Arts Centre Melbourne

Arts Centre Melbourne is the country's largest performing arts complex, comprising the State Theatre, the Hamer Hall concert hall, the Playhouse, and the Fairfax Studio, all connected by an underground network beneath the Yarra bank precinct. The distinctive spired tower on St Kilda Road marks its location, while Hamer Hall sits beside the river with views toward Federation Square.

The programming covers opera, ballet, classical music, theatre, and contemporary performance at the highest level. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, and Melbourne Theatre Company all perform here. The centre also hosts the Sunday Market under the forecourt, a popular arts and crafts market that runs year-round. Even if you are not attending a performance, the riverside forecourt is a pleasant place to be on a warm evening, and the on-site restaurants are reliable options before or after a show.

things to do southbank sight architecture
A story
The spire of Arts Centre Melbourne was designed by Roy Grounds, who also designed the NGV next door. It was meant to resemble a ballerina's tutu — a form Grounds arrived at by sketching multiple circles representing the layers of the skirt. The structure below it took so long to build, opening in 1984, that construction spanned four decades and outlasted Grounds himself, who died in 1981 without seeing it complete. The spire is lit at night and has become one of the defining silhouettes of the Melbourne skyline.