Melbourne’s – and the reinforced concrete and steel-beamed building around it – turns 100 today. The spectacular modern architecture, which was by RMIT, was designed by US architect Walter Burley Griffin and his partner Marion Mahony Griffin. It opened on November 7 1924 as a grand “picture palace” and is still used today to host a variety of screenings and live performances.
The Capitol was by renowned Australian architect Robin Boyd (1919–71) as “the best cinema that has ever been built or is ever likely to be built”. Ross Thorne, one of Australia’s most prominent historians of theatre architecture, has “a howling gale of modernity”. It’s startling to think so many of Modernism’s radical monuments are nearing or past 100 years old.
In Australia, Walter and Marion Griffin were chief drivers of the movement. Apart from the Capitol, they the , Melbourne’s Newman College and the Fishwick House in Castlecrag, New South Wales, to name a few. While The Capitol continues to have international claim today, its journey hasn’t been without hurdles.
When The Capitol almost went down In 1964 The Capitol awaited a major planned demolition. Although this didn’t eventuate in its entirety, the lower level, including the foyer and the stalls, were quickly replaced for a tatty, inconsequential arcade that to this day reeks of the 1960s. The fight to save the rest of the theatre was a turning point in Australia’s heritage building conservation efforts.
For the.
