Daily Photo – Melbourne’s Floating Forest Canopy
On a recent trip across the ditch to Melbourne, I found myself stepping out of the city’s familiar laneways and into the modern retail architecture of Collins Street, which brings me to the thing I like about Melbourne. Shopping malls, arcades, and gallerias are rarely spaces that inspire creativity, but at some point Melbourne has completely rewired that perspective.
Shuffling through St Collins Lane, suspended high above the modern, minimalist paths below, is an incredible architectural installation featuring hundreds of dark green glass cylinders arranged into a giant geometric dome. Above that sits a massive arched glass skylight, specially designed to allow light to swirl through as it hits the glass bottles.
Depending entirely on the shifting Melbourne sun, natural light filters down through the grid, refracting off the emerald elements to bathe the interior in a moody, earthy glow. It is a brilliant piece of design that completely strips away the standard commercial inner-city retail precinct, transforming it instead into a striking, floating forest canopy.
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