Melbourne's New Public Art Installation Turns a Construction Site Into a Gallery

Scaffolding and other tell-tale signs of construction work have long been common sights across Melbourne, and not particularly pleasant ones. Enter Urban Surfaces, a creative solution to brightening up the CBD's many building sites — and showcasing publicly contributed photographs of the city's diversity in the process.

Spanning a 17-metre stretch on Flinders and Spencer streets, Urban Spaces turns the corner into a year-long art gallery. On what would've otherwise been drab boarding, 150 eye-catching snaps sit in an array of frames, with the chosen pictures highlighting Melbourne's most loved aspects and spaces.

Aiming to both enhance the aesthetics of construction sites and capture the essence of the city, the project is a collaboration between students from RMIT's School of Architecture and Design and Lendlease's Melbourne Quarter development, with students curating the exhibition. As well as improving the look of the heavy-trafficked CBD spot for the next twelve months, the displayed images are also available online — creating an archive of public photos of Melbourne at its best, and also sharing the selected pics beyond the CBD.

Find Urban Surfaces on the corner of Flinders and Spencer streets, and head to the Frame Melbourne website for further details.