1. Federation Square
This is the best starting point for exploring Melbourne. A surreal building in the square completely breaks tourists’ initial impression of Melbourne’s classical style. .
Federation Square is one of the most sophisticated and massive construction projects in Victoria, incorporating advanced and avant-garde architectural design. Federation Square covers the entire inner city, connects the central business district with the river in the heart of Melbourne, and integrates arts, events, leisure, sightseeing and open space functions. The Ian Potter Center is also here in Federation Square, where the National Gallery of Victoria is located, the world's first public museum with the theme of Australian art.
Everyone’s love for Federation Square is due to the abstract and peculiar buildings around it, including the Visitor Service Centre, the New National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the Indoor Performance Hall (in the BMW edge), SBS Media building, Transport Hotel, art galleries, restaurants and shops, etc. The Atrium building in particular has a striking exterior, composed of geometric steel and transparent glass. It connects Flinders Street and the Yarra River channel, and is cut in the middle by Crossbar, a building mainly composed of restaurants and cafes. The high ceiling and transparent glass not only allow the outside light to fully shine in, but also integrate with the neighboring classical buildings, successfully interpreting the contrasting concepts of "tradition and modernity", "ancient and creative".
2. St. Paul's Church
This is an Anglican cathedral located at the intersection of Flinders Street and Swanston Street. The church, together with St. Patrick's Cathedral on Government Street and St. John's Anglican Church in South Yarra, has become Melbourne's three major Gothic buildings. St. Paul's Cathedral was built in 1866, replacing a much smaller church with the same name.
The process of building the church encountered various difficulties. There was a great dispute between the British architect William Butterfield and the church construction committee. Butterfield was dissatisfied with the committee's desire to make the church face the Nobles Bridge and the selection of stone materials. The design concept is very disdainful. Construction of the church began in 1880, but Butterfield formally resigned in 1884. The final work was overseen by architect Joseph Reed. The interior of the church has many unique features, including the chancel's canopy door, which was custom-made in Italy, marble and striped marble inlaid with glass, and a pipe organ made by Louis and his collaborators in London. There is also a set of 13 small bells in the church, which are rare treasures outside the British Isles.
St. Paul's Church is open to the public for free, and the door of the church is very heavy. When you walk into St. Paul's Church, the interior lights are dim and there is a sense of majesty and coldness. The church looks relatively empty in space, the roof is very high, and the beautiful stained glass has an obvious Western flavor. It gives people the feeling that time has been turned back to ancient times. Europe is majestic and grand.
Victoria 3. Victoria Arts Center
If you look towards the other side of the Yarra River from Federation Square, the sunlight will immediately be attracted by a tutu-shaped spire. , that is where the Victoria Arts Center is located, a famous landmark building in Melbourne.
The Art Center, which has been open for more than 20 years and was designed by architect Roygrounds, has been providing Melbourne citizens with a rich artistic feast. Large-scale concerts, plays and dances are often staged here. The art center is divided into three parts: one is the theater under the 162-meter-high spire; the other is the Melbourne Concert Hall; and the other is the National Gallery of Victoria.
The theater under the spire is built on St. Kilda Road. Five floors of the 6-storey building are underground. Three performance halls are also underground. The largest of them, the State Theater, can accommodate 2067 people, mainly used as a performance venue for opera, ballet and musicals; the Play House can accommodate 800 people and is mainly designed for dramatic performances. There is also an Aboriginal art exhibition in the lounge; the smallest experimental theater (George Fairfax Studio can accommodate 350-450 people and is a multi-purpose performance room.
If you want to fully appreciate the luxurious design inside the theater, you can learn more about the facilities required to meet the standards of a "good theater" through the staff's explanations. Even if you can't go inside to watch the show, you can still take this opportunity to enjoy the theater. vision. In addition, the Art Center has also opened a backstage dressing room for visitors to visit, where visitors can wear various costumes to take photos and enjoy their stardom. Construction of this multi-functional performing arts center began in 1973, and it premiered in 1984. The Arts Center not only attracts world-class artists, theater companies, opera and ballet dancers to perform here, but is also an important gathering point for social and cultural activities in Melbourne.
For a tourist, the Art Center is the best place to appreciate Melbourne’s artistic temperament. The art museum is a building with an oriental color. Spring water flows along the entire glass wall of the door to protect the art museum. At the gate is a huge statue called "The Angel". "Angels" do not have wings. To be precise, they look like small beasts with three legs and two heads. The colorful colors and totem-like patterns may be the angels imagined by the artists. The high tower of the theater building is shaped like a tutu, and at night the dance skirts fly out to create the brightest lights along the Yarra River. The theaters are all underground, small and unique. The floor of the small theater is earthy silver and the chairs are peach; the carpet of the middle theater is dark purple and the chairs are bronze; and the seats of the large theater are all bright red, which is the traditional color used by British opera houses. The ceiling of the theater is made of 7,500 reflective lenses. When the lights are turned on, the reflected light and shadow are like the Milky Way pouring from the sky. The acoustics of Melbourne Concert Hall are second to none in Australia. The stage is at the lowest level, as deep as the riverbed beside the Yarra. All 2,677 seat covers are made of sound-absorbing pure wool. The walls were all buffalo hide. Each square is made from the hide of a buffalo. More than 1,000 buffaloes were used in one operation. Wool sound-absorbing carpet and 30 sound effect discs near the stage. Change the height of the suspension according to the music played. The ceiling and floor of the concert hall are sand, coral blue, gray and light purple that were carefully outlined by landscape painters. These four colors represent the colors of the Australian earth. The audience is in the concert hall, as if they are on the slope mound at the entrance of the cave. It is the creativity of Melbourne people to enjoy the symphony in such a "natural" environment, and this perfect fusion of nature and humanity is the charm of Melbourne. .
Every year, approximately 1.2 million people from all over the world come here to enjoy various performances. The restaurant in the art center also provides a variety of delicious meals. There are many outdoor cafes and shops along the Yarra River, where you can taste fragrant coffee and enjoy shopping. At night, the Victoria Arts Center is brilliantly lit, illuminating the Melbourne night sky like a string of pearls embedded in the urban night scene of lights.
4. Royal Botanic Garden
The Royal Botanic Garden in Melbourne was built in 1845 and covers an area of ??about 40 hectares. It was designed in the garden style of the 19th century and still retains some buildings and structures from the last century. The flowers and trees planted in the garden are mostly rare exotic treasures and local Australian plants. It brings together more than 12,000 categories and more than 30,000 species of plants and flowers from all over the world. In addition to all native Australian plant and flower species, more than 20,000 species have also been cultivated. Exotic plants.
Since the park opened in 1845, it has continuously collected plants from all over the world and gradually expanded to reach the scale we see today. It is one of the best designed botanical gardens in the world. A major feature of the botanical garden is that there are many commemorative trees planted by famous Australian and foreign historical figures: such as British detective novelist Conan Doyle, Governor-General of Victoria Latrobe, Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert, Australia The famous female opera singer Nellie Melba, the Polish pianist Paderewski, the British Admiral Jellicoe, the former British Prime Minister Macmillan, the former Canadian Prime Minister Diefenbaker, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Edinburgh Duke, King Bhumibol of Thailand and many more.
In the Botanic Gardens, a tree named "Separation Memorial Tree" in Victoria's history is worth mentioning. 1851 was an encouraging year for Victorians. Gold was discovered in Victoria and at the same time, the British territory, which was originally part of the New South Wales Colony, received British approval to establish a separate colony. To commemorate this historic event, the Governor of Colonial Victoria planted this eucalyptus tree in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Melbourne. This red eucalyptus tree (eucalyptus) has been preserved to this day and has witnessed the history of the city's development.
5. Rialto Tower
The Rialto Tower is the most iconic building in Melbourne and the tallest office building in the southern hemisphere. The building is 253 meters high. ’s commercial building is the 21st tallest building in the world. The scenery on the 55th floor observation deck is beautiful and intoxicating. When visiting Melbourne, you must come to enjoy the 360-degree bird's-eye view of this beautiful city 60 kilometers away from the horizon. It’s the ideal place to see another side of Melbourne, “the most dynamic city in the world”. Looking out from here, you can not only see the high-rise buildings in Melbourne's city center, but also the Indian Ocean in the distance and the new development area to the west of the city.
It was built in 1986 by Australian land developer Bruno Gorillo. In 1994, the observation deck on the 55th floor was opened to the public and now attracts 1,500 tourists every day to enjoy the panoramic view of the city. The observation deck shows a 20-minute video every half hour to introduce tourists to the scenery of Melbourne.