‘Why not call ourselves mutilated Melbourne?’ A history of urban heritage at the Rialto Towers

Abstract

When completed in 1986, the Rialto Towers were the tallest building complex in the Southern Hemisphere. They remain today an enduring mark on the Melbourne city skyline, grounded at the prominent intersection of Collins and King Streets. Their construction was, however, preceded by a decade-long dispute over the nineteenth-century buildings located at the site, dubbed the Rialto precinct, which heritage activists sought to preserve. Tensions over the site's heritage again flared in 2015 after the Rialto's developer proposed a new building attached to the skyscraper, within the former envelope of Robb's building, which had been demolished in order to open sightlines to the skyscraper. This ar..