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Open Sesame 
Former Land Titles Office – fire door
It’s that time of year when dusty old Melbourne buildings fling their doors open for 12 hours of inspection by hoi polloi. This Saturday and Sunday, enter the city with a comfortable pair of shoes and have a good poke around.
Open House Melbourne is now in its fifth year, and has grown again. This year one gadzillion buildings will be open and over 100,000 citizens are expected to attend. This might be off-putting, but I have attended most years and never had to queue for anything. I have avoided the Russell Place substation for this reason though.
The effort by the OHM team has been mighty, once again. As will be this year’s 800 volunteers. Show them a little appreciation and attend.
Having gotten quite lost in their website (the mobile version is easier to navigate), I thought I’d drop some tips here. What I would give for a giant PDF… I have left out the buildings you can wander through anytime, pre-balloted tours, and ones in the ‘burbs.
Buildings I’ve been to which were pretty bloody OK.
- Capitol Theatre. Burley-Griffin and Mahoney’s big urban moment. Access to some out of bounds areas I think… OHM link
- Myer Mural Hall. I only saw this while drunk at a function, but it was a surprise to find it still there at the top of the new escalators. OHM link
- Former Land Titles Office. Just a real treat. Not what you’d expect from the outside. OHM link ( This one was a REAL surprise. Very recommended. )
- Mission to Seafarers. A fun spanish mish-mash with a special dome room – unfortunately it now has a false floor. OHM link Butterpaper.com post
Buildings I haven’t been to, but would like to get to…
- Forte. OHM link (In construction cross-laminated timber apartment building) UPDATE – only the site perimeter is open now.
- Royal Melbourne Hospital tunnels. OHM link
- 32 Kerr Street by NMBW. OHM link
- The Bastow Institute by Maddison Architects. OHM link
Tours include:
- The lighting tour – see Ian Dryden turn Melbourne’s lights on and off with an iPhone.
- Soundwalks by the Australian Forum of Acoustic Ecology.
- Barchitecture bar tours with Mark Healy from Six Degrees.
Batman Kangan TAFE, Docklands
27.07.12 in tours
Hi am an historian currently writing the history of the former Land Titles Office. Love your image of the gears in the shutters and was wondering if I could have permission to reproduce it in my book.
hopefully, Robin
by robin grow on 28 August 12 ·#
City circuit on a Saturday
Please note that this post is brought to you by the all-new Hyundai Accent *
Last weekend I took some people from Hyundai on a tour of Inner Melbourne. This drive-around in a spanking new Accent was part of a multi-blogger series of design tours in the lead up to a design competition they are holding soon. Once I figured out how to start a car with no key, we were off.
We had three hours on a perfect Saturday morning and ended up spending so much time wandering around buildings that the itinerary was cut back to just the inner city. Still we managed to see quite a bit of Melbourne’s larger works.
We saw the gents at the shrine (no exeloo, this) / the shrine extensions by ARM/- Vault and ACCA in Sturt Street / slow drive bys of NGV, Federation Square, Russell Street cinemas, Total House, RMIT’s brain, RMIT Storey Hall, RMIT Building 8, coffee stop at the State Library, and Melbourne Terrace.
Their pro shots above are here followed with my attempts to use the camera they gave me to document the journey and future posts. As it was the first time I’d used it I was still trying to figure out exposure… still am.
Oh, what do you know. They’ve just put together a video.
Butter Paper from think possible on Vimeo.
* Please note: Hyundai Australia provided the use of a new Hyundai Accent for the day. An agency representative was also on hand to capture images and facilitate & fund the creation of the experience.
05.09.11 in tours
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If you want to see Japan...
I have just had to pull out of the next Japan Architecture Tour in late September and October, run by Queensland architect Robert Day. Terrible unfortunate. As some compensation for wasting his time trying to find me a suitable airfare, I would like to plug the tour to anyone remotely interested. I have friends who have been on previous tours and vouch for it – one even going twice.
The tour comes in two flavours, one including the 24th UIA World Architecture Congress in Tokyo, and one not.
The UIA Congress will feature guest speakers such as Fumihiko Maki, Tadao Ando, Kengo Kuma and Christo. The tour is reasonably priced and provides an opportunity to see some famous traditional and contemporary buildings. There are many interesting architecture exhibitions on at the same time including one of the most comprehensive exhibitions about the Japanese Metabolist Movement which featured world renowned architect like Kenzo Tange, Kisho Kurokawa and many more.
OPTION 1 – 14 DAY TOUR (Sep 24 – Oct 8) COST – $4500 AUD
This tour incorporates attendance at the UIA Congress followed by a fully guided tour spending 10 nights in Tokyo and 4 nights in Kyoto.
( Inclusions: Accommodation, venue entries (30 Sep – 8 Oct only), 7 day JR Rail Pass, ground transport costs (30 Sep – 8 Oct only), full tour guidance. Exclusions: Airfares, meals, airport transfers, UIA Congress registration costs, UIA Congress programme and UIA event costs. )
OPTION 2 – 9 DAY TOUR (Sep 30 – Oct 8) – $3800 AUD
This fully guided tourr commences at the conclusion of the UIA congress spending 5 nights in Tokyo and 4 nights in Kyoto.
( Inclusions: Accommodation, venue entries, 7 day JR Rail Pass, ground transport costs, full tour guidance. Exclusions: Airfares, meals, airport transfers.)
In Tokyo the tour will visit art galleries and museums designed by famous architects, visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Jiyu Gakuen School and spend time in the architectural hotspots of Ginza and Omotesando. In Kyoto the tour will visit famous temples and shrines and travel to Meiji Mura and to Hyogo to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel and Yamamura House.
For information about Japan Architecture Tours visit japanarchitecturetours.
22.08.11 in tours
Callum Morton bus tour
Not sure how many artists in Melbourne would warrant a bus tour. Meadmore? King? The bus tour organised by Heide on Saturday coincides with Morton’s exhibition at Heide III, which is by his own admission a bit of a theme-park. He jokes in a recent ABC interview that he’d like some moneybags to help him set up Callum’s World, where all his unwieldy old works can go to roost. Valhalla is currently packed into two shipping containers in Melbourne’s East.
Anyway, I’m no art critic, but I recommend going to see the exhibition for yourself if you’re in Melbourne. It surveys the first twenty years of Morton’s career, and includes a homage to Heide II.
Here are some pics from the bus tour, hosted by Philip Goad.
Hotel, Eastlink. Looking like an over-sized model rather than a down-sized building. No vacancy.
Silverscreen. Gateway to Monash University Museum of Art. A drive-in cinema scaffold bookending Monash Building F
08.08.11 in tours