Lonsdale House

Lonsdale House, 2020
Ceramic (White Grog Raku)
320 x 290 x 290 mm
$1,300

Lonsdale House was an Art Deco building located along Lonsdale Street, in Melbourne’s CBD. The design was an updated merger of two pre-existing Victorian-era warehouses. Architect, I G Anderson designed the renovation, creating an asymmetrical building and Art Deco icon of Melbourne. The most striking feature is the geometric tower, a pile of squares and discs supporting a flag pole.

With Council approval, in 2010 the building was demolished by Myer and replaced by a modern glass building for retail use.

Author and president of the Art Deco & Modernism Society, Robin Grow, bemused at the time, stated, ‘‘If the City of Melbourne isn’t prepared to defend buildings that are subject to heritage overlays then what is the point in having the heritage overlays, it is outrageous. What we are getting is replacing a classic building appreciated by people all over the world with another set of shops.’’