NGV International
Roy Grounds · Melbourne, Australia · 1968
Roy Grounds conceived the National Gallery of Victoria as a monumental inward-looking block organized around a sequence of courtyards, galleries and a vast stained-glass ceiling. The famous water wall at the entrance turns arrival into a sensory transition from St Kilda Road to the museum interior. Heavy masonry-like exterior surfaces contrast with more luminous internal spaces and the central Great Hall. Opened in 1968, the building became the principal architectural anchor of Melbourne’s emerging arts precinct and remains a key work of Australian institutional modernism.