Birrarung Marr
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Birrarung Marr is an inner-city park between the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and the
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...
. It was opened in 2002. The name refers to the bank of
Birrarung The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower str ...
, the 'river of mists', in the
Woiwurrung The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin people, Kulin alliance. The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria (Austral ...
language of the
Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Australian Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the Traditional Owners of the Birrarung (Yarra River) Valley, covering much of the present location of Narrm (Melbourne ...
people, the Indigenous inhabitants at the time of European colonisation of the Melbourne area.


Location

The 8 hectare (20 acre) park lies immediately to the south-east of the central business district, between Flinders Street and the north bank of the
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...
, east of
Flinders Street station Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders Street, Melbourne, Flinders and Swanston Street, Swanston streets in the Melbourne city centre, central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria (Austral ...
, and west of
Exhibition Street Exhibition Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The street is named after the International Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Building in 1880, and was pre ...
, Batman Avenue and the
Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the calendar year. History Replacing the ...
.


History

In 1856 the colonial government indicated that the marshy site of Birrarung Marr was intended for park or ornamental purposes. However, several institutions including a morgue had already been established there, more still were developed, and facilities including the old State Swimming Centre remained until the late 20th century. The first rail line crossed the area in 1859 and railways eventually occupied most of the parkland between Melbourne's central business district (CBD) and the Yarra River. At the 19th century's end, these impacts were outstripped by reconstruction of the Yarra River itself, which was straightened, widened and deepened, with tree-lined avenues formed along the built-up banks. In 1992 the new Victorian Government under Premier
Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, and currently a media commentator. He was previously the president of the Hawthorn Football Club, serving ...
initiated a development program focused on central Melbourne. For the centrepiece of this program, the State and City of Melbourne jointly sponsored an
architectural design competition An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel o ...
for
Federation Square Federation Square (colloquially Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets built above busy ra ...
. The creation of Birrarung Marr resulted from the reorganisation of infrastructure and land uses near Federation Square, including clearance of the Jolimont railyards, and diversion of Batman Avenue away from the river bank to connect to Exhibition Street. These works enabled reclamation of land from the former rail yards and roadway to create Melbourne's first significant new inner city park in one hundred years. Construction of Birrarung Marr began in 2000. The project was a joint venture by the
City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...
, which provided A$15.6 million to design and build the park, and the State
Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
, which funded the railway rationalisation and clearance of the site. The park was formally opened to the public on
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...
, 26 January 2002.


The park design

The initial schemes for Birrarung Marr proposed a 'festival park', a largely commercial venue supporting the State's use of sporting and cultural events such as the
Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
to position Melbourne in the international marketplace. However, the City emphasised a broader role as social venue supporting individual and community activities as well as major events. From either viewpoint, Birrarung Marr was envisaged as an active, urban space, more like beachside promenades than the older public gardens in other parts of Melbourne, such as the
Fitzroy Gardens The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares (64 acres) located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne central business district in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and ...
. The intent was to provide a robust setting for events such as
Circus Oz Circus Oz is a contemporary circus company based in Australia, collectively owned by its Membership, founded in 1977. Its shows incorporate theatre, satire, rock 'n' roll and a uniquely Australian humour. History Early years Circus Oz was inco ...
and the
Moomba Moomba (also known as the Moomba Festival) is held annually in Melbourne, Australia. Run by the City of Melbourne, it is Australia's largest free community festival. The Melburnian tradition is celebrated over four days, incorporating the Labo ...
Waterfest, changing sculpture exhibitions, and community festivals while providing an attractive setting for passive recreation at other times. The park also provides walking and cycle access between the city centre and the sporting precinct to the south-east, and forms a link in the
Capital City Trail __NOTOC__ The Capital City Trail is a shared use path in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, which circles the city centre and some inner eastern and northern suburbs. It is 29km in length, and mostly consists of sections of other trails, such a ...
, which provides continuous bike access along the Yarra River. Birrarung Marr was therefore designed as a series of level open terraces. The lower terrace, next to the river, has a gravel surface. The middle terrace is on the east side of the park, adjacent to Batman Avenue, and has a grassed surface. The upper grassed terrace on the north side of the park is at the same level as Flinders Street, about 10 metres above the river bank. (The upper terrace was intended to link to the top deck of the Federation Square carpark, which was ultimately not built to the agreed brief although its extension is now being considered.) The massive terraces were formed on the level railyard site using spoil generated by works on the adjoining rail lines, Federation Square, and construction of the nearby
Melbourne Arena John Cain Arena is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena located within Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the second-largest venue and show court for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam professional tennis ...
. Basalt boulders from these excavations were also re-used in the park to form retaining walls. The layout of the park emphasises lines of sight to various Melbourne landmarks such as the spires of the
Victorian Arts Centre Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central ...
and
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
and the Rialto office tower. The shaping of the terraces and the drainage channels between them lined with
river red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...
s evoke the
billabong Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...
s once found on the site, and the linear paths and bridge structures also suggest the railways that dominated the site through much of Melbourne's history. The park's open spaces are largely shielded from nearby traffic, and the park is remarkably quiet and peaceful given its proximity to major roads and railways. The concept plan for Birrarung Marr was prepared by the City of Melbourne, with in-house landscape architects Ronald Jones and Helena Piha as principal designers. Consultants engaged to undertake the detailed design and documentation include Taylor Cullity Lethlean (landscape architects), Paul Thompson (planting design) and Swaney Draper (architects for the footbridge within the park and the Federation Bells). The design has received various awards including the
Royal Australian Institute of Architects (United we advance architecture) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , extinction = , status = Professional body; members association , headquarters = L1/41 Exhibition St, Melbourne , leader_title = CEO , leader_ ...
' Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design in 2004, and the
Australian Institute of Landscape Architects The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) is the Australian non profit professional institute formed to serve the mutual interests of Australian landscape architects. History The AILA was established in 1966 with an interim committ ...
(Victoria) Awards for Excellence in Planning and Excellence in Design in 2003.


Features and facilities

A long ramping footbridge within the park, designed by architects Swaney Draper, links the three terrace levels and provides disabled access. Speaker's Corner, in the south-eastern corner of Birrarung Marr, was a remnant of Yarra Park between the Jolimont Rail Yards and Yarra River that was used as a location for public lectures, protests and demonstrations. For example, in 1916, an estimated 50,000 people came to protest against
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
. These activities had been moved to the north bank of the Yarra River after construction of the Queen Victoria Monument at their earlier venue on the south bank. The site was one of the few public spaces in Melbourne where large public assemblies and speeches were allowed without a prior permit. The mounds that speakers used to stand on to address these crowds can still be seen in this corner of Birrarung Marr. There are
barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...
facilities, as well as public toilets near Speakers Corner. The
Yarra River Trail __NOTOC__ The Yarra Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Yarra River through the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The trail follows the river from near its mouth, through the city a ...
traverses the park on its south side. One of the railway buildings remaining from the Jolimont railyards was converted into a children's art centre and cultural centre, called ArtPlay. ArtPlay opened in 2004 and runs a range of workshops where children and families can undertake creative arts workshops alongside artists of all disciplines. ArtPlay is open to the public on weekends and during school holidays and works with schools during weekdays. In 2006 ArtPlay worked with over 20,000 children, offering nearly 300 different workshops, performances and events. A children's playground has been developed next to this building and a series of creative arts workshops often extend into this space from ArtPlay. Following the success of ArtPlay, The City of Melbourne has developed a similar arts program in the heart of the city for teenagers called Signal, located alongside to Flinders St Station. The Federation Bells on the middle terrace, commissioned in 2001, are a collection of inverted
bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
s comprising nine different design types of various sizes from half a kilogram to 1.2 tonnes mounted on steel poles. The result is not unlike a collection of church bells, however they are spread through an open space rather than being confined to a tower, allowing people to walk between them. There are thirty-nine bells in total, spanning 3 octaves. Tuned in the
just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...
system, the bells are controlled by computer, and play an ever increasing range of compositions, some commissioned, some submitted by the public. This
sound sculpture Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art ...
plays three times a day. The bells were designed by Neil McLachlan and Anton Hassel. In 2010, Spring Innovations were asked to design a new dynamic playing system that was publicly launched on 1 April 2012. Since then the bells have played over 11 million times annually with near complete reliability. They now monitor themselves and report on their playing status daily. Members of the public can down load a player from www.federationbells.com.au and compose and submit their own works online.
Circus Oz Circus Oz is a contemporary circus company based in Australia, collectively owned by its Membership, founded in 1977. Its shows incorporate theatre, satire, rock 'n' roll and a uniquely Australian humour. History Early years Circus Oz was inco ...
has incorporated a live event with the Bells for their 2013 season. The ten-metre high, three-legged ''Angel'' was installed along the river bank in 2006. The sculpture was commissioned from Melbourne mosaic artist Deborah Halpern for installation in the 'moat' in front of the
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...
in 1985, but off-loaded by the Gallery when major renovations were undertaken in 1999. The
William Barak William Barak, named Beruk by his parents, (1823 – 15 August 1903), the "last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe", was the last traditional ngurungaeta (elder) of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, the pre-colonial inhabitants of present-day Melbourne, A ...
Bridge was officially opened in December 2005 for the
2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...
. This provides pedestrian access between the middle terrace of Birrarung Marr over the
CityLink CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Australia, linking the Tullamarine, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other works. In 1996, Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two exi ...
toll road and railways to the vicinity of the
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...
.


Horticulture

In addition to the mature
elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
s along the river bank and at Speakers Corner, about 200 new trees were planted in the park during its construction. The new plantings focus on Australian species including a mass planting of ''
Macrozamia communis ''Macrozamia communis'' is an Australian cycad found on the east coast of New South Wales. The common name for the species is burrawang, a word derived from the Daruk Australian Aboriginal language; this name is also often applied to other spec ...
'' (
cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...
s) on the embankment overlooking Speakers Corner. Also in this area are several ''
Doryanthes excelsa ''Doryanthes excelsa'', commonly known as the gymea lily, is a flowering plant in the family Doryanthaceae that is endemic to coastal areas of New South Wales near Sydney. It has sword-like leaves more than long and it grows a flower spike u ...
'' (gymea lilies) and ''
Lepidozamia peroffskyana ''Lepidozamia peroffskyana'' is a palm-like cycad in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to eastern Australia. The species is named after Count Peroffsky (1794-1857), benefactor of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden. Description left, Le ...
'' (pineapple zamia, another cycad). Hundreds of smaller Australian native plants are also present although construction of the William Barak Bridge, which was not part of the original design for the park, destroyed one of the major display plantings on the north-facing embankment of the middle terrace. Additional tree planting for shade and shelter was envisaged for the level areas of the upper and middle terraces, but has not yet been implemented.


Name origin

The name comes from the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri, meaning "beside the river". The name was applied to the park after the design was adopted.


References

City of Melbourne, ''New riverside park design brief'', May 1998 (unpublished). City of Melbourne, ''Melbourne's new riverside park draft concept plan'', August 1998 (unpublished). Georgina Whitehead, ''History notes for new riverside park area'', prepared for the City of Melbourne, 1998 (unpublished). Georgina Whitehead, ''Civilising the City: A History of Melbourne's Public Gardens''. State Library of Victoria, 1997.


Gallery

File:Melbourne Queen's Park.jpg, River of Mists & River Bank Architecture Design in Birrarung Marr parkland File:Art Sculpture in Queen's Park.jpg, Deborah Halpern Art Sculpture in Birrarung Marr parkland File:Queen's Park - Art Sculpture.jpg, Deborah Halpern Art Sculpture & City Skyline seen from Birrarung Marr parkland File:Melbourne Yarra River.jpg,
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...
flows along the northbank and Birrarung Marr parkland


External links


City of Melbourne
general information on Birrarung Marr

jury comments and photo gallery – planning award

jury comments and photo gallery – design award
Federation Bells
Compose music for the Federation Bells and find information on the bells and playing times

more information on Federation Bells {{Melbourne landmarks Parks in Melbourne East Melbourne, Victoria Urban public parks 2002 establishments in Australia Tourist attractions in Melbourne Landmarks in Melbourne