Royal Exhibition Building
Joseph Reed · Melbourne, Australia · 1880
Joseph Reed’s Royal Exhibition Building was designed for the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880 and survives as one of the world’s most important nineteenth-century exhibition halls. A vast central dome anchors long arcaded wings and a highly symmetrical plan intended for large public displays. The building later hosted the opening of Australia’s first federal Parliament in 1901. Its mixture of classical, Romanesque and Renaissance references reflects the cosmopolitan ambition of boom-era Melbourne, while its continued exhibition use gives the UNESCO-listed structure unusual functional continuity.