City Square, Melbourne
Encyclopedia
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The square is currently bounded by Swanston Street, Collins Street
Collins Street, Melbourne
Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district and runs approximately east to west.It is notable as Melbourne's traditional main street and best known street, is often regarded as Australia's premier street, with some of the country's finest Victorian era buildings.The...
, Flinders Lane and the Westin Hotel. Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...
(1870) and St Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria...
(1891) are prominent landmarks to the north and south respectively. The square has been redeveloped several times and associated with a number of controversies over the years.
History and development
Melbourne was originally planned with a number of large parks around the periphery of its central business district, but lacked a major civic open space in the heart of the city. Convinced that public squares only encouraged democracy Governor GippsGeorge Gipps
Sir George Gipps was Governor of the colony of New South Wales, Australia, for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship was during a period of great change for New South Wales and Australia, as well as for New Zealand, which was administered as part of New South Wales for much of this...
(who presided over the planning of Melbourne) demanded that no towns laid out during his term of office should have them included within their boundaries.
First plans
Sir Bernard Evans, architect, city councillor and later Lord Mayor of Melbourne, first raised the idea of a city square in 1961, an idea that was not adopted by Melbourne City Council until he raised it again in 1966. Following this, Council began the process of acquiring properties along Swanston Street between the Town Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral. A number of buildings were demolished including the Cathedral Hotel, Green’s Buildings, Wentworth House, Regency House but most notably the Queen Victoria Buildings (1888) and buildings in Regent Place, a source of great regret to many. The Regent TheatreRegent Theatre, Melbourne
The Regent Theatre is a 2162 seat theatre in Melbourne, Australia. It is listed by the National Trust of Australia and is on the Victorian Heritage Register.-History:...
was also intended to be demolished, but was saved by a union ban. Although the saving of the Regent Theatre was a major victory for heritage conservation, the restriction of the site area and the presence of a long blank façade limited any grand visions for the space.
By 1968 a temporary square was installed. In February 1976 a performance by the band AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
was filmed there for a a video clip
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
for the single It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
"It's a Long Way to the Top " is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's album T.N.T., released in December 1975, and was written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott...
. The video was filmed on the same day as the well-known version filmed on the back of a flatbed truck travelling down Swanston Street.
Design and construction of a new square
In 1976, an architectural competition was launched by Melbourne City Council to design a permanent square which was won by Denton Corker MarshallDenton Corker Marshall
Denton Corker Marshall is a major award-winning Australian architecture practice established in Melbourne in 1972. It was founded by architects John Denton, Bill Corker, and Barrie Marshall...
architects. The design, responding to the complex brief, included a giant video screen, restaurants, shops and outdoor cafes, connected by a glazed canopy, a sunken amphitheatre, graffiti wall, reflecting pool, water wall and cascades as well as the open area of the main square. The area was extensively paved with sawn bluestone. The Burke and Wills Statue (1864) by Charles Summers
Charles Summers
Charles Summers was an English-born Australian sculptor, creator of the memorial to the explorers Burke and Wills.-Early life:...
was positioned (somewhat ironically) next to the cascades.
Following its opening by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
on May 28, 1980 the new square attracted criticism from the general public. The Melbourne Age newspaper reported "in interviews with newspaper reporters and on talk-back radio, many Melburnians have blasted their long awaited City Square for what they see as its bareness, the noise from its controversial video matrix screen and the starkness of the glazed steel canopy running along the Regent Theatre Wall". A large yellow steel sculpture titled “Vault”
Vault (sculpture)
Vault is a public sculpture located in Melbourne, Australia. The work of sculptor Ron Robertson-Swann, Vault is an abstract, minimalist sculpture built of large thick flat polygonal sheets of prefabricated steel, assembled in a way that suggests dynamic movement...
by Ron Robertson-Swann (dubbed the "Yellow Peril") which was commissioned as a centrepiece for the square was relocated to Batman Park after a few months, following heated public debate.
1990s redevelopment
In the late 1990s over half the square was sold for the development of the Westin Hotel. and in the period between 1997 and 2000 the remaining area of the square was totally redeveloped with a much simpler plan and granitic gravel was introduced to contrast with more traditional bluestone paving. A long linear water feature and a water wall known as the John Mockridge Fountain were installed. A cast bronze statue of a small dog titled Larry La TrobeLarry La Trobe
Larry La Trobe is the name given to a popular, cast bronze statue of a dog situated on the northern end of Melbourne’s City Square...
is located in the north-west corner. The statue became widely known after its theft in 1995 after installation in 1992. Following a long public campaign, a revamped version of the statue was recast and reinstalled in 1996. The statue was created by Melbourne artist Pamela Irving
Pamela Irving
Pamela Irving is a prominent Australian Visual artist specialising in bronze, ceramic and mosaic sculptures as well as printmaking and copper etchings...
. In 2003 raised grassed areas were added to soften the space and provide informal seating areas.
Current status
With the substantial reduction of its area and the opening of the nearby Federation SquareFederation Square
Federation Square is a civic centre and cultural precinct in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
in 2002, the civic importance of the City Square is now diminished. On October 15th 2011, members of the Global Occupation Movement attempted to revive the function as public meeting place. After only 6 days, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle ordered a eviction of the #occupymelbourne movement from City Square, which was violently enforced by riot police.