Photo: edwin.11 via Flickr
Since it was constructed, Federation Square has served as a great meeting point for events in the city. However, it does attract criticism from some.
It’s arguable that there’s a feeling of something missing from Fed Square… an attraction to truly liven the area up.
So how would you improve Fed Square? What’s wrong with it currently, and how do we go about fixing it?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
There’s nothing wrong with it. Obvious attractions have short life spans and attract only a limited group of people. As it is the area is developing in a really nice organic fashion to serve as a meeting point for all sorts of people around all sorts of events. This is what will give it a long and lively life as a true hub of melbourne.
A stuffed herd of elephants
2 OR 3 BIG TREES
It’s great – nothing wrong with it at all
fed sq is excellent. could do with some trees. but the surrounding streets need some attention… why are there so many lanes of traffic that cut off fed sq from flinders st station, swanston st, the forum…. crazy. can we do an ‘oxford circus’ at intersection of flinders/swanston?? or just piss off the cars.. please..?
Protestors! :P
I LOVE urban face’s idea!!!!!! lets get a circus going! and some trees would be LOVELY too :D (also a better fire pit… ;) i do love the idea of the fire ;) )
Soul
An off switch for the TV screen!! I’m all in favour of public screenings; have watched the Oz Open there & lots of other things. But I was there with friends a few weeks ago trying to have a meal outdoors around 9.30pm, the square was practically deserted and there was something truly awful and loud playing on the screen which NO ONE was watching. It was like a cello being put through a dishwasher – so ghastly I rang Fed Square security asking them to turn it down. Next thing, there are 3 security guards in the square, looking for who rang up. I went up to one of them & said it was me, and could they turn the sound down, & they said the horrific music was on their “artistically approved playlist”, the subtext being that if we didn’t like it, we could push off. So we did. Hard luck for the restaurant we were at, as we’d have spent $60 easy on desserts if we’d stayed.
Accessibility… I appreciate the beauty of the architecture and although it is generally physically accessible for people who use wheelchairs, it is not at all accessible for people who are vision impaired or are likely to become disorientated due to cognitive deficits. I was with my sister who has an intellectual disability and is visually impaired. On more than one occasion she walked straight into glass panels thinking they were doors, and found the whole space very disorientating and frustrating. She said she wouldn’t dare go there alone, despite being extremely independent in other community spaces.
It needs more life to it… open it up to local arts and crafts or performers. I’m not talking about using the screen here, but real people!! More colour too, how about some Christmas decorations?
A level surface to make events easiers, having to build platforms is a waste of money
The top of the Melbourne Visitor Centre, which now looks like a lopped stump instead of the elegant glassy shard that was originally proposed. If the Melbourne Visitor Centre’s tower was re-instated to its original proposed height it would actually counterbalance the spire of the Cathedral opposite, and add to the dynamic nature of the intersection. Instead we have a sad little stump hiding an underground cavern for our Melbourne tourists.