Monday, August 30, 2010

A Birthday

I thought I should post about a little date of local note.

Today (30 August 2010) is my adoptive city Melbourne’s 175th birthday.

So on this day in 1835 settlers who had sailed from Tasmania (now our smallest state, back then the second British colony in Australia) came ashore from the schooner Enterprize and began clearing for vegetable gardens and buildings.

Since then Melbourne has grown to a city of 4,000,000 souls.

One of Melbourne’s icons is the tram system, featuring modern and not so modern trams.Melbourne is a mix of old buildings and new.

In any area you can see a palimpsest of old and new.
The old is valued for its own sake and there are strict heritage laws to protect buildings of cultural or historical value.Of course sometimes this can cause problems for developers. For example this old factory (a shot tower) was where a developer wanted to build a new shopping centre.But then again, with a little creativity you build around the old (without harming it) and end up with something interesting.

12 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Happy birthday Melbourne!!

Who says developers can't be creative?!?! LOL!! I love how the shopping centre accomodated that beautiful building! May these lovely architectural structures remain - there's far too much glass and steel in contemporary designs! Good ol brick and marble is lovelier on the eye but then again they're probably not so eco friendly.

Have a great day!!

Take care
x

Myrna Foster said...

I love learning history through your photographic essays, Al. Thanks!

Natasha said...

Happy Birthday, Melbourne.
I would love to meet you someday, but till I do, Al's photographs more than suffice.

Carolyn V. said...

Your pictures make me want to come visit! It looks so beautiful! Thanks Al. =)

Unknown said...

Melbourne looks awesome. Some crazy development innovations there!

Wendy Ramer, Author said...

Happy Birthday to Melbourne! Well done, city planners ;-)

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday Melbourne!!! I've never seen anything like it, I love the photos you shared with us!!!

Mixing old with the new!!! If you can do that in the city you can do that in your life as well! Such inspiration!!!

Thanks for sharing!

Ann said...

Happy Birthday Melbourne. Your photos show the city in all its glory. Beautiful as usual.

Kathleen Jones said...

I've often wondered what Melbourne was like. thanks for showing me!

Hart Johnson said...

Happy Birthday Melbourne! I love the mix of Victorian and modern, and especially that modern built AROUND the old building at the end there--very cool.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Thanks for sharing Melbourne with us, Al. Please forgive me, but what is a shot tower used for?

Jemi Fraser said...

Love the pics - Melbourne is a pretty city! :)