Sign

In a block of medium rise buildings in the CBD on Anzac Avenue, I found yet another little food court snugly inside a long narrow shop space and jammed full of various cuisines and different shops. The signage marks this out on the street - they attempt to draw you in.

In Melbourne, the Chinatown was where street signage was the most prominent. A cherry picker was there putting up a new sign. It's as if the heritage building that they were applying it to would change function with it. Such a programme is interchangable as different uses and people are injected into architecture. Same for the Imperial Building (which is talked about in this post about urban connectivity) - the ROXY sign on Fort Lane signals the bar on the rooftop (which apparently might be closed now?), the name Roxy coming from the theatre that used to be in that old building. Architecture is constantly repurposed - churches turn into bathhouses, theatres into rock climbing walls (which is what happened to the Capitol Theatre).

Signage plays a big part in pronouncing new function but also creating a connection with the street. And as we know from the Asian street, it adds to a vibrant bustling atmosphere.