Re-familiarising myself with the city
I've been back in Melbourne for a few months now. Before this second wave of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown that we've now found ourselves in, I managed to head into the city to look at some of the best buildings.
John Wardle's design for the new Conservatorium of Music building on Southbank Boulevard is exceptional. Its oblong shape and protruding flaps and slits in the facade is as though it's allowing the music being practiced, performed and assessed inside to bellow out over the city. For virtuosity, creativity and intellect to assert itself on the city's mentality.
The facade is built with this elegant pink and gold flecked terrazzo-like stone combined with these oval shaped pieces of red stone that are meticulously inset in little crevices. The oval shape of these stone pieces obviously recall music notes and the vast and seemingly random culmination of them all over the facade remind the viewer of the endless possibility of music composition.
