Appreciating Art and Architecture in Melbourne

I knew that Melbourne is famous for its laneways and arcades and one can easily spend a whole day exploring the intricate alleys that lead from one laneway to the next.  This important part of Melbourne’s culture is appreciated by both locals and tourists alike and I was pleasantly surprised at how each laneway had its own distinctive character.

A couple of the more memorable laneways for me are Drewery Lane, (mainly because this was the first one I stumbled upon) and Hosier Lane.  Drewery Lane was decorated with all these little plaques of art that people had coloured, painted and written on.

Pregrave Lane is a smaller lane, but it had a photo frame theme, which I found interesting.

And of course, perhaps the most famous of them all – Hosier Lane.  This lane showcased such amazing art.  I heard that artists keep painting over the walls and if you are to chip the paint off, you would see that there are actually inches of paint underneath.

I knew that there are a great deal of restaurants and cafes built around the laneways, but what surprised me was that some of these restaurants were actually built into the laneways.  What I mean, is that the kitchen would be on one side of the laneway and then the dining area would be on the other side of the laneway.  This means that the restaurant is constantly disrupted by people walking through the laneway, between the kitchen and the tables.  I’d imagine this would make for quite the dining experience, not to mention the difficulty the wait staff must have for trying to juggle food and not bumping into pedestrians.

As wonderful as the laneways are, my interest definitely lies more with being able to admire some of the architecture the city has to offer.  On my first full day in Melbourne, I walked past the Webb Bridge, a very interesting and tangled looking bridge.

Then, I walked by Flinders Station, which was built in the early 1900s.  The railway station is the busiest station in the Melbourne network, with thousands of people passing through each day.

The gorgeous interior of the State Library of Victoria looks more like a museum than it does a library.  The library is huge and like many visitors, I went up to the top floor to get a glimpse of the grandeur.

Coop’s Shot Tower is located in Central Melbourne amongst shops and vendors.  The whole place reminded me of a busy train station, but in reality, it is more of a shopping centre with stores, and food vendors.  It is neat to see an old tower being incorporated into modern facilities.

You can’t visit Melbourne without visiting some of its arcades.  I was fortunately enough to spend some time at both the Royal Arcade and the Block Arcade.  The Royal Arcade actually just reminded me of some of the malls at home.  It was lined with shops on both sides, but the high ceilings were decorated with some unique features.  As it was November when I visited, some Christmas décor was already set up.

The Block Arcade was much smaller, but felt more sophisticated as the entire place was wrapped in gold décor.

Lastly, Melbourne’s Chinatown seemed quite lively, unlike the Chinatowns here in Canada.  It reminded me a bit of the Canadian Chinatowns of my childhood, where it was an important gathering point for the Chinese.  There were several gates that were erected to signify the entrance into Chinatown.

I was only able to spend a short amount of time in Melbourne, but absolutely loved the city and can see why it is often voted as one of the most livable places in the world.