The campus of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia is a microcosm of the city’s exuberant architectural tectonics. The school’s facilities range across architectural styles: Frank Lloyd Wright inspired, Postmodern, Minimalist, and some crazy contemporary buildings that you could only find in Melbourne!
The campus is scattered along Swanston Street (in the heart of Melbourne’s downtown) in a delightfully undefined manner, blending into the vibrant cityscape.
There are some truly delightful architectural surprises. One of my favourites is the Capitol Theatre building, strangely evoking Sullivan’s early-skyscraper Chicago style and with a fantastic interior that seems like it could have been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Even the Postmodernism (Building 8, designed by Edmond & Corrigan) seems to work within the architectural cacophony.
The breadth of styles on the campus allows just about any type of building to fit in. The contemporary buildings range from cool to completely crazy!
Contrasting the rest of the campus, the understated RMIT Design Hub designed by Sean Godsell Architects houses the architecture faculty. The building is clad in transluscent disks, tempering light while providing interesting glimpses of the surrounding cityscape. The building is industrial in finish yet elegantly detailed, and looks like a great place to study architecture!
Images by Jonathan Choe
