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Melbourne docklands

Anonymous
edited May 2004 in architecture
Disappointed! What went wrong? It was a wonderful opportunity.

I am a visitor to Melbourne and was delighted by Federation square - especially the interiors, and the scaling, the layout, the paving - it was dynamic and exciting, and these were people spaces. The architect has moved away from tradition - perhaps the river connection disappoints, but the project team have produced a brave, major buil;ding in the very heart of your city. All must be praised. Wow.....

But not so to the Docklands development team. This place reminds me of Surfers Paradise - the scale of buildings built especially to shade the public area adjacent to the waters edge - not a happy environment to eat out or stroll in. Yes there is sun but somewhere behind in the backyard.

Who decides what is good for human consumption? Who designs such dark and cold outdoor spaces? Who should like these buildings and why? Waterfront development is not new. Seafront towns such as Portofino etc delight the human imagination, and the developers must have enjoyed such experiences, so why make docklands a modern slum? Stop for a moment and talk about other possibilities and perhaps the germ of an architectural response may yield similar delights to Federation square.
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