ckb_fed_square

 Homepage | What is a landmark | Federation square | Eureka Tower | Royal Exhibition Building | Shrine of Remembrance | Flinders St Station | Crown Casino | Survey | Mindmap | Bibliography | Reflections | Conclusion Federation Square (or Fed Square) is considered the cultural precinct of Melbourne by some, an iconic landmark by many and just a nice place to meet up with your mates by all. This must see attraction was designed by architects Don Bates and Peter Davidson from the architectural firm Bates Smart and was built from 1997-2002. Federation Square is not just the structures you can see above ground but there is also a collection of other spaces underneath.

As well as acting as a central meeting place, Fed Square is a multi-storey complex built over a working train network. It incorporates art galleries, including the NGV Australia Ian Potter Gallery, a public broadcaster - television and radio station SBS, museums including Champions, a sports museum and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image , exhibition spaces, cinemas, auditoria (space for public gatherings), a performance stage with a giant television screen, bars, restaurants, shops and an information hub.

For over a 150 years Melbournian's have fantasized about linking the centre of our great city to Melbourne’s comparative Nile, its life blood, the Yarra River. Also Melbourne was in need of a central meeting place, a place to unify its city as well as promoting it. Both this fantasy and this need were answered through one thing: Federation Square.

Before Fed Square was built the people of Melbourne endured the old ugly "biscuit box", the Gas and Fuel Building. This ugly creation was built in 1967, out of 1950s brown brick and small aluminium windows. Most people felt that having two great tanned blocks plonked between, spoilt the view of the Yarra and the beauty of St Paul’s Cathedral. It’s safe to say there was no love lost when it was demolished.  Fed Square has many excellent attributes, some include the glistening glass arcade, the elaborate convoluted gallery, the great tiled "red heart" of the main paving and the excitement it conjures up from its visitors. This is all good and well but it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine, you see the land on which Fed Square stands was just the jolimont railway lines. This meant the men and women behind the build had to first demolish the Gas and Fuel Building, second they would have built the foundations and third elevate the whole area so it was above the train network and so it could be built upon. Even the deck is a marvel of architecture with, and I quote: "over 3000 tones of steel beams, 1.4 km of concrete 'crash walls' and over 4000 vibration-absorbing spring coils and rubber pads". With structural work only allowed in the early hours of the day, the deck took about 12 months to build. It is designed to isolate the vibration and noise of the Jolimont lines and support some of the most sensitive buildings you can imagine, for example art galleries, out door sculptures, cinemas and studios.

The square provides little protection from the wind as the elevation at the Russell St end was never fully finished. This four hundred million dollar complex was planned to open in 2001 to commemorate the centenary of Federation, but ended up opening in 2002. The square is a splendid blend of cultural bodies, commercial buildings and performance spaces and the squares square alone can hold up to 15,000 people. It teligraphs many events on its big ass TV, some include every Auzzie soccer game in the world cup, Tennis matches from the Auzzie open, other sporting events, and even channel 7 when they their really desperate. Federation Square hosts many events like The Homeless World Cup in 2008, bands, parties, festivals and most inportantly fireworks.

Fed Square was sort of designed as a place of welcome, the people are welcomed by the structure as we can of relate to it because it is different in some ways more than one, as all of us are. Fed Square was and is the first of its kind and I believe without it melbourne wouldn't be as it is to day.

Charlie ​