Monaco House, Melbourne Australia

The Monaco House in Melbourne, Australia folds a multi-story embassy and bar into a compact package. The design by McBride Charles Ryan won the Premier’s Design Award for Victoria, where the judges commented:

“This design is the result of a comprehensive understanding of the spatial unfolding of the city of Melbourne crystallised in a small building that contributes a big moment in this city’s fabric. The building demonstrates a high level of architectural resolution. It realises a potential of widely-held views about the spatial character of the city of Melbourne – laneways and grid – by means of an unerring exploration of complex mathematics and contemporary digital production.”

When the city expands, it’s essential to fold, wrinkle, and contort the grid rather than simply enlarge the box. This modernist exploration of density and societal organization is essential to our future in every context, global, regional, and personal.

 

(featured image by avlxyz on flickr/creative commons)