Perth, the capital of Australia's Wild West, and one of the most remote cities in the world was for long considered a dull, staid place that most people only transited through on the way to other attractions in Western Australia. James Stirling, the British naval officer who founded the city, chose it because of its natural beauty and its location on a ridge. It was a swampy piece of ground on the edge of the River Swan and was laid down as a grid town with narrow streets.
Perth, Australia: Quay
Today, renaissance is in the air and Perth has even made it to the list of "52 places to go to in 2019", by a leading publication. The mining boom has led to glitzy glass buildings being built as well as grand Victorian heritage buildings being revived. Vibrant street art enlivens drab alleys and new cafes and restaurants serving fresh produce, are filled with locals and tourists. I took a walk with a local company called ‘Two feet and a heartbeat' to uncover some of Perth's architectural delights.
“For many years people has stopped going to the river for recreation. So the new billion dollar development called Elizabeth Quay was opened in 2016, which reconnects the city to the north shore of the Swan River,” explains Tim James, our guide. I wander around the Quay, which has a maritime inspired playground for kids, gourmet restaurants, and farmer's markets in the summer. Children run around with gelatos in hand, people click selfies before the 29-metre tall Spanda, a stunning piece of public art work that resembles the ripples of the Swan River.
Further down the trail is the ‘First Contact', a cast aluminum artwork by renowned indigenous artist, Laurel Nannup. Cyclists whiz down the curvaceous 20-meter-high pedestrian and Cycle suspension Bridge with a wooden deck that spans the inlet to Barrack Street Jetty, with its modernistic Bell tower. This snazzy glass clad bell tower with a glass and copper spire, which reminds me of a spacecraft, was built to house medieval church bells from a London Church.
Perth, Australia: Cathedral Square
In the heart of the city, is the historic Cathedral Square precinct which has three interconnected heritage buildings with gables and cornices, called the State Buildings which used to house the government offices like the Treasury and GPO for 140 years. Twenty years ago they were vacated and lay in disuse till they were developed into a eating, drinking, and boutique shopping complex with one of the city's finest luxury hotels—COMO The Treasury designed by Kerry Hill architects. With a slate and copper roof, soaring ceilings, big, bay windows, in a muted colour palette with Italian oak interiors this is understated luxury at its best. I was awed by the majestic Postal Hall—the grand hall with plaster ceilings, between the retail sections and the hotel.
The square is also home to some fine contemporary architecture—the cylindrical City of Perth Library, a curved structure with vertical sections of timber fins that wrap the five floors of the building, with a curved staircase, and aluminum louvered roof. It's a modern building that makes full use of the city's natural sunlight, with granite floors and an outdoor terrace and provides an interesting counterpoint to the heritage State Buildings and the St George's cathedral in the square.
Perth, Australia: Council House
Just across the road is Perth's best example of modernist architecture, and one of the city's first skyscrapers, built in 1963, the 11-storey Council House with double glassed windows in aluminum frames, designed by two Melbourne based architects. This building reminded me of a beehive, designed so that natural and artificial lighting have as maximum visual effect. It is said to be one of the city's most appealing night time landmarks as it is often illuminated in technicolour lights.
Perth, Australia: Yagan Square
Located near the Horseshoe Bridge in the CBD, is Yagan Square, another new public space named after a famous Aboriginal warrior, Yagan that links the CBD with the area called Northbridge. Lined with benches and trees, the Square, whose design was inspired by the region's indigenous heritage, has a market hall, cafes and restaurants, native gardens and public art. Today it's a popular meeting place for the local community.
There is a strong aboriginal narrative that runs through this whole square—from the forty-five-metre-high digital tower that has 14 rods on top that has a reference to the bulrushes once found here and the 14 aboriginal language groups, to the canopies that look like the wetlands that were once found here.
A nine-metre-tall Wirin statue in tawny, orange iron, designed by aboriginal artist Tjyllyungoo looms ahead on the William Street front. “Yagan Square is a celebration of Western Australia, its history, its produce and its landscapes,” says Tim.
