Federation Square by Francisco Anzola is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Time out in Federation square – Melbourne by Jamie Wang is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Federation Square by irene. is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Federation Square by Holiday Point is licensed under CC BY 2.0
This week’s crazy building is Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia. This series of uniquely designed buildings cover about an entire city block and also had to fulfill a challenge: to complement several historical buildings as well as integrate a river into its design!
It features buildings, two open squares, and one covered square. Trains run beneath this structure and the Flinders Street Station is the busiest in Melbourne. Among the tenants are The National Gallery of Victoria, the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image), Melbourne Visitor Centre, The Edge Theatre, and the SBS Television and Radio headquarters.
The National Gallery of Victoria contains over 20,000 pieces of Australian artwork. This collection of paintings, photography, sculpture, fashion, and textiles is the oldest and most well known in Australia.
Many of the buildings feature an angular, geometric design. The paving of the main square was created as urban artwork by Paul Carter and is made up from 470,000 ochre-colored sandstone blocks from Western Australia. The complex includes beautiful views of the St Paul’s Cathedral and the Flinders Street Station. Later the Square was expanded into the Yarra River with the addition of the Federation Wharf.
Included in the design is a huge screen which has been used to broadcast sporting events among other things. Thousands of fans assembled to watch the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Another interesting aspect of the design is the “Labyrinth” which is a unique heating and cooling system which operates at 1/10 of the cost of traditional methods. It works by using a honeycomb structure underneath the buildings. The Labyrinth can contain warm or cool air which is then piped into the buildings and can keep their temperature up to 12 °C cooler than outside.
Federation Square’s unusual design was controversial at first but Melbournians have grown to love it and it was even recognized as one of the “10 Great Central Plazas and Squares” by The Atlantic.
