From a conventional modernist view, this programmatic expression is appropriate and does break down the mass of the building. It is a safe strategy, making the casino more like the other buildings in the city. But, risky as it may have been, the opportunity was there to design another big single object in the city's landscape and to treat the river facade accordingly, like a great ocean liner permanently moored. The pylons are called soldiers. These are called brigades.
Military terms seem appropriate to the scale and complexity of the casino construction enterprise.
One evening at dusk, I stood on the north bank of the river, looking across to the casino. The sun's rays were horizontal, throwing the casino facade into sharp, golden relief against a dark, overcast sky. Recently widened at this point, the Yarra's surface was a luminescent, aqueous plane bounded by low bridges to the east and west, the city grid to the north, casino to the south. Anthony Styant-Browne is an architect and urban designer in Melbourne. Water and Fire Features WET Design.