Highlights to see during Open House Melbourne Weekend 2024

Open House Melbourne Weekend, Australia’s largest festival of architecture and the built environment, returns for its 17th year this winter. Over one weekend, 27 and 28 July, more than 170 venues will welcome over 60,000 visitors to a programme of tours, talks, events and activities designed to encourage public engagement in the future of our city.

With a background in architecture and a PhD in effectively communicating the built environment to the public, Executive Director and Chief Curator Tania Davidge is in her element.

“I feel very fortunate that I can help people appreciate the city more and ask the questions, ‘Why do we love it? Why do we live here?’,” she says. “We know Melbourne is going to grow – how can we design our city as a place we love in the future, addressing the challenges of accessibility, inclusivity, sustainability and affordable housing?”

This year’s program will provide a space for these important conversations, highlighting the potential of design to solve problems and support the different perspectives that shape our city.

History is celebrated at the Shrine of Remembrance, which this year celebrates its 90th anniversary, with talks and an exhibition program that invites the public to consider how art and architecture can shape remembrance. At the Royal Botanic Gardens, the heritage-listed Plant Craft Cottage – the oldest building in a public space in Victoria, and once home to the state’s first government botanist – is open to visitors. And at the University of Melbourne, guided tours will explore the lush native landscaping and sculptural forms in the new student precinct, whose designers followed Aboriginal consultation and place-making principles.

Perhaps the biggest change Melbourne is set to see comes at the Arts Precinct, where an addition is being constructed that has been billed as the country’s largest cultural infrastructure project. The ambitious plan includes The Fox: NGV Contemporary, a long-awaited landmark by Angelo Candalepas; significant upgrades to the Arts Centre Melbourne; and nearly 18,000 square metres of urban garden.

“The new landscape will completely change the way people interact with each other – a catalytic opportunity to connect all of our great individual institutions,” says Davidge. And Open House Melbourne offers a taste of these exciting plans with the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation Tour.

Nearby, another tour takes in Fed Square and the maze of tunnels hidden beneath it. The square also offers a behind-the-scenes look at ACMI’s Black Magic Design and Media Preservation Lab, plus the newly renovated Koorie Heritage Trust – an inspired reinterpretation that highlights contemporary First Nations design.

Across the river, Melbourne Recital Centre is celebrating its 15th anniversary with an interactive sound installation, while Southbank Theatre, home of the Melbourne Theatre Company, is hosting backstage tours. Also in the Arts Precinct, ACCA and Buxton Contemporary are opening their doors for Open House Melbourne Weekend for talks, conversations and viewings of current exhibitions.

“The best thing about my job is the stories people tell me – all the weird and wonderful things that have happened in every part of the city,” says Davidge. “Melbourne is such a unique place, full of people who love design and heritage. And you really feel that when you go out there at the weekend.”

Open House Melbourne Weekend takes place on 27 and 28 July and offers a deep dive into the city’s rich cultural fabric. More information and tickets are available on the website.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Melbourne Arts Precinct.