22.

Our time here in Melbourne is winding down. In this city, more so than any of the others, we have been able to get on a few construction sites in the city. This has been a big privilege for us. Yesterday was arguabley the most unique construction project we visited. It was a building for RMIT, the university that we are staying at, and is a major 12 story mixed space that will be used for retail space, student lounge space, classrooms, lecture halls, and faculty offices. As I have said before, Melbourne is not afraid of bold architecture. This building proves to be no different--the architecture is funky. It is awesome, especially for a student space, but all I could think about was how miserable it must be to build. There is no repetition, no symmetry, all the corners and ceilings and walls are completely random. Great in a design sense, but a nightmare for a builder. I can't even begin to imagine the complexity of a project like this. Especially the formwork. Yikes. 

not a great picture, but check the walls' shapes in the background

we visited the scale-ish looking building in the back....the architects are either crazy or brilliant

It was a great project to be able to visit and the project manager that gave us the tour was an excellent resource, explaining all of the design and construction elements to us and discussing the various challenges in building a structure of this size and complexity. After our site visit, we all went out for 50 cent wings. A STEAL. Especially in this country where the price of food will bring tears to your eyes. Some of the boys ate 35 wings. I, however, am not a boy and managed to squeak in 10 and was still stuffed. After our delicious meal of wings and beer, we headed down to the night market. The night market in Melbourne is every Wednesday night from 5-10 and is host to a plethora of food stands, drinks, live music, and various vendors selling anything from leather books to sombreros. 

A few of us at the night market