Well there I was, minding my own business – which as you know all too well is my wont, nay my metier, when what should I happen upon on the wires but the Flinders St Railway Station Redevelopment Competition site? (I said “ReDev” in the title above to try to sound cool. I thought it sounded – and looked cool – so I thought I’d just go with it and ‘play in this space’ as all the coolest people say these days.
Anyway, it is just wonderful what we can do now to show people what’s going on. The videos are all great to watch, though that’s not to say all the designs are much chop. But I liked one of them a lot when I went through it – it actually gave me a bit of a thrill. Just one thrilled me I’m afraid, and I am quite thrillable I assure you, especially by architecture. Still it was the first one I watched. So perhaps that was mostly what was going on. After all, they’re all very much from the same school of groovy, oped concept driven modernism.
Which is a whole other story, about which I will, if I get the time, write a post about. In the meantime, your task is to vote in this special Troppo competition and explain your reasoning. We are unable to offer any time in the Troppo Mercedes Sports as it has been repossessed under a little known by-law on the repossession of imaginary objects and rooter is still in the garage. What’s new, I hear you ask (but I digress). No. The winner of the competition will win a ride on Troppo’s unique Time Machine to attend both the original Flinders St Station opening in 1910, returning to contemporary times via the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Your task, should you decide to accept it, will be to focus Troppo’s Giant Magnet ® on Captain De Groot’s sword foiling his darstardly plan to cut the ribbon before Sydney’s redoutable demagogue and all round nice guy, Jack Lang got to cut it.
It’s too late for me to be expanding on my thoughts, but I liked the Velasquez one most of all – the open green space, the bike inclusions, the ferry terminal, the openness. Though you wouldn’t put a rail museum into the ballroom. I didn’t much like the Zaha Hadid one, didn’t look Melbourne at all, very internationalist, Modernist. And I don’t think Ashton Raggets idea of a school is a very clever use of this primest of prime real estate, though I admit their idea confuses me. NH Architecture proposal was really just a train station (but hey it is that). The hassog & herzel one would look a lot less interesting in real life on a rainy day, was pretty boring really, apart from the amphitheatre.
I voted, gave Velasquez et al 17/20, the others 13 or 14 each.
I didn’t particularly like their architecture, but I thought the idea of a school was inspired. I expect there’s a fair demand for one there, given the extent to which the CBD is starting to house people (and there’s a chicken and egg thing going on there, schools will make the CBD more liveable for families. But when you can design the building to really work as a school you can give the kids the run of the rooftops which can be really well landscaped to accommodate them. And it’s a nice idea that the kids aren’t bussed off to the burbs, if we can make the CBD suit them – which perhaps we can.
I hadn’t known taht the Colombian architects were little more than students: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/colombian-students-chase-flinders-st-design-dream-20130725-2qkyc.html
Heartwarming. I like it even more.
Hilarious! A couple of trees and a park bench become an “urban forest”, catching a train becomes “a new rail experience” and then there’s the “Interactive Sustainability Park”, in which I presume the grass springs back after you walk on it.
All that was missing was a tecnology shrub and a multi-function polished floor.
As a former Melburnian from the early seventies, I find this destruction of Flinders Street station depressing. The iconic image of Sydney is the Sydney Harbour Bridge alongside the Opera House. To me that says Sydney. What says “Melbourne”? It’s the image of Flinders Street Station from across Flinders Street looking south-west onto the grand entrance featuring the old time-table clocks and domes, with the view down Flinders Street looking west towards the Elizabeth Street entrance. What they’re planning is sacrilege. Surely Flinders Street Station can be renovated-remodelled inside.
Another ghastly accompaniment to that corner to match the hideous Federation Square!
For mine, it’s got to be the Zaha Hadid. All the others have a greater or lesser degree of worthiness but some of the features will only appeal to the artiscenti. A Museum of Design? Great! A Garden of Eden? Sure, why not? An amphitheatre? Yes, fabulous! But these features will not necessarily appeal to everybody. Hadid has made the West End into a 24/7 destination. A hotel. A shopping centre. An office building. She/they have made a place that will be truly activated all the time and that will give the station, river and precinct a shot in the arm.
It’s also probably the least likely to be built.