blending of old and new

Melbourne is an interesting city, probably one of the rare cities that I would consider a nice place to live for a while as opposed to being relegated to visits only. Overall, the city has a feeling of newness to it: clean streets, modern buildings, mass transit, and everything just seems brighter. However, despite the newness, there are some beautiful examples of traditional architecture intermingling with some of the more abstract designs out there. Take the intersection of Flinders Street and Swanston Street as a prime example.

On one corner you have Flinders Street Station, a bustling center for railway transportation. While I am no architect, I consider the building to be European-English style architecture, and the bronze domes and clock tower are beautiful. It's something I would expect to bump into in downtown London (though why I don't know, as I never been there).

Opposite this traditionally designed building, is Federation Square. Aside from being a very intriguingly designed set of buildings, it also houses a center for the arts, restaurants, a museum, and a visitor's information center. Despite my usual penchant for linear and orderly things, the skewed angles and patchwork facade always seems to pleasingly draw my eye. Rather fitting, they are currently highlighting an exhibit that chronicles the work of Stanley Kubrick.

While I have yet to take a photo directly of it, on yet another corner of the intersection is St Paul's Cathedral (which is the spire surrounded by scaffolding), and a bit further down the street what appears to be a mosque perhaps or maybe it's just Mideast-inspired.

While, yes, these are merely buildings which have no say in where they are built and who their neighbors are, the fact that these vastly different buildings co-exist in such proximity is a heart-warming thought. The ancient is being refreshed, the foreign is being recognized, the traditional has a fresh coat of paint, and the new is drawing people to them all. I have put absolutely no spiritual insinuation into this blog entry, none whatsoever. Cheers! ;o)