Hosie's Hotel mural, 1-5 Elizabeth Street & 286-290 Flinders Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Total copies: 1
Title:
Hosie's Hotel mural, 1-5 Elizabeth Street & 286-290 Flinders Street, Melbourne
Creator:
Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 103165
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
Part of:
Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedOpen access.
Use restrictions:
UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
General notes:
Period: Post-WarConstruction date: 1953-1956Architect: Mussen MacKay & PotterNotable features: Mural by Richard Beck, curtain wall, ceramic facing. Geometric composition, old hotel site.Period: Post-WarConstruction date: 1953-1956Architect: Mussen Mackay & PotterNotable features: Mural by Richard Beck, curtain wall, ceramic facing. geometric composition, old hotel site.ASSOCIATED RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER:GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryHosie's old hotel and café was established as a name in 1883 and as a warehouse building long before. J S Hosie gave it his name. The touring Duke of York gave it fame by inspiring such a ponderous hunger among his constituents that a record 17,252 three-penny meals were consumed in one week, during 1901, whilst awaiting a glimpse of his highness.In 1953 the approaching Melbourne Olympic Games inspired another feat, this time a 17-month contract for E A Watts to replace the old warehouse with a new residential hotel for Carlton and United Breweries Ltd. Mussen MacKay and Potter were the architects and the cost estimated at over ₤365,000; MacKay had already been involved with the successfully Modern Australia Hotel. An large Australiana mural was an illustrated feature of the design and was possibly to be the subject of a competition.'All over Australia urban bldg (building) is lazily awakening. The scene in Melbourne city, which only last year seemed condemned to building inactivity forever, has quite suddenly changed...' Unlike many of the new city buildings proposed in that year (including the former Graham Hotel). Hosie's offered human comforts beyond that of a good view. Full air- conditioning to the lower four public levels paralleled with all floors at the Graham but a lower roof-top garden, sheltered by another six levels of guest rooms, was something new. Roof-top gardens of the past had been windswept left-over spaces and not, as offered at Hosie's, part of the ever valuable site-coverage.`Cross-Section’ noticed the Hosie's proposal `...One breaks away from box & glass with a promising original form & huge mural...' During construction (mid 1955) the journal saw its judgement ratified. `...(It) promises still to be a city blg (building) of more individual character than its contemporaries...' More Mondriaan than aboriginal, the mural was eventually carried out by Richard Beck.DescriptionIt was original in its infusion of Modern massing into a building type, which had hitherto been determined in shape by its site- outline and height. Hundred percent site coverage and the utility of a simple, rectangular form had been, both before and after Hosie's, the prevailing determinants of city design. Ornament or its absence, were the visible differences.The work of Mondriaan or De Stijl, where differing volumes overlap and their surface finishes or colours promote further contrast, can be seen in both small and large designs by J.P.P. Oud and Farkas Molnar in the early 1920s (see Mart Stam's Konigsberg apartment house, 1923). Hosie's eastern elevation has two major volumes, one craning its neck to see over the other: separating them is the negative surface of a curtain wall. Shining tiles to the larger and a matt finish Mondriaan likeness to the other, are both texture and finish differences. Window squares replace tiles in one wall but otherwise the sides are opaque serving to encase the glazed curtain walls which face south. Dealing with juxta-positioning of bold multi-storeyed forms and the contrast of bland with detailed surface in city buildings, Hosie's is by far the most assured and is rivalled, outside of the city, only by some hospital designs (i.e. Prince Henry's First Block). However, catering for both natural ventilation and full air- conditioning, Hosie's glazed curtains do not gain the slick smoothness of other early air-conditioned buildings such as the former Allied Assurance Building (qv).External IntegrityGenerally externally original except for added air units and altered ground-level details and finishes.StreetscapeIsolated but gains from corner exposure of skilful massing.SignificanceThe most accomplished Modern multi-storey design in the European manner of de Stijl also the only survivor of two city hotels built for the Olympic Games as part of the city's rebirth in the early 1950s.GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDY BIFCites 20th C. Register
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Research and reports
Record number:
1197920
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 103165 | 1 PDF : 4,078 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |