Hi Mum!
Today we went to Federation Square in the City. It's the largest and newest public space in the city of Melbourne, finished in 2002. When it first opened, a lot of people thought it was ugly, but there wasn't much new-style architecture in Melbourne then, so people weren't used to it. Most people seem to like it now. A few people still don't like it, but there's not much they can do now!
The main building is the National Gallery of Victoria's modern and Australian art collection. There is also the headquarters for SBS TV Station, and on the roof is an experimental beehive, the Rooftop Honey project. On the other side is the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. (It's a film museum and cinema.)
The main square has a huge TV screen which often shows big sporting matches, cultural events or short films from the film museum's collection. The paving on the ground is a huge artwork. The colours and curved surface look like the dunes in the desert.
The largest building is covered in sandstone. It's sandy colour also ties in to the desert theme. Every piece of sandstone and glass is a triangle shape, and they all fit in together in a crazy pattern. Host Sister says there's a story that not a single angle in the whole pattern is a square angle. But she's not sure if this is really true! The smaller building on the front corner is covered in zinc metal, which reflects the sky whatever the weather is.
At the back is the Atrium. This is the entrance to the Art Gallery. The glass roof is 5 storeys high! The glass wall has two layers, and sometimes there are art displays in the middle. Like an art sandwich!
The artwork on display at the moment is called '1000 Tears'. Members of the public emailed the artist to tell her their biggest regret, and she wrote them on tears made of paper.
And around the other side was a pretty garden bed full of daffodils.
Across the river is the concert hall, the classical art gallery and the botanical gardens. But we'll go there some other time! It's time to go now.
Bye for now!
Love, Anton xx