Flâneur

One of my current projects involves Melbourne buildings and how they relate to design. And so off I went, shod in my trusty military boots, armed with my camera (the Powershot SD800 JS, a simple point-and-shoot) and a tonne of layers in my backpack to deal with any inclement weather which this city delights in unexpectedly putting on. But Melbourne laid on a beautiful balmy late winter's afternoon. And it was an absolute joy to flâneur about this town with newly opened eyes.

"I'd never looked up before," Madelaine, my fellow flâneur stated, "until I came back from London."

Architecturally, Melbourne may not have the historic weight of those old European cities - the stately grandeur of London, the gezellig avant-garde of Amsterdam, the flamboyant modernisme of Barcelona, the breath-taking beauty of Paris, the faded glory of St Petersburg, the art deco brilliance of Budapest and so on. But the city has plenty of charm, and a quirky architectural aesthetic of its own. It is a city which I once knew like the back of my hand. Certain nooks still glow with familiarity, warmth and affection. Other crannies brim with nostalgia and a thousand ghosts. But the rest lies at the moment on the far side of a thick, translucent glass pane, to be eventually chipped away as I slowly rediscover the city.

A few of the buildings and spaces I became (re)acquainted with below.