November 2012 Where in Melbourne Puzzle

Where in Melbourne Puzzle - November 2012.

THIS PUZZLE HAS BEEN REVEALED

The first clue will be revealed November 5th 2012.

Clue 1 - Know locally as "Little Saigon"

 

Clue 2 - This street has been named after a Queen.

Clue 3 - A favourite store with renovators at the end of the street should give this location away.

Solve - Victoria Street, Richmond

taken with a X35 zoom facing east from Hoddle Street.

 

Victoria street was originally named during the reign of Queen Victoria,
who at that time was also the ruler of Australia.

 

Due to a mixture of her popularity and a certain patriotism about their state, many developers and local councillors named streets in their localities Victoria Street. Nearly all of Melbourne's oldest suburbs contain a Victoria Street, most of them dating from this era.

Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria's reign of 63 years and seven months, was longer than that of any other British monarch and the longest of any female monarch in history, is known as the Victorian era.

 

It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire.

And what of the future ?

Every year thousands of people gather on Victoria Street to celebrate Vietnamese and Chinese culture for Lunar New Year. The Lunar New Year street festival has grown from a small community gathering of local families to become one of Melbourne's most anticipated cultural celebrations.

Victoria Street Gateway Project

Victoria Street Gateway Project proposes a themed gateway on Victoria Street near the intersection with Hoddle Street, one of Melbourne's busiest road crossings.

The gateway's design concept incorporates Vietnamese and Chinese cultural and historical imagery. Preliminary concepts propose a large structure that symbolises Vietnamese boat and bird forms. This structure would be illuminated at night to highlight the entry to Victoria Street's restaurant precinct. Large Vietnamese hats would be suspended above the roadway at the Hoddle Street intersection.

Victoria Street Gateway Project

The colourful hats would provide shadows during the day and creative street lighting in the evening. The rail bridge would also feature a bamboo graphic that would light up at night to provide another lighting element to the gateway.

 

However, designs, timelines and budgets are yet to be developed for further stages of works.   

Victoria Street, Richmond as seen in Google Earth

http://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/services/Infrastructure/victoria-street-gateway-project/

The next Puzzle will be posted on the 3rd of December 2012. 

October 2012 Where in Melbourne Puzzle

Where in Melbourne Puzzle - October 2012.

THIS PUZZLE HAS BEEN REVEALED

 

Clue 1 - This building is related in some way to Australia's first drive-in theatre.

Clue 2 - This structure was opened to the public in 1887.
Much of the exterior form remains substantially the same as it was then.

Clue 3 - Fire destroyed the interiors of this building in the 1920's.

Clue 4 - This building is of particular aesthetic significance because of it's  largely intact  and unpainted ornate exterior.
Still in its original condition, it proudly stands as an example of 19th century classicism  in Victoria.

The Puzzle Solution - Collingwood Town Hall, Hoddle Street, Collingwood.

Collingwood Town Hall

The Collingwood Town Hall is significant for its architectural association with two influential Melbourne architects. It is an important example of the work of George Johnson, possibly the most prolific designer of municipal buildings in late 19th century Victoria, as well as of many theatres and opera houses in Melbourne and other Australian cities and the annexes to the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton. Renovations to the building conducted in 1938 were the work of A.C. Leith and Associates. Leith was notable for his work throughout Victoria. Amongst other things, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Housing Commission of Victorias Holmesglen House Factory and was the designer for Australias first Drive-In theatre at Burwood.

 

The Collingwood Town Hall is of aesthetic significance because its largely intact and unpainted ornate exterior is a comparatively rare example of 19th century boom style classicism in original condition in Victoria. The exterior form remains substantially as it was when the building was opened in 1887, when it was lauded in the Melbourne press as a grand and attractive building.

 

Johnson, George Raymond (1840–1898)

George Raymond Johnson (1840-1898), architect and surveyor, was born on 7 February 1840 at Southgate, Middlesex, England, one of eight children.

 

At age 13, Johnson began working with George Hall, Midland Railway architect. At 19 he moved to London, presumably to continue his architectural career. On 24 July 1962 he married Emma Louise Wood and, nine days later, the couple embarked on a journey of emigration to Queensland.

 

In 1867, Johnson moved to Melbourne, where he produced most of his major works. In 1898, while at sea on return to Melbourne from Perth, Western Australia, Johnson contracted septicemia, and died.

Johnson is principally remembered for the seven town halls of his design that still stand today in Melbourne and other Victorian towns, but he achieved contemporary renown for his theatres and, particularly, his annexes to the Melbourne Exhibition Building.

 

Australian Dictionary of Biography

Wikipedia - George Raymond Johnson

Walking Melbourne

Wikipedia - Collingwood Town Hall