Eating by Design

1999

Design is an important part of any eating and drinking space. No more so than in Melbourne, surely the most design and dining conscious city in Australia.

Getting all the elements right in a cafe is more difficult than getting a static piece of art to work. Just as the effect created by a beautiful object like an Issey Miyake garment is dependent on who is wearing it, so with a cafe or a restaurant, no matter how well set up, how brilliant the concept, how clever the colours, it all depends on the right management.

Looking at the design of a range of building projects and at how they are used, suit their street space, how the public interact with them, how good they look and feel, is part of the job of the jury which I am on for The Melbourne Prize. This year's winner (The Melbourne Prize started in 1997) was announced last Friday as part of the 1999 RAIA Victorian Architecture Awards.

There was a really interesting selection to choose from including the Peter Elliott designed pedestrian footbridge over the Yarra beside the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. The bridge combines elegance and useability and as it both exposes, and shelters the walker to the elements, gives a heightened perspective on the city; the Migration Museum and Hellenic Archeological Museum on Flinders Street, a classic building which now celebrates much of Melbourne's past. Originally the Customs House, appropriately it now houses the memories and relics of the immigrants who have made Melbourne. Where once this place was the collection point for taxes on goods (the government's main source of income before income tax started forWorld War I) it now shows how immigrants have brought to, and changed customs of another kind, in Australia.

Then the winner, the Ian Potter Museum of Art designed by Nonda Katsalidis, on Swanston Street at the University of Melbourne. What a stunner. Great spaces for viewing paintings and art works, the striking use of the stained glass from the original Wilson Hall and windows throughout which give great views of Carlton and beyond.

But, of importance to Melbourne's eaters and drinkers is the well designed and complementary Brunetti's Cafe which hugs the front and side of the building.

It's a light-filled space, like the rest of the museum, state of the art in both design and the equipment imported from Italy. Quality coffee and cakes are available seven days a week. Since opening in March it has become a regular spot for university students and Carltonians. Hopefully the outdoor seating will be increased and make the building accessible to even more caffeine lovers.

This is a case of the user fitting the space very well. The Angele family have good experience and a loyal clientele from their nearby Brunetti's in Faraday Street. They know the meaning of service and consistency.

One other cafe which has really made its mark over the past year is Wall Two 80 over the other side of town. Owners, Keith Shreeve and David Sharry, both had experience from other businesses (Globe, Candy Bar) but the set up in Balaclava is quite different. They called on the expertise of architectural firm, Six Degrees (winners of the inaugural Melbourne Prize for their Meyers Place bar) and the result has become one of the most talked about places in town. The site was once a kosher butchery, the shop front has been leased out to Spin CD and the back, including the coolroom and offices has become a series of cosy rooms which make up this unique cafe. The entrance on Nelson Street is identified by its street style art, spray paintings of the usual variety including the small title 'The Façade' beside the narrow door. Both the door and the large window nearby have big roller shutters (this has become something of a trademark of the Six Degrees design team) The window shelf is used for takeaway and to serve a few tables which hug the building outside. It is not licensed and the food is very simple but the place is incredibly popular because it is so comfortable and interesting to sit in. A communal table with papers to read, a dark little corner bench, then within the centre a number of the tiniest of bench tops jut out from the walls. One of the inner walls (which give the cafe its name) was left partly demolished to give a sense of what the space once was. The old meat scales and some signage also remain. Dark partitions cover most of the inner walls with the occasional display of tiles. A clever use of space which fits well the style of its owners and customers.