Then, and then again, and now
  Mal Rowe

The corner of Swanston St and Franklin St in Melbourne has undergone
many changes over the years - like most inner city areas.

There's a 1940s pic looking south down Swanston St in the TDU archives
at: http://tdu.to/i/33641 ; It shows the light industrial enterprises in
the area of the time, plus the Queen Victoria Hospital and St Paul's
cathedral spires in the distance.

In the 1980s I made the first attached pic - still showing the QV
hospital and St Pauls, but the buildings at left are part of RMIT, which
gradually acquired all of that block ... and more ... as part of their
growth.  The ugly grey concrete building at left is an example of the
'brutalist' architecture of the 1970s.

[Gunzel note: This pic shows the original points at this location -
right in the middle of Franklin St]

In today's pic (also attached) work is near complete to 'soften the
brute' and make the Swanston St frontage of RMIT a bit more pleasant and
accessible.  QV is gone but the spires of St Pauls are still there and
Swanston St is closed to all but trams, bicycles and pedestrians.

The colourful building with various geometric shapes at right is one of
the newest pieces of architectural fashion so beloved of RMIT.

Mal Rowe - also noting the more recent and very welcome presence of
trees in Swanston St


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810 SwanstonSt 1980s  |  1569W x 1050H  | 507.27 KB |  Photo details
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2049 SwanstonSt 11Oct2017  |  1575W x 1050H  | 501.26 KB |  Photo details