Where In Melbourne Puzzle: August 2014

Welcome, this is the Osca Monthly Where in Melbourne Puzzle page.

(There is a new puzzle posted on the first Monday of every Month.)

THIS PUZZLE HAS BEEN REVEALED

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY

Here is the first clue:

Clue 1 - It's about the state of mind.

11-08-14
"One week down and the puzzle remains unsolved. Seems worthy of the four star difficulty rating.
Rest assured the clues will all make sense when you know what the picture is.

Here is a free clue:

'To solve the puzzle, read all about it'
But then, some of you know that already ;)

Remember, if you solve the puzzle with the next (2nd) picture clue
the prize is waiting to be given away."

Clue 2 - Neatly stacked.

Clue 3 - This building has many stories.

Clue 4 (Last Clue) - Founded in 1854 and conceived as 'the people’s university' - a place where the world’s knowledge and information would be freely available to all citizens of the growing colony of Victoria, regardless of their social status or financial resources.
. . .

The Answer to this month's puzzle.

The photo is of the La Trobe reading room at the State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston St, Melbourne.

Let's go over the clues :

First clue - It's about the state of mind.
The clue being 'state of mind' - 'state' as in State library,
'state of mind' as in books improve our state of mind.

Second clue - Neatly stacked.
Books in a library are usually neatly stacked in rows and categories.

Third clue - This building has many stories.
Now that we all know it was the State Library, this clue is a giveaway.

Clue four - Founded in 1854 and conceived as 'the people’s university' - a place where the world’s knowledge and information would be freely available to all citizens of the growing colony of Victoria, regardless of their social status or financial resources.
Say no more.
. . .

And now a little bit about

The State Library of Victoria.

In 1853, the decision to build a state library was made at the instigation of Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe and Mr Justice Redmond Barry, Q.C. A competition was held to decide who would design the new building; local architect Joseph Reed, who later designed the Melbourne Town Hall, Ormond College and the Royal Exhibition Building, won the commission.

Lithograph depicting the original vision for the State Library complex,

including the original Victorian reading room dome as part of the never-realised Russell Street annexe.

On 3 July 1854, the recently inaugurated Governor Sir Charles Hotham laid the foundation stone of both the new library and the University of Melbourne. The library opened in 1856, with a collection of 3,800 books chosen by Mr Justice Barry, the President of Trustees. Augustus H. Tulk, the first librarian, was appointed three months after the opening.

Library staff circa 1893.

The first reading room was the Queen's Reading Room (now Queen's Hall), which opened in 1859.

Temporary buildings built in 1866 for the Intercolonial Exhibition remained in use by the library until 1909 when work began on a new annexe building to mark the library's Jubilee.

This new building was the landmark Domed Reading Room, which opened in 1913 and was designed by Norman G. Peebles.

Plans for the original annexe were scaled back due to the money running out and the annexe, to house a new museum were gradually built during the Interwar years in an austere stripped classical style.

The library complex also held the State's Gallery and Museum until the National Gallery of Victoria moved to St Kilda Road in the late 1960s, and the current Melbourne Museum was built in the Carlton Gardens in the 1990s.

The library underwent major refurbishments between 1990 and 2004, designed by architects Ancher Mortlock & Woolley. The project cost approximately A$200 million. The reading room closed in 1999 to allow for renovation, during which natural light was returned. The renamed La Trobe Reading Room reopened in 2003.

La Trobe Reading Room.

At the La Trobe Reading Room, you'll see the best-known and most impressive architectural feature of the Library – the great reading room and its dome. Built in 1913, this octagonal building is six stories high and can house 32,000 books and 320 readers at its desks.

Known as the Domed Reading Room until it was reopened in 2003 the building is an architectural feat. When it was built in 1913, the enormous reinforced-concrete structure was the largest in the world.

. . .

There is a great video on the State Library website worth a look.

It depicts the architectural evolution of the State Library from 1853 to now.

3D reconstruction

. . .