Federation Square
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Federation Square (or Fed Square) is a public square in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets and opposite Flinders Street Station and St Paul's Cathedral. It helps to connect the historical central district of the city, the mile-by-half-a-mile Hoddle Grid,with the Southbank district, which has been redeveloped as a key part of central Melbourne since the late 20th century. It was built on the former site of the Gas and Fuel Buildings and the Princes Bridge railway station. It has since its opening on October 26, 2002, been both loved and despised by Melburnians, causing controversy not only for its unusual architecture, but also for the budget blowout and delays in construction.
The result of a design competition, Federation Square was designed by Don Bates and Peter Davidson of Lab Architecture Studio.
The complex of buildings is in a rough U shape, surrounding a central ochre-coloured plaza which invokes images of the Outback, gently rising above street level.
The Square includes the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, the BMW Edge auditorium, the local SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) TV headquarters, Melbourne Tourist Infomantion Centre, and a number of cafès and restaurants.
Contents |
[edit] Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
The Ian Potter Centre houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), and is located at Federation Square (international works are displayed at the NGV International on St Kilda Rd). There are over 20,000 Australian artworks, including paintings, sculpture, photography, fashion and textiles, and the collection is the oldest and most well-known in the country.
Well-known works at the Ian Potter Centre include Frederick McCubbin's Pioneers (1904) and Tom Roberts' Shearing of the Rams (1890). Also featured are works from Sidney Nolan, John Perceval, Margaret Preston and Fred Williams.
Indigenous art includes works by William Barak and Emily Kngwarreye.
[edit] ACMI - Australian Centre for the Moving Image
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image has two cinemas that are equipped to play every film, video and digital video format, with very high quality attention to acoustics. The screen gallery, built along the entire length of what was previously a train station platform, is a subterraenean gallery for experimentation with the moving image. Video art, installations, interactives, sound art and net art are all regularly exhibited in this space. Additional venues within ACMI allow computer-based public education, and other interactive presentations.
In 2003, ACMI commissioned SelectParks to produce an interactive game-based, site specific installation called AcmiPark. AcmiPark replicates and abstracts the real world architecture of Federation Square. It also houses highly innovative mechanisms for interactive, multiplayer sound and musical composition.
[edit] Champions: Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame
Champions: Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame holds an array of Australian racing historical items. The Museum and Hall of Fame also has interactive displays, traveling exhibitions and memorabilia.
[edit] National Design Centre
The National Design Centre showcases Australian design and includes a shop.
[edit] The Labyrinth
The so-called "Labyrinth" is a passive cooling system sandwiched above the railway lines and below the middle of the square. The concrete structure consists of 1.2 km of interlocking, honeycombed walls. It covers 160 m2. The walls have a zig-zag profile to maximize their surface area, and are spaced 60 cm apart.
During summer nights, cold air is pumped in the combed space, cooling down the concrete, while heat absorbed during the day is pumped out. The following day, cold air is pumped from the Labyrinth out into the Atrium through floor vents. This process can keep the Atrium up to 12 °C cooler than outside. This is comparable to conventional air conditioning, but using one-tenth the energy and producing one-tenth the carbon dioxide.
During winter, the process is reversed, whereby warm daytime air stored in the Labyrinth overnight, to be pumped back into the Atrium during the day.
The system can also partly cool the ACMI building when the power is not required by the Atrium.
[edit] Birrarung Marr
Behind the square is riverside park, Birrarung Marr.
This park is very popular for Tai Chi, excercising and general 'hanging out'.
[edit] External links
-
- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
| Melbourne landmarks | |
|---|---|
| Buildings | Melbourne Cricket Ground | Royal Exhibition Building | Arts Centre Spire | Flinders Street Station | Federation Square | Crown Casino | Shrine of Remembrance | Luna Park | Sidney Myer Music Bowl | Rialto Towers | Melbourne Central | Queen Victoria Market |
| Precincts | Chinatown | Melbourne Docklands | Southbank | St Kilda |
| Nature and Parks |
Royal Botanic Gardens | Fitzroy Gardens | Birrarung Marr | Carlton Gardens |
| Cultural Institutions | Melbourne Zoo | Melbourne Museum | National Gallery of Victoria | Victorian Arts Centre | State Library of Victoria |
| Transportation | Tullamarine Airport | Southern Cross Station | Flinders Street Station |
