Abomination in Design

RMIT UNIVERSITY- It has an internationally recognized reputation for architecture and design. However, its designs along Swanston Street in Melbourne CBD leave much to be desired. Its lack of integration between modern and Gothic revival architecture creates an eye sore out of the streetscape.

  Building 8

Building 8 is geometric in form and is reminiscent of a child’s toy-box. The underlying concept is trivial and appears superficial and undeveloped. Why would a university showcase such an underwhelming design that has no relevance to what the students strive to become but backtracks to a time of infancy? I am all for concepts that have a degree of playfulness and eccentricity but they need to be executed properly. If you strip this building’s facade all you will be left with is an array of coloured tiles and storybook windows with gold metal frames and if you look at it long enough it begins to take shape of a rather fragmented game of Tetris. This is the perfect space to make a strong architectural impact; it should be a source of inspiration on the way to lectures or work, though I find myself deliberately avoiding it by trying not to look up. A friend of mine describes the building “as a sadistic motive to give epileptic seizures to anyone who walks by”. 

As this is designed by an Architect it is considered innovative and fresh, however if a student was to design anything remotely similar they would be laughed at and receive an immediate fail. This is a wishy washy design, which attempts to be clever and eccentric but has become an embarrassing piece of architecture. RMIT you can do better.