The building that I’ve chosen is Storey Hall. I find it interesting, firstly for its strange green glob and exterior — and the fame that that particular feature has, but further because I find it quite interesting, especially since its most recent renovation.

The first time I ever went into Storey Hall was for orientation back in first year, and I can recall thinking it was a strange building, with its geometrical construction and odd aesthetic, but I never took much notice of it.

Upon walking around it the first time, with the class, I once again was focused on the geometrical pattern that seems to permeate the entire building. I thought it was quite quirky and cool, and assumed that the building was possibly mainly used for mathematical purposes (silly, I know), and appreciated the architectural bravado that the most recent builders have taken.

The week later, I had a late finishing day and before I went home I thought I would stop by Storey Hall again, for a different perspective in a different light (literally). I think being by myself and having gone home and read a bit about the history of the building (feminism! Yay!) had a different effect on me, I had a more placid view of the building. I noticed the intricacies of the building, and what slightly confused me was that among these straight edge, almost three dimensional, geometric patterns were tight spaces cramped and quite uncomfortable.

I’m not sure why this bothered me so much, maybe it’s a bit of the OCD in me that wants everything to fit evenly, perfectly, seamlessly and this is so blatantly defying the logic of my thoughts, but it really unsettled me. Again, I’m not sure if I was confused by this factor, intrigued or simply made uncomfortable by it, but there was one hallway that seemingly continued but instead ended in a strange shape brick wall with the surrounding walls coming out at weird angles. It is a truly oddly built building but, undeniably, one of great renown.
I once was walking behind two tourists down past the State Library when they stopped and exclaimed, “look, it’s the green blob building!” I doubt they had any idea the purpose of the building, but the appearance is famous apparently.

My favourite part of the building — and this is totally going to sound like a lame answer, but it’s true — is the history of it. I realise it’s not a visible, tangible aspect of it, but I think it plays such an important role in embracing and appreciating this building. From reading multiple articles about it, I discovered that what was once Hibernian Hall was erected in the early nineteenth/twentieth century by the Hibernian-Australasian Catholic Benefit Society (of which I have no clue who they are but I think they have something to do with Ireland?) The original facade was supposed to be modelled from a ‘high renaissance’ theme, which I find it interesting to compare that to what we see today in all it’s highly progressive, modern glory. When, due to financial difficulties, the Hibernians had to sell the building, it became a common location for art exhibitions, cinema screenings and, strangely (but in some ways unsurprisingly), wrestling matches. Briefly, during the First World War, the building was used by the Women’s Political Association as well as a venue for large anti-conscription rallies. In 1917, it was even used as a general commune for the wharf workers during the General Strike.

Finally, in 1958, it was bought by RMIT and renamed to Storey Hall after Sir. John Storey for his contributions to technical education in Victoria.

From the RMIT Library website catalog, I was able to find not only some fantastic, rich history of the building and site in general, but some really interesting pictures.

Storey Hall prior to renovation