CROSS-SECTION Issue No. 150.

LOOKING FOR THE BEST

A special issue of Cross-Section produced to coincide with the Fourteenth Annual Architectural Convention, in Mel-bourne, March 22-April 2, 1965, and intended as a stimulant to make +hose who look at Melbourne open their eyes a little wider, peer a little more keenly and seek a little more earnestly than is possible when lulled into the semi-consciousness of the standard guided four. Melbourne is not an obviously dramatic city, and it is easy to find ugli-ness, but in the following list of the "best" of this and that, even some of the uglies are noticed to have a character that it would be life-denying to lose. As Jane Jacobs wrote in The Death and Life of Great American Cities" "Quantities of the 'unaverage', which are bound to be relatively small, are indispensable to vital cities", and quoting Paul Tillich, she also observed "By its nature, the metropolis provides what otherwise could be given only by travelling; namely, the strange. Since the strange leads to questions and undermines familiar tradition, it serves to elevate reason to ultimate significance . Photographs in this issue were taken by Ian Perry, Sue Ingle-ton, Peter Burleigh, Ken Laskin of Alan Friedman Studios, and Maurice Shaw. This special issue by courtesy of Cross-Section's regular advertisers, Dunlop.

Best Avenue: Royal Parade.

April I, 1965.

IT Best Award-Winning Architecture: Victoria Architecture Medal. 1965: Channel "O" Studios, Burwood; Hassell & McConnell,

arch+s. : House, Glenard Drive, Heidelberg; Charles Duncan,

arch+. 1964: New Zealand Insurance Building, 493 Bourke Street;

Bates Smart & McCutcheon, archts. : House at Davey's Bay, Frankston; Guilford Bell &

Neil Clerehan, archts. : House at Rye; McGlashan & Everist, archts.

R.V.I.A. Street Architecture Medal (awarded 1929-1954).

1929: Francis House, Collins Street, Melbourne, Blackett & Forster, archts.

1930: The Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy, Russell Street, Melbourne. E. Evan Smith, archi.

1931: Lyric House, Collins Street, Melbourne, A. & K. Hen- derson, archts.

1932: A.M.P. Building, 425 Collins Street, Melbourne. Bates, Smart & McCutcheon, archts.

1933: Port Authority Building, Market Street, Melbourne. Sydney Smith, Ogg & Serpell, archts.

1934: Buckley & Nunn's Building, 294-296 Bourke Street, Melbourne. Bates, Smart & McCutcheon, archts.

1935: Shell Corner, 163 William Street, Melbourne. A. & K. Henderson & Partners, archts.

1936: Bank of New South Wales, 368 Collins Street, Mel-bourne. Godfrey & Spowers, archts.

1937: The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Spring Street, Melbourne. Leighton Irwin & Roy K. Steven-son, archts.

1938: The Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Cookson Street, Camberwell. Bates, Smart & McCutcheon archts.

1939: The Heidelberg Town Hall and Municipal Offices Upper Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe. Peck & Kemfer and A. C. Leith & Associates, archts.

1940: The Sanitarium Health Food Company Building, Main Street, Warburton. Edward Fielder Billson, archi.

1941: King George V Jubilee Maternal and Infant Welfare Pathological Building, Women's Hospital, Carlton. Stephenson & Turner, archts.

1942: Western Branch of the National Bank of Australasia Ltd., Corner of Collins and William Streets, Mel-bourne. P. H. Meldrum and A. A. Noad, archts.

1954: Five apartments at No. 24 Hill Street, Toorak. Grounds, Romberg & Boyd, archts.

if Best of H. Desbrowe Annear (1866-1933): "Inglesby", 97 Caroline Street, South Yarra, 1919. Three houses on The Eyrie, Eaglemont. IT Best of Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937): Newman Col-lege, University of Melbourne, 1916. Capitol Theatre (what's left of it), 113 Swanston Street, 1924. Leonard House, 46 Elizabeth Street, 1925. Langi Flats, Corner of Toorak Road and Lansell Road. House, 16 Glyndebourne Avenue, Toorak, 1923. (j Best Second Phase Modern — The Streamline Era: Relova Redressing Laundry, 129 Hoddle Street, Richmond. Sani-tarium Health Food Factory (Warburton); 1936, Edward F. Billson, archt. McPherson's Hardware Store, 546 Collins Street, 1935, Reid & Pearson with Stuart Calder, archts. Looking carefully for European influences, the early Dutch school, especially Dudok, seems likely, and even Mendelsohn in his earliest period. Traces of this delight in horizontal swathes of brickwork, windows and balconies can also be seen in Stephenson and Turner's Bethesda Hospital, Erin Street, Richmond, 1936, and in the same architect's Royal Melbourne Hospital (1939-43), (which displays a gusto and self-confidence that seem missing from the latest additions); an attitude to design that culminated in the vast white dry-docked liner in Queens Road; Stanhill Flats 1949 (Frederick Romberg, archt). (( Best Terrace Houses: along Rathdown Street, Carlton, op-posite the Exhibition, and along Albert Street, East Mel-bourne, between Eades Street and Clarendon Street.

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

Best City Park: Fitzroy Gardens. f( Best Urban Residential Planning: St. Vincent Place & St. Vincent Gardens, South Melbourne. ¶ Best Tram Ride: From Grattan Street, to Brunswick Road, Carlton, along Royal Parade.

Best Place to Wait (Rustic): Royal Botanic Gardens.

I Best Place to Wait (if not expecting anyone): Post Office Steps, Elizabeth and Bourke Streets.

Best Place to Wait (if expecting someone): Flinders Street Station, Swanston Street. Ì Best Place to Wait (if expecting): Royal Women's Hos-pital, Cardigan Street, Carlton. (( Best Area for Queen Anne type houses: East Malvern, between Tooronga Road, Wattletree Road, Bourke Road and Dandenong Road. if Best Preserved: Como, Como Avenue, South `terra, 1865.

¶ Best Pop Art Fence: outside Monte Carlo Reception Rooms, Gardenvale Road, Gardenvale.

¶ Best Vertical Feature: Coop's Shot Tower, Knox Place, cff Little La Trobe Street, 1870.

Best Supporting Feature: Doorway, Physiology Depart-ment (at one time the Architectural School dwelt here), University of Melbourne.

( Best Vista: from the Shrine Forecourt looking North. ¶ Best Stretch of City Street: Collins Street, especially from Swanston to Spring. (( Best Boulevard: Alexandra Avenue. (j Best Traffic Jam (a.m.): St. Kilda Junction. jj Best Traffic Jam (p.m.): South Eastern Freeway at Grange Road Bridge.

Q Best Anonymous Industrial Architecture: Stone Crushing Plant, Thomastown.

If Best (and only) Overhead Pedestrian Link: Myers walk-way, Post Office Place; Tompkins Shaw & Evans, archts., 1962.

Best Pop Architecture: Luna Park (Just for Fun

If Best Arcade: The Block, between Collins, Little Collins and Elizabeth Streets.

jj Best "Other" Architecture: Rear of Fairy Caves, Luna Park.

Ì Best Urban "Gothick": Rialto Building, 495 Collins Street. W. Pi++, arch+., 1890.

if Best Fairy-Tale Post Office, Flemington.

Best Boom-Time Mansion: "Labasa", Manor Grove, Caulfield.

11 Best Grand Manner Theatre: Princess, Spring Street.

Q Best Joss House: Palmerston Street, South Melbourne, 1866.

If Best Basalt: Carlton and United Breweries, Bouverie Street, Carlton.

II Best Jazz Age: Wardrop's 52 Elizabeth Street.

IT Best Art Nouveau: Selbourne Chambers, corner of Welling-ton Parade and Simpson Streets, East Melbourne.

If Best Backside: Rear elevation of Pelais Pictures, St. Kilda.

IT Best Street Light: Beside the Law Courts, off Lonsdale Street.

Q Best Warehouses: Flinders Lane e.g. No. 552, Seppelt and Son, 1863.

Best Window Dressing: at Georges, Collins Street. I Best Proportioned Building: No. 8 La Trobe Street.

Best Panorama of the City: from Top of the Town Res-taurant, National Mutual Centre. Godfrey Spowers Hughes Mewton & Lobb and Leith and Bartlett, archts. ¶ Best Tensile Structure: Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Yuncken Freeman, archts.

IT Best Odd Clock: Above Spencer Street Station. Best Penthouse: N-E corner of Bradford Cotton Mills, Tren-

nery Crescent, Abbotsford.

¶ Best All-Night Pavement Cafe: The Pieteria, Flinders Street West.

if Best Atmosphere for-drinking-wine-in: Jimmy Watson's, 333 Lygon Street, Carlton. Robin Boyd, archt.

Best City Square: McArthur Place, Carlton. 51' Best Beach Front: Beaconsfield Parade, South Melbourne. IT Best New Buildings: Anyone looking seriously ought to be able to make his own mind up on these. But as a clue, start in Collins Street. Better still, follow the suggested tours outlined in the Convention Issue of C.S.R's. journal, "Building Ideas". If Best Radburn Type Planning: The common parkland be-tween backs of houses facing Gatehouse Street and Park Street, between Flemington Road and Morrah Streets, Park-ville.

111 This year the Architecture Students' Convention will be held in Melbourne from May 29-June 5. The purpose of the convention is to stimulate amongst the students an aware-ness of technical advances in the building industry. The congress committee has decided on the theme: "New Materials — New Architecture", and this will be supple-mented by visiting guest speakers, work sessions, open dis-cussions and an Australia-wide competition for the students, offering £300 prize money donated by the Australian Gas Association. Adjudicators of the competition will be George Molnar, John Dalton and Ray Berg. Eric Lyons, James Stir-ling, Felix Candela, Pier Luigi Nervi, Prof. Janeba, Prof. Albert Dietz and Paolo Solero have been approached to attend the convention as guest speakers. Encouraging sup-port and financial aid has already been received from lead-ing Australian manufacturers. At this stage the enthusiasm and amount of work being done would seem to have already ensured the success of the convention.

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Library Digitised Collections

Title:

Cross-Section [1965]

Date:

1965

Persistent Link:

http://hdl.handle.net/11343/24059

File Description:

Cross-Section, Apr 1965 (no. 150)