This two hour school walking tour travels between Federation Square and Eureka Tower via Melbourne’s Birrarung (Yarra River) and via bridges, roads, iconic buildings and public spaces. This excursion explores:
KEY LANDMARKS of Melbourne including architectural structures.
HOW the materials to build Melbourne have changed over time, why materials change and the suitability of materials chosen.
STRUCTURES AND SHAPES: how shapes make up a structure, the strength and use of different shapes e.g. triangle vs square, bridges, arches, towers and their materials.
LANDMARKS:
Federation Square: grids, squares and triangles.
Birrarung Marr: Crests, lamps and labyrinths
Federation Wharf: shop vaults and keystones
Princes Bridge: arches and steel
Art Centre spire
Evan Walker Bridge
Eureka Tower Southbank
Queens Bridge and Red Square
Sandridge/Multicultural Bridge. Gaia and the ‘the travellers’ sculpture
Signal box
Elizabeth Street rail underpass, william Creek and Yarra River
Flinders Street Station Dome
St Pauls gothic spires
Melbourne has changed over time since the first ship Enterprize landed in 1835 and Robert Hoddle laid out the grid in 1837. The vast changes in our landscape reflect the responses by communities as their needs continually changed over time. For example re transport: Indigenous people walked, settlers rode horses and carts and we ride cars and trains. Indigenous people used natural material such bone, bark, shell, fur and flint. The settlers built a city for a much larger population with materials such as canvas, bluestone, tin, steel and iron.
Today we have many materials, shapes and structures to choose from such as reinforced concrete, steel plastic, tiles, zinc, aluminium, optic fibres, polystyrene and aluminium. Our school excursions explores what are the landmarks of our city and what structures, materials and shapes have changed over time to create one of the most liveable cities in the world. Structures and shapes include spires, spirals, domes, triangles, tiles, squares, curves and arches. Materials include plaster, sandstone, gold, steel, concrete, iron, bluestone, aluminium, cable, zinc, brick, ceramic and glass.
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SEE: Our Other SCHOOL PROGRAMS
