Firm: rush/ wright associate
Client: the shrine of remembrance
The shrine of remembrance located on the axis of St Kilda Melbourne's most visible and significant war memorial. It is originally designed 1933 by Hudson and Wardrop in Grecian Classical style and maintains its powerful symbolic quality, dominating South-North vista of city.
Aerial photo of Shrine of remembrance overlooking melbourne CBD
(Source: website of rush/wright landscape associate)
One of the main element to allow this to be symbolic site in Melbourne is its large scale.
To understand its scale, I compared this site with four other site all of which I am quite familiar with.
Scale shown at A3
Rush/ wright associates , in its management plan, successfully incorporated a long vision which includes gradual changes with consideration to the oldness. The changes to the physical fabric of the Shrine reserve allows it to re-establish its original design intent, and respond to the current needs for the Shrine Visitor centre and Galleries at the same time.
This relationship between new and old, emerging role of the Shrine from custodian of memory to that of teaching and shaping values of new generations are expressed through various juxtaposition in design.
The view from the entry showing its juxtaposition between new and old
(Source: "Design City Melbourne" by Leon Van Schalk)
1. Symmetry and assymetry in form (powerful and subtle)
The site is overall designed symmetrically, overlooking the heritage building in center. Its impressive image of building are emphasized by again symmetrical planting of conical shaped Cupressus trees and planting of lawn and hedges.
The view toward west from the building overlooking Royal Botanical Garden.
However the shape of new courtyard are quite irregular. (see picture in block 2 below)
2. Use of different Colours in he two courtyards
Left: the view of court yard in North-western axis which are composed of soft landscape with green.
Right: the view of courtyard in North-eastern axis which are composd of hard landscape with emotive red wall
3: Flower for respect.
Though courtyards are made up of totally different material as I mentioned above, the main intention are same as you see the flowers below. The flowers also convey the design quality of the subtlety vs powerfulness.
The red flowers put on hard paving next to red wall in the courtyard of eastern side.(photo by Arki)
The red flowers put in front of sacred olive tree in the courtyard of western side.(Photo by Arki)
Other than these, the site allows visitors to experience the juxtapositions in many different ways, depending on interpretations. This project is definitely worthwhile to be awarded even only in this sense.
Traditions itself cannot constitute a force. It always has a decadent tendency to promote formalization and repetition. What is needed to direct it into creative channels is a fresh energy that repudiates dead forms and prevents living ones from becoming static. It on sense, for a tradition to live it must constantly be destroyed. At the same time, destruction by itself clearly cannot create new cultural forms. There must be some other force which restrains destructive energy and prevents it from reducing all about it to havoc. The dialectical synthesis of tradition and anti-tradition is the structure of true creativeness.
Architect Kenzo Tange
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