does Federation Square contribute to contemporary architectural debate, specifically to Melbourne architecture? How has it dealt with thresholds? Where has It approached, crossed and/or exceeded boundaries? This paper will deal with design aesthetics in the realisation of the Lab architects 'vision' in the context of historical, urban and political realities. Analysis will provide insights into the limitations imposed upon this architectural project and the limitations it now, in turn, imposes on the city. Two aspects will be dealt with: understanding Lab's overall vision, and juxtaposing the vision with the reality of Federation Square. The author's interview with Don Bates, principal Lab architecture studio, forms the frame argument about Federation Square in this paper.
ISBN
0646440624
Language
eng
Field of Research
120101 Architectural Design
Socio Economic Objective
970112 Expanding Knowledge in Built Environment and Design
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