YTIC ERAUQS MORF SIHT WEIV
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Digging for the Truth 2.
Table of Contents
An insightful look into City Square’s colourful yet often uncelebrated history
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An overall analysis of the site as captured through its plan and sectional views
Oh, How Appropriate A small group of retail tenancies’ collective attempt at rekindling the spirit of City Square
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Trust the Dimensions!
Light at the End of the Tunnel A look into the grand scheme of things surrounding the City Council’s plans for its metro and the specifics pertaining to City Square itself
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Seems like a Petri Dish A focus on the development of a narrative derived upon City Square’s history and its penchant for change
Adventures in Dandenong A survey of the highly populated but widely underappreciated suburb
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Background First, Then Foreground
Unveiling of the Shed
An alternate view on City’s Square’s History and the subsequent discovery of a behavioral pattern of political proportion
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Globetrotting We take a look at case studies from different ends of the world—from a pavilion in Marseille to a subterranean train station in Singapore
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A speculated outcome of City Square’s relapse in the near future upon the City Council’s idiosyncrasies
Raising the Final Curtain The conclusive unveiling of an unexpected yet inevitable City Square and its metro station
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Danger, Content Overload!
Table of Contents
We reimagine the City Council’s scheme of its interim shed as a container of curiosity aimed at everyday commuters
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Digging for the Truth
The Hoddle Grid (1837) Named after the surveyor Robert Hoddle, the street grid of 1.6 × 0.8km had an initial scheme which did not accommodate for public squares which may have been attributed to architects’ allegiance to commercial powers then.
The appropriate siting of such a central square, it was argued, was the block bounded by Collins, Swanston, Bourke and Elizabeth streets. In spite of the Melbourne City Council’s fear of occurrences like the public assembly in Market Square of 1886 where the police could not take action unless a riot is ensued, by the mid-1960s, repeated proposals between the 1850s to the 1950s for a central square were eventually answered; the council reserved the whole of Swanston Street’s frontage from Flinders Lane north to Collins Street for a civic space in the heart of the city.
Digging for the Truth
This was greatly criticised in an 1850 pamphlet where the original design was thought to lack 'squares and circuses' that add beauty and healthful circulation throughout towns. An anonymous critic mentioned of the absence in Melbourne of 'one of the first requirements of a town' - a central square.
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Digging for the Truth
► As demolition works of the pre-existing Queen Victoria buildings progressed to its final phase, a vast temporary square was planned and built by then Lord Mayor, Councillor Ron Walker, in anticipation of the Royal visit by the queen in the following year.
◄ The selected corner along Swanston street, once proudly occupied in the 1890s by Queen Victoria buildings were eventually purchased by the City Council and slowly but surely demolished and vacated to make way for the impending City Square.
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In light of the City council’s decision to invest more into the development of the subway system, a smaller and less costly square plan was developed which comprises of a three triangular planters and a large circular grass bed in its centre.
A Brief Timeline
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1976
◄ In a design competition to redesign the City Square, the project was awarded to Denton Corker Marshall’s (DCM) for their proposal which included a giant video screen; sunken amphitheatre, retail arcade, cascading water feature and a glazed canopy which connects them all. It was officially unveiled by the Queen in 1980.
► Following the DCM’s intervention. over half of the square was purchased for the development of the Westin Hotel. The smaller reiterated City Square was of a much more conservative nature having relieved itself from the undulating terrain and instead, opting for turf-lined surfaces for informal seating and a granitic gravel finish to facilitate the installation of publicly held events.
Digging for the Truth
In their response to the design brief, DCM’s iteration was executed upon a terrain of fragmented spaces of varying floor heights to deter mass gatherings of people. This eventually led to the demise of their design where passive surveillance was absent. Amongst its other widely criticised features; the noisy video screen, scorching heat generated from the glass canopy and the controversial Vault sculpture by Ron Robertson-Swann.
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Digging for the Truth
The Voice of Melbourne The venue of City Square has been an inadvertent activator for numerous protests and controversies since its inception.
Digging for the Truth
Notable issues raised by the public includes the demonstration by Vietnam Information Service (1968) where Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War was the main focal point; The Occupy Melbourne movement (2011) where many expressed their discontent pertaining to issues such as economic inequality and corporate greed. More recently in 2016, a group of homeless people settled in the western part of City Square where the elm tree sits, in the aftermath of a police crackdown on aggressive beggars in the CBD.
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City Square’s Artistic Ventures
Digging for the Truth
The Vault (1980)
Larry Latrobe (1992) A life size dingo-like dog tasked at overseeing the activities within City Square. It was famously stolen in 1995 and reproduced in 1996 in a redder tinged appearance.
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Burke and Wills Monument (1865) The monument marks the ill-fated journey of Burke and Wills on their exploration of Victoria and recounts their misfortune which resulted from rash decision making and bad timing in the development to their eventual death.
Arguably the most controversial sculpture to have graced City Square, the Vault was eventually relocated by the City Council in the midst of the public uproar surrounding it where it was given its racist moniker the yellow peril but not before it was adopted by
graffiti and the homeless. Its downfall is often attributed to the insensitivity of its prominence, and its perceived incompatibility with the site where no sympathy was spared to its pre-existing historic neighbours, such as St Paul’s Cathedral and Town Hall.
Looking Glass (2000)
Produced by indigenous artists and features the rainbow serpent design with native Australian animals.
Water feature commemorating the sister city relationships between Melbourne and Osaka, Tianjin, Thessaloniki Boston and St. Petersburg.
Sited on the corner of Little Flinders and Swanston Street, the patinated bronze sculpture like more of the Artist’s works is deeply rooted in religious symbolism, perhaps, justifying its close proximity to St Paul’s Cathedral.
Warin the Wombat (2002) fallen leaves found around the square onto it to arrange messages and patterns. It was gifted to the city by the late John Mockridge, an important architect of post-world war 2 Melbourne.
A source of constant curiosity, this sculpture was carved from a single log. The wombat’s name Warin is pronounced Wareeyn, a name derived from the local dialect of the two most important Aboriginal tribes of the Melbourne area.
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John Mockridge Fountain (1980) A highly interactive sculpture amongst visitors and passerbys of City Square, this seemingly ordinary water wall’s ridged and cascading surface possesses a unique ability which allows people to stick
Beyond the Ocean of Existence (1993)
Digging for the Truth
Painted Poles (1992)
Oh, How Appropriate 11/80
Beyond Interior Design In an approach typical of architectural projects, Six Degrees Architects took it upon themselves in revitalising the latest iteration of City Square in accommodating its most recent addition—the Westin Hotel—through a series of hospitality-based tenancies along the eastern edge of its ground floor facade. Instead of
adopting a trend-based approach typical of most hip dining establishments, the architects seek to rekindle a sense of familiarity by reappropriating materials as finishes that were at some in time associated to City Square. The result was a design which appears to have existed earlier than reality suggests.
Oh, How Appropriate
▲ The highly articulated façade of Three Below Bar features adaptable openings, parasitic forms and a varied usage of material finishes of utilitarian and luxurious nature.
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► Inside, the bar counter features an extensive usage of smoothened Bluestone which was notable for its application in DCM’s iteration of City Square and the stained glass finish of its suspended bottle rack, reminiscent of St Paul’s Cathedral for its connotative usage.
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Oh, How Appropriate
◄ La Vita Buona is a wine bar and deli featuring a small shop front and deep interior which induces a subterranean sense upon visitors, akin to the notion of entering one’s hidden and private wine cellar. In similar eclectic manner, the interior juxtaposes between luxe material finishes and an exposed ceiling where the services are kept visible.
► Three Below Bar features an interior of industrialised elements and parasitic forms which conceal services that germinate from its ceiling to create an intimate atmosphere of being in a forest. Additionally, the architects were interested in projecting the notion of travelling on one of Melbourne’s old tram and in doing so, created dining variations such as the raised booth areas where its seats are appropriately finished in green leather upholstery while strips of mirrors are installed in reference to tram windows.
◄ Pockets of spaces within the bar’s crowded ceiling reveals the architect’s eye for detail in their implementation of mood lighting to create dynamic and dramatic atmospheres. Seen here is a custom pendant light composed out of fragmented bits of stained glass in a manner that is reminiscent of the controversial Vault sculpture which got relocated eventually.
Oh, How Appropriate public space. A suspended I Beam finished in a bright red hue resides directly above the dining room in presenting itself as the activator for the extending effect, in a garish manner that was similarly embodied by the Vault.
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▲ The Caboose dining outlet features a highly adaptable façade where a motorised and porous glass dining room is given the ability to extend out onto the public walkway during trading hours, in what is a constant redefinition of the threshold between private and
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Oh, How Appropriate
Residing on the ground floor of the Westin Hotel—a monolithic alien-looking structure executed in the neoclassicism format—sits a group of retail tenancies by Six Degrees Architects which unlike most dining establishments (including the Starbucks in its immediate adjacency) were highly context-driven and concerned with the notion of placemaking. In doing so, the architects chose an atypical approach to design in stripping each shop to its bare essentials of industrialised elements such as concrete and steel before proceeding to reappropriate materials and concepts that were in their own ways associated to City Square’s historical framework. The outcome was a complete contrast to the stoic Westin Hotel as its porousness and adaptability injects a sense a of dynamism to its host’s arguably dormant facade. The inevitable variation of materiality between each tenancy juxtaposes heavily with the Westin’s luxurious finishes, in reference to City Square’s socio-economical location in the CBD and the varied conditions surrounding it, from the homeless to the Paris End of Collins Street. The adaptability of its facade directs attention to the square’s evolution since its inception and its atypical penchant for change, noted more recently in the drastic size reduction that was brought upon from the addition of the Westin Hotel. Suffice to say, Six Degrees Architects took the difficult route to impressing through design by making less celebrated materials the main point of intrigue but in doing so achieved the ironical outcome where its design appears to have existed earlier than reality suggests, giving the impression that its host were in fact constructed in post.
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Exploded Isometric Section
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Trust the Dimensions!
COLLINS STREET
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City Square Site Melbourne Town Hall Westin Hotel Chapter House
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St Paul’s Cathedral Nicholas Building Ground Floor Retail Shops Manchester Unity Building
Site Plan City Square is sited on an interesting plot of land in Melbourne’s CBD which comprises of a highly varied socio-economic landscape.
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Its immediate adjacency includes the likes of the Westin Hotel, the Melbourne Town Hall and St Paul’s Cathedral amongst other historical landmarks; including the Manchester Unity Building and Nicholas Building. Its position emphasises of an intersection of rich commercial activity between the more conservative Swanston Street and the highly luxurious Collins Street; whose eastern end is colloquially known as the Paris End of Melbourne.
Trust the Dimensions!
LITTLE FLINDERS STREET
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Longitudinal Section
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Trust the Dimensions!
Trust the Dimensions!
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Longitudinal Section
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Trust the Dimensions!
A brief analysis of the City Square site from its cross sectional perspective reveals how it integrates itself subtly with the sloped terrain of Melbourne’s CBD as well as the potential impact it has in shifting the cityscape as it foregrounds its adjacencies, particularly those of significant civic stature such as the Melbourne Town Hall as pictured here.
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Light at the End of the Tunnel 23/80
Hoarding Like No Other City Square today, as it undergoes continual works, is being enveloped by a hoarding system. Emblazoned by informative graphics as one would expect, an additional feature of curiosity is incorporated which allows for commuters and passerbys to partake in the construction process as they peer through integrated viewing holes—in the form of train windows—
down into the construction site as heavy works take place in the excavation and demolition of the carpark once there. This rare glimpse into the core of the site is a genuine gesture not often seen in most civic spaces in the works. It extends a friendly hand to curious onlookers in offering a truly transparent view of things; dirt; pile foundations and excavator included.
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As quoted by an anonymous passerby as she peers through the hoarding, and shared to us by our lecturer Brett Wittingslow
Light at the End of the Tunnel
“Nothing ever gets done here.�
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More Trains, More Often As the tagline suggests, the new train system is aimed at improving the efficacy of the current system by the simple logic of increasing its capacity for trains. The new stations which essentially cuts through the existing City Loop is not only aimed at alleviating the effects of a bottleneck phenomenon during peak periods but is also geared towards connecting people from the outer suburbs better to Melbourne’s CBD. The daily figures of suburban commuters is expected to rise by 39,000 people on the first day alone.
â–ş In the appointment of Hassell and Weston Williamson and Partners as the architects for the project, several preliminary rendered impressions were released that portrayed the newly conceptualised City Square design and its glass treated surface level entrance.
“It is the progress this city and this state has to make in order to stay strong and stay out in front” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews
▼ Similar to the other metro stations currently undergoing heavy works, a large temporary acoustic shed of 20 metres tall is expected to cover the site and facilitate construction works around the clock while mitigating any disruption caused to the public.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
◄ In extending his apologies to the significance of the impending disruption ahead of the construction of the new metro system, Victorian Premier Andrew Daniels made it clear that such a move was imperative for the collective progress of Australia.
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Access Points
Light at the End of the Tunnel
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City Square Site City Square Cocker Alley Scott Alley
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City Square Site Swanston Street Degraves Street Flinders Street
1. City Square Site 7. Federation Square
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â–ş An early artistic impression of City Square shows in its foreground how informal seating has been integrated into the tree planters and the eradication of the granitic gravel finish in favour of tiles. The background reveals an interactive water feature where families can gather and play and an outdoor terraced seating situated along the roof of the ground level entrance to the train station where people can linger.
being the reinstallation of the historic Burke and Wills Monument and Beyond the Ocean of Existence sculpture; the additional retail space once occupied by the popular Brunetti’s Cafe and the large adaptable open space right down its middle where the preceding iteration has proven to be successful in its versatility to host public events.
City Square Site Main entrance to station Lift lobby Informal seating with tree canopies Westin Hotel Retail shops Water feature Isolated retail space Beyond the Ocean of Existence sculpture Tree lined street Burke and Wills Monument
Light at the End of the Tunnel
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Redesigning City Square A glimpse of the preliminary plan for the redesigned City Square reveals how the ground level entrance to the train station is planned to be located on the western edge of City Square and in facing towards the Melbourne Town Hall. Additionally, several key features are emphasised upon which the Melbourne City Council are enthusiastic about retaining from past iterations of the square; the most obvious
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Montage Nº. 1
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Seems like a Petri Dish
City Square’s past has been riddled with change both good and bad, and in deciphering what this means from a larger perspective, its penchant for change may easily be dismissed as a perpetual sign of failure as it strives to find its footing within Melbourne’s civic landscape. However, a shift in perspective reveals the significant civic value present within City Square where as far as its transitory nature goes, the Square has been fulfilling its role as a testbed for ideas, albeit perhaps inadvertently, on behalf of the entire city where more recent case studies such as the popular Federation Square has benefitted from and proven to be a story of success. City Square here has been depicted as a giant Petri Dish and in it lies a flurry of content which had provided valuable lessons gleaned by the city. The unveiling of DCM’s iteration by the queen wasn’t as well received as intended over the years, shone a rare light on its flawed design which were gleaned upon in the future design of Federation Square. The numerous protests over the years has allowed it to somewhat operate as a public forum which provided a voice for Melburnians, touching across significant issues such as social inequality. The vault which was perhaps too progressive for its time showed the value of sensitivity towards our existing context, later reincarnating as the industrial I Beam by Six Degrees Architects for its Caboose dining outlet. A boundary of the hoarding system existingly present on site envelopes these historical content in emphasising the rich and colourful past of City Square which under an ironical circumstance is now being touted as the future of the metro system with the tagline More Trains, More Often, spiralling right under its nose.
Seems like a Petri Dish
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Adventures in Dandenong 31/80
The Suburban Effect While riding the Melbourne Railway via the Cranbourne Line, Dandenong bound— where our next site analysis takes us—a few observations were noted in the relationship shared between metro stations within the city and the outer suburbs. The farther one travels out, the lower the
buildings get and in catering to the challenges of ground level traffic where the train tracks intersect with the roads of cars, these stations are built either on a subterranean level or above ground (refer to graph above), with plans for recreational programs below its tracks underway.
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Cranbourne Line
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Flinders Steet (Start) Richmond South Yarra Hawksburn Toorak Armadale Malvern Caulfield Carnegie Murrumbeena Oakleigh Hungtingdale Clayton Westall Springvale Sandown Park Noble Park Yaraman Dandenong (End)
◄ Stations along the line assume different architectural styles where inner city ones such as Toorak’s (pictured above) are of Victorian roots; outer suburb stations like Springvale’s (pictured below) are contemporary in style, surmising the recency of the erection of stations further away from city.
Adventures in Dandenong
The Greater Dandenong is an ethnically diverse suburb, featuring high levels of migrants and cultural diversity. Original birthplaces of its residents include India,
Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, China and Bosnia amongst others. It is a major manufacturing and commercial area which is a result of soaring land prices within the city, leading to the
inevitable relocation of businesses to the suburbs. Its key industries includes those of metal, food and alcoholic beverage.
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Feels Like Home
Sights of Dandenong
Adventures in Dandenong
â–ş Like most suburban railway stations, Dandenong comprises of a large carpark adjacent to the station where commuters would park their car and board the train to the city as a daily ritual.
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â–˛ Dandenong Station is built in a utilitarian scale and houses a busy bus stop on its ground level. An overhead pass connected to the street level allows commuters to bypass crowds gathering around the bus stop with a direct entry to the train station. â—„ Its advertising landscape differs greatly from the city, where the target audience may somewhat be surmised as hardworking middle class individuals.
▼ In a similar manner just around the corner, a large-scaled sex shop—a size typical of supermarket warehouses—is sited along a busy thoroughfare and features an eye-catching use of colours. This stands as a huge contrast to most sex shops, especially those within the city, where there is a preference for obscurity in general.
Adventures in Dandenong
► In unapologetic fashion, a bottle shop is embodied in a featuristic style of architecture, complete with a towering signage and an ostentatious bright red painted finish.
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Unhappiest Place in Melbourne
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Adventures in Dandenong
As quoted by a news journal, indicates a highly opinionated and mixed narrative of Dandenong. Surveys have often revealed statistics of high crime rates and a general lack of security where people are afraid to leave their home in the dark of the night. Fear is bred through knowledge of the wandering Apex Gang, infamous for wreaking their havoc on the suburb. An online video interviewing residents of Dandenong reveals actual sentiments shared within the community. A few of them are shared here.
“Great multi-cultural place, very good people. Few idiots, such is life.”
“I did see someone get mugged once ... in a tax agency, it was nothing really major”
“What happened today, we were chased by a male ... who murdered my son’s dad”
“I was born in Dandenong— hospital, if we have one”
“[I’ve seen] everything from people getting robbed and stealing cars. Another day in Dandy”
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“There’s a lot of prostitutes around here ... a lot of sex and drugs, it’s full on”
“Dandenong’s a hole ... It is literally the sh*ttiest place in the world”
Adventures in Dandenong
“Its a melting pot ... It’s good to see lots of people going about their daily lives”
Sorry, Not Sorry
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Adventures in Dandenong
The concept of a warehouse -sized adult store located beside a major thoroughfare in the CBD is unfathomable, yet it is nothing out of the ordinary here. Incidentally, marketing efforts are made along its articulated facade to further strengthen its presence, a stark contrast from similar businesses in the city who prefer to keep themselves obscured from the public’s view. A pattern may be deduced here in regards to the level of scrutiny subjected to both the city and its suburbs and how these unapologetic tendencies are interpreted accordingly.
Adventures in Dandenong
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Isometric View
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Adventures in Dandenong
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Is This Offensive? As the unapologetic attitude of Dandenong develops into a topic of interest, the next logical phase was to interrogate its inherent nature to offend, or in Dandenong’s case, provoke indifference. A study
was conducted in the delicate context of the CBD where the synonymous Skyscraper and the humble dildo were used as iconography that inhabit disparate interpretations. Could the act of appropriating
the dildo’s phallic shape as the architecture’s interior void allow both icons to coexist in harmony without ever being subjected to the fate of the Vault?
On an inverse note, if the city were to be comfortable only by familiar imagery, how would it react if City Square—whose location is sited on an intersection of diverse socio-economic activity—pro-
jects nothing else but a mirrored image of its immediate context? If too much of something can be a bad thing, could an equilibrium be achieved without the loss of provocation.
◄ The temporary acoustic shed as imagined, is cladded over by a highly reflective material which in spite of its monumental scale, would allow the architecture to disappear into its surroundings.
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► Residents of the Westin hotel are treated to a completely new view from their window—themselves.
Adventures in Dandenong
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall
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Background First, Then Foreground
Montage Nº. 2 In the further interrogation of City Square’s history, a collation of its lineage was documented by representing each milestone as an individual entity which were then organised in a chronological order, resembling the concept of a photographic perspectival view of City Square’s timeline.
Here, an undeniable pattern is revealed. As a way of eradicating any associated stigma, the City Council adopts a Tabula Rasa based approach and consistently attempts to white wash these supposed failed ventures, which is proven in every subsequent iteration of City Square.
Background First, Then Foreground
However, rather than reading it from the front as one typically would, the image was interrogated in an inverse manner by flipping it around and we end up being confronted by what were deemed the “undesirable” segment of City Square’s history. As indicated by crop marks—the portion of the print that’s bound to be trimmed off in printed media design—highly stigmatised elements such as the Vault, protesters and homeless are part of what the City Council prefers to be left out. We are in essence looking at the skeletons within their closet.
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(Mid Semester Presentation)
Unknown Contents
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Unveiling of the Shed
As works of the new Townhall Station go underway, execution of the planned acoustic shed will likewise take its place. While construction sheds scattered around other parts of the city will be nothing more than an oversized hoarding system aimed at limiting the noise pollution, however, strange phenomena were soon visible on the surface of the shed over time, alluding to works brewing within that were beyond the norm. As expected, the City Council is prompted to this matter and a rectilinear volume is constructed around the shed in an effort to conceal the unexplainable occurrences from public view, which in itself proved to be somewhat futile soon after as they were discovered to be physically uncontainable.
The north facade gesticulates with concentrated ripple folds and an eroded portion that subsequently reveals the volume’s internal superstructure
Unveiling of the Shed
Strange bulbous forms are articulated along the facade that mysteriously alludes to a relief of what may be lying directly within the volume.
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A large portion of mould is cultivated at the southeast corner, resulting in a bulbous expansion where rainwater is consequently directed to the north facade.
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Unveiling of the Shed
◄ The volume’s south facade provides strong clues towards the strange behaviours. Large shards of the Vault are can visibly be seen lifting the facade.
Unveiling of the Shed ▲ In an unapologetic scale, a concentrated point along the west facade is lifted almost as high as the trees lined along Swanston Street, resulting in a generously sized portal that beckons the curiosity of commuters.
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◄ In a similar manner, smaller portals may be access via the ground plane along the north facade where the internal superstructure is revealed more subtly. The volume’s northwest corner features a relief of what may the Burke and Wills statue pushing against the skin of the facade.
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▲ Inside, scaffolds provide visitors with the freedom to roam about different levels while being accompanied by an undulating ceiling of LED screens that act as a light and sound installation.
►▲ The bulbous expansion caused by the moulding appears to have influenced the typology of the volume’s roof, leading to the erosion on the north side where the shed is partially revealed over time.
▼ Large shards of the Vault is seen occupying the constrained internal space between the shed and volume.
►▼ The internal space between the shed and the volume is dominated by the scaffold superstructure.
Unveiling of the Shed
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An Internal World
Unveiling of the Shed
While the external facade maintains an unforgivingly minimal appearance, the inside is a complete contrast which alludes to the repeated attempts by the City Council to whitewash remnants of City Square’s colourful history where the outcome more often than not, involves a generic mix of blandness and disinterest. The superstructure as seen from outside appears less menacing on the interior, where it resides in a conglomeration of varying materials and colours, appearing more like a playground of sort. The site raises awareness upon some of City Square’s most highly stigmatised milestones through the reappropriation of familiar elements; the collation of timber and corrugated metal offcuts that’s suggestive of the homeless shelter; the tarpaulin sheets made into protest flags and the large isolated vault shards, all of which welcome the interaction of the public where acts such as graffiti are encouraged rather than frowned upon.
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The volume’s ultimate aim lies in empowering City Square’s presence in anticipating the upcoming Townhall Station where hoarding graphics and even the station’s name have failed to recognised the civic space’s significance.
Unveiling of the Shed
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Globe-trotting
Jewel of the Harbour Sitting on the eastern edge of the harbour basin at the Old Port of Marseille, lies the Vieux Port Pavilion by Foster and Partners. Completed in 2013, the project was executed around Marseille’s designation as the European Capitol of Culture at the time, with the overall scope to redesign the harbour basin and shoreline, together with the assistance of landscape architect Michel Desvigne.
Globe-trotting
The historic site used to be segregated from the town by a multilane street which made access inconvenient. Therefore, in order to reclaim the quayside as a civic space with informal venues for performances and events, a reorganisation of its pre-existing traffic system was necessary in order to create a safe as semi-pedestrianised public realm.
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Globe-trotting
Urban Renewal In the aftermath of the traffic system being reorganised into a narrow two lane street, the outcome is a generous, unobtrusive space of 100,000m² that is developed into a popular piazza where the shoreline promenades have
made the historic heart of the city more accessible. Additionally, the original limestone cobbles finish were replaced by new hardwearing granite surfaces in the same shade of colour.
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Before
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Globe-trotting
One of the most striking features of the Vieux Port Pavilion is the underside of its shelter where its highly reflective surface is a magnet for tourists and locals alike.
While the roof shelter measures a staggering 46 metres in length and 22 metres in width, the Pavilion occupies a role beyond a mere architectural folly. It’s large footprint makes
it an ideal shelter against the natural elements and a venue for pop-up events such as musical acts and independent marketplaces.
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I See You
Globe-trotting
â–˛ An early sketch by the architects exhibits how the structure is intended to blend into its surroundings, retaining an open panoramic view of the harbour.
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â–ź The highly detailed structure includes a tapering quality that quite literally disappears towards its edge.
► Construction drawings reveal how the pavilion in reality maintains a seeming conventional structural framework in spite of what its razor-thin profile suggests.
Globe-trotting
◄ The pavilion’s highly reflective finish allows for it to mirror the changing conditions of its immediate context in a literal sense, resulting in a quality of dynamism that is influenced by elements such as the time of the day.
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Globe-trotting
Surface to Air Singapore’s issue with land scarcity has long been battled by architects who often sought to extreme measures in an effort to maintain certain levels of efficiency. Such is the case with its social housing projects where towering blocks of flats are selected as the preferred mode of housing typology. The same philosophy of efficiency has been applied to its public infrastructure where transport facilities, the likes of train stations are typically built either above or underground and often integrated with commercial amenities such as shopping centres.
Globe-trotting
The subterranean Bras Basah Rapid Transit Station by WOHA is in a league of its own. Its design follows a competition brief which asked for two strategies of conflicting requirements. The first of which was to provide a visual connection for commuters to the outside to enhance the travel experience in the deep station. The second was for a design which disappears into the landscape within the historic district and park above. The final proposal was developed with a graceful touch that holistically embraces both requirements. The station’s roof is designed to function as both a skylight and a landscape element—in essence, a water covered glass skylight.
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Globe-trotting
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Centre of Non-attention In a manner not dissimilar to City Square’s location in Melbourne’s CBD, Bras Basah Station finds itself sitting on a site of high civic stature with the likes of a National Art Museum, Cathedral and University in its vicinity.
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However, rather than overpowering the station‘s presence, the architects’ deft execution has allowed for the station to act as a civic forecourt to its contextual neighbours in a manner that does not totally remove itself out of the picture altogether but instead, achieve a harmonious coexistence.
Globe-trotting
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Station Reflection Pool West Entrance East Entrance Singapore Art Museum NTUC Trade Union House Cathedral of the Good Shepherd 7. Singapore Management University Square
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
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â–˛ When viewed from the park above, the station reflects the historic buildings and increases their stature and symbolic importance.
Globe-trotting
â–˛ The water covered glass skylight reduces thermal transmission during the day while the Natural lighting permits the stations use without artificial lighting during the day.
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◄ The station's civic landscape is located on the axis of the art museum, acting as a civic forecourt to the museum, cathedral and Singapore Management University’s library.
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Globe-trotting
◄ The skylight turns an potentially oppressive, labyrinth experience into a clear, direct and exciting journey from earth to the surface.
Globe-trotting
▲ The station expresses its brutalism tendencies by embracing its structural aspects as design elements in themselves.
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◄ The station's void acts as a huge light reflector where its sloping wall picks up the diffuse skylight and bounces it through large gaps into the adjacent platform space.
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Danger, Content Overload
Montage Nº. 3 The third and final montage reinterprets City Square’s history as shipping contents inside an already deteriorating parcel box. Like an overcapacity pressure cooker that could no longer withstand the forces within, the construct of the parcel box gives way and essentially spills out contents that were not meant to be exposed in view, prompting to the immediate action of the masses to quickly mend the box in an effort to contain the situation.
Danger, Content Overload
It’s a cautionary image of a what can potentially be culminated from the City Council’s incessant attempts to whitewash City Square’s history and serves as a reminder that the longer you keep the contents within contained, the bigger the implosion it is bound to result in in the future.
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Raising the Final Curtain
Urban Renewal City Square today, as it undergoes continual works, is being enveloped by a hoarding system. Emblazoned by (End of Semester Presentation) informative graphics as one would expect, an additional feature of curiousity is incorporated which allows for
commuters and passerbys to partake in the construction process as they peer through integrated viewing holes—in the form of train windows— down into the construction site as heavy works take place in
As we lift the final curtain upon City Square in unveiling the new Townhall Station, to the surprise of many, the station embodies an exposed subterranean landscape, recalling the days of its preconstruction phase where a hoarding system revealed an uninhibited view into the underbelly of the Square. “Nothing ever gets done here”, those exact words murmured
by the passerby appeared to have come back to haunt us.
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Surprise, Surprise
Although, something appears different this time. A roof garden is visible which retains some of the previous functionality of the most recent city square iteration with its informal resting areas, as well as familiar materiality in the turf and granitic sand finish. At the heart of it, a Vault-like
structure appears to culminate in a flower-like composition in mid-bloom, resulting in cantilevered shelters and portals leading into its circulation core. Its peripheral floor area is cladded with clear glass that reflect its surrounding context which allows the roof garden to act as a civic forecourt with regards to its significant neighbours.
Raising the Final Curtain
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Roof Garden
A Brief History The City Council’s plans for the Townhall Station it seems have not quite gone as planned. A set of diagrams were developed in an attempt to comprehend the complexities of the situation. 1980 The DCM unveiled the new City Square along with three key elements: The Vault, The Mega Screen and the Truss-like Shelter
Raising the Final Curtain
1981 The Vault was a subject of major public backlash for its overtly bold appearance and eventually banished from the site. 1990 The remaining two were similarly placed on the chopping block. The Mega Screen was irrelevant with its trivial messages and too noisy for its own good. The materiality of the Truss was counterproductive, practically baking anyone who stood under it during the heat of the summer. 2000 The much smaller and simplified reiterated city square was unveiled. Some held the belief that the souls of its previous inhabitants remain buried deep within the earth. 2018
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In preparation for the new Townhall station. Excavation works were carried out and an acoustic shed was put into place. Strange phenomena were soon visible on the surface of the shed alluding to unforeseen works brewing within that were beyond the norm. 2025 To the surprise of many, the unveiled station embodies an exposed subterranean landscape, consumed by familiar yet alien-looking entities.
2000
1990
2018 — 2024
2025
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1981
Raising the Final Curtain
1980
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Isometric Longitudinal Section
A City Down Under In the aftermath of its 45 year-long exile, the reinstated Vault fervently weaves itself to all corners of the site; sweeping, digging and piercing its way through earth in an impassioned attempt to embed itself into the site while its familiar counterparts, the mega screen and truss shelter opportunistically clings onto it, eager on a second lease on life.
Like a double-edged sword, the Vault’s intent appears ambiguous, inflicting havoc upon the site that both disrupts public orderliness yet simultaneously forms new typological relationships with regards to the public’s interest where programs are interspersed.
Raising the Final Curtain
The vault has in essence, akin to an invasive plant reached out towards a multitude of directions and in the process of doing so, created microhabitats for other organisms along the way.
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Roof Garden Green Threshold Cafe + Terrace Seating Mega Screen Fare Machine Busking Area Public Furniture/Sculpture Washroom
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
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Raising the Final Curtain
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25M Section A-A
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Visitors to are soon to find themselves in a warm, quarry -like environment which feels completely separated from the city. The exaggerated gestures allow one to visually trace the cause and effects of the vault in its venture through the site.
Once such example is the “growth� of the vault, from the depths of the station where it embodies its original matte yellow colour which gradually develops into a patinated copper finish as it surfaces towards the ground plane and
finds itself exposed to the natural elements. This alludes back to the notion of change we associate City Square with and moreover, acts as an organic wayfinding system for new users seeking to navigate the site’s labyrinthine network.
Raising the Final Curtain
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Main Foyer
Raising the Final Curtain
► While the truss-like shelter has reincarnated into more appropriate greenhouses, programs like a café and terraced seating are inserted into nooks and crannies left behind by the Vault, reinterpreting the ‘hole in the wall’ concept as used by Six Degrees Architects.
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Main Foyer ▲ The Mega Screen ingeniously uses the vault’s towering structure as a sizable substrate, broadcasting upon itself advertisements and train times in a mural-like format as a relevant source of information. Additionally, it makes the transition as a surface from floor to wall and finally ceiling, doubling as a canopy for the main foyer.
► The John Mockridge fountain is distorted beyond its original state, creating a water feature that aptly conceals the washroom that’s carved out behind and simultaneously showers the Burke and Wills statue who ironically died from thirst. In an all-encompassing manner, you find yourself in an urban oasis that is separated from the bustling CBD condition above.
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Main Foyer
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The tram stop is another example of the vault’s ambiguity as it decisively attaches itself onto the ground plane like a set of talons but provide ample shelter to commuters in the process of doing so.
Raising the Final Curtain
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Tram Stop
CITY SQUARE FROM THIS VIEW