Rialto Towers and the future of Melbourne, 1970s-80s
- James Lesh
- Mar 11, 2016
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 18
‘Why not call ourselves mutilated Melbourne?’ A history of urban heritage at the Rialto Towers
When completed in 1986, the Rialto Towers were the tallest building complex in the Southern Hemisphere. They remain today an enduring mark on the Melbourne city skyline, grounded at the prominent intersection of Collins and King Streets. Their construction was, however, preceded by a decade-long dispute over the nineteenth-century buildings located at the site, dubbed the Rialto precinct, which heritage activists sought to preserve. Tensions over the site's heritage again flared in 2015 after the Rialto's developer proposed a new building attached to the skyscraper, within the former envelope of Robb's building, which had been demolished in order to open sightlines to the skyscraper. This article returns to the 1970s and early 1980s to examine the contest over the Rialto precinct from the perspectives of heritage activists, government authorities and commercial developers. By mapping the Rialto precinct from these various perspectives, I argue that heritage at the site was contested because of conflicting understandings of the meanings of and therefore the possibilities for heritage. This led to a mixed heritage outcome amidst a nascent urban heritage system and broader political, economic and sociocultural shifts. I further argue that the present day urban heritage system lacks a consciousness of its own history, as recent events have shown, which continues to produce less desirable urban heritage outcomes for the Australian city.
James Lesh, “‘Why not call ourselves Mutilated Melbourne?’ A history of urban heritage at the Rialto Towers”, Historic Environment 28, no 3 (2016): 22–35.
