+ Bookmark or Share
Download PDF (1.67MB)
View a Map
Creative in design, courageous in innovation
Making headlines as a ‘design city’, Melbourne thrives on ideas and innovation, fuelled by the imaginations of our city’s many designers, architects and artists. Fresh and fearless design abounds in a city where each new idea sparks bigger flames of inspiration in others.
Adventure along our ‘City Spine’ walking tour, discover the talent on display in galleries and retail stores or simply escape into the city’s labyrinth of historic, sustainable and contemporary architectural design.
Melbourne’s architecture
Our City Spine walking tour gives a fantastic overview of Melbourne’s diverse architecture. Starting at the Australian Centre for contemporary Art and finishing at the Melbourne Museum, you will visit many of the architectural adventures that have transformed Melbourne from building blocks to building blockbuster.
Allow 1.5 to two hours to complete this walk.
City Spine walking tour
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (2002) Wood Marsh Architects
School of Drama, Victorian College of the Arts (2002)
Edmond & Corrigan
Centre for Ideas, Victorian College of the Arts (2004) Minifie Nixon
Melbourne Theatre Company & Melbourne Recital Centre (2008)
Ashton Raggat McDougall
Eureka Tower (2006) Fender Katsalidis
(Tip: Look for the Queen Bees by artist Richard Stringer)
Queensbridge Square (2006) City of Melbourne
Australian Histories and The Travellers (2006) City of Melbourne and Nadim Karam
Federation Square (2002) Lab Architecture Studio, Bates Smart
Flinders Street Station (1910) JW Fawcett, HPC Ashworth
St Paul’s Cathedral (1891) William Butterfield, Reed and Barnes
Adelphi Hotel (1993) Denton Corker Marshall
(Tip: Look up to see the ‘edgy’ swimming pool built into this five-star hotel.)
Manchester Unity Building (1932) Marcus Barlow
Melbourne Town Hall (1867) Joseph Reed
Capitol Theatre (1924) Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin
Council House 2 (2006) City of Melbourne, DesignInc.
Curtin House (1922) (Tip: Investigate all six floors inside to discover
chic bars, a bookshop, and a rooftop cinema)
QV (2005) Denton Corker Marshall; Lyons Architects; Kerstin Thompson Architects; John Wardle Architects, McBride Charles Ryan, NH Architecture
State Library of Victoria (1856/1990-2005) Joseph Reed /
Ancher Mortlock & Woolley, Geyer
Melbourne Central (1988-2005) Kisho Kurokawa, Bates Smart and
McCutcheon and Hassell/Ashton Raggat McDougall
Storey Hall (1887/1995) Tappin Gilbert & Dennehy /
Ashton Raggatt McDougall
RMIT Building 8 (1993) Edmond and Corrigan
Royal Exhibition Building (1880) Joseph Reed
Melbourne Museum (2000) Denton Corker Marshall.
(Tip: go inside to see Designed to Inspire exhibitions)
Federation Square – a centre for design and innovation
The opening of Federation Square in 2002 stirred our city’s passion
for good design. Today, nearly every Melburnian has an opinion
on architecture, and many use Federation Square as an example of
excellence. With a unique sloping plaza and a dramatic glass and steel atrium, Federation Square is a fantastic starting point for your journey.
It’s also home to three key institutions of innovation:
• Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)
• National Design Centre
• The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Melbourne Docklands
The west of the city holds a wealth of new design discoveries.
There’s the new Southern Cross Station on Spencer Street, with its unique sculptured rooftop. The station is also the gateway to Melbourne Docklands.
Docklands is the city’s new waterfront precinct, built on the former site of an industrial port. The precinct is being redeveloped in stages, and is expected to be completed in 2020.
Docklands features some award-winning partnerships between artists and architects. Architecture of note includes:
Tower 5 at Yarra’s Edge (2000) Wood Marsh Architects. This
award-winning apartment tower features a diamond-shaped
exterior and bronze torso.
Webb Bridge (2003) Robert Owen, Denton Corker Marshall.
The bridge creates a meandering thoroughfare between Yarra’s Edge and Docklands Park.
ANZ Headquarters (To be completed 2009) Hassell. Soon to be Melbourne’s latest 5-star green star energy building.*****
NAB Headquarters (2005) Bligh Voller Neild. Housing more than 3,600 employees, this building features large open spaces and a sunny atria in the heart of the building.
Digital Harbour Port 1010 (2006) Ashton Raggat McDougall.
With a striking visual façade, Port 1010 reflects the innovation of Melbourne’s new Digital Harbour precinct. *****
Allow one hour to complete Docklands design walk.
Green stars
Green stars is an initiative of the Australian Green Building Council. The stars are awarded through a comprehensive, national, voluntary environmental rating.
***** signifies ‘Australian Excellence’
****** signifies ‘World Leadership’
In store
Discover dedicated design exhibitions, quality craft retailers and innovative furniture design.
National Design Centre, Federation Square, Flinders Street. A compact exhibition space often occupied by local designers. A retail space displays locally designed and made products. Monday to Friday. 10am to 5pm, Saturday to Sunday, noon to 5pm. Phone: 9654 6335.
Counter, Craft Victoria, 31 Flinders Lane. A one-stop-shop for anything handmade. Counter sells goods made by local jewellers, ceramicists and artists. Tuesday to Saturday. 10am to 5pm. Phone: 9650 7775.
Furniture design corner, corner Russell and Exhibition streets. Discover stylish international furniture combined with innovative Australian products, such as Euroluce Lighting, German hardware manufacturer Häfele, and Hub Furniture.
Architext Bookstore, 41 Exhibition Street. Take a short detour from the east end of Collins Street to uncover a wide range of design titles from the practical to the theoretical, including the Melbourne Design Guide (rrp $35). Monday – Friday 9am – 5.30pm, Saturdays 10am-4pm. Phone: 8620 3814.
Designed to Inspire, Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton Gardens. A regular program of exhibitions, forums and events celebrating Victorian, Australian and international design. Open seven days, 10am-5pm. Phone: 13 11 02.
Out and about
Irreverent, experimental, creative, collaborative and, above all, unrestricted by tradition. Those who spend their time adding to Melbourne’s visual culture are all about the art. Look and you will see. Melbourne is filled with hundreds of fascinating examples of typography – creatively designed text and signage designed to delight, provoke, and inspire.
Flip signage, Corner Elizabeth and La Trobe streets. Large inverted letters adorning Melbourne Central.
Herald Sun, Flinders Street. Large white letters overlook the Yarra River at the upper end of Flinders Street. These letters, protected by the National Trust, invite the viewer to reconsider the notion of a city skyline.
Innovation
Melbourne’s growing numbers of digital and media artists are redefining what it means to be innovative in the 21st century.
Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Federation Square, Flinders Street, ACMI is art, design and technology all rolled into one. Housing the longest screen gallery in the world in a space that was once an underground train platform, it embraces all forms of screen-based culture. Phone: 8663 2200.
Loop, 19 Meyers Place. Indulge in the latest animation and interactive design while enjoying a beverage of your choice. Loop features state-of-the-art rotating exhibitions on large screens. Phone: 9654 0500.
Horse Bazaar, 397 Little Lonsdale Street. Run by a collective of young animation lovers, screens are located throughout this venue, showing local and international works. Phone: 9670 2329.
For more information
• Visit the Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square,
located on the corner of Swanston and Flinder Streets;
• Visit the Melbourne Visitor Booth in the Bourke Street Mall;
• Call City of Melbourne on 9658 9658