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The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is a world standard, Architecturally significant, outdoor performance venue in Melbourne , Victoria , Australia . It is located in the gentle indulating lawns and gardens of King's Domain , quite close to the Victorian Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct. It was officially opened by Prime Minister Robert Menzies on February 12 , 1959 with an audience of some 30,000 people. EVENTS The bowl has had many, many different events over the years but none are as famous, or as popular as the annual Carols By Candlelight which is held there every year on December 24 , The night before Christmas . Over the years, millions of dollars has been donated to Australian Vision Impared Charities and organisations. It is televised every year by the Nine Network and is beamed by satellite live to many neighbouring countries. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION The Bowl's canopy consists of a thin membrane (half an inch weather-proofed plywood sheeted on both sides with aluminium) attached to a cobwebbed frame of steel cables and supported by 21.3 metre masts pivoted to the earth. The total area of the canopy is 4055 square metres. The main cable at the edge of the canopy comprises 7 ropes, each about 9 cm in diameter and 173 metres long, anchored deep into the ground in concrete blocks. Longitudinal cables hold up the roof and transverse cables hold it down. Project design was by ''Yuncken Freeman Architects'' and ''Griffiths and Simpson'' during 1956 . The project architect was Barry Patten . Construction commenced in 1958 with an innovative system of cables laced together and covered with aluminium faced plywood sandwich panels. To ensure the structure would be watertight yet aerodynamically stable and flexible, new construction techniques were developed. Ground anchors were required to be corrosion resistant. The shell also needed to be acoustically correct. Construction entailed input from a number of engineering and scientific organisations including the ''Aeronautical Research Laboratories'' and '' CSIRO Forest Products Division''. Unlike the Hollywood Bowl concrete shell structure in Los Angeles which inspired it, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl combined a Tensile Structural System with a free-form roof which was ahead of its time. It was important for its scale, sophistication and boldness of structural expression. The structural design predates by nearly ten years noted German architect/engineer, Frei Otto , and his experiments in using lightweight tensile and membrane structures. Capacity There is a fixed seating area which can hold 2030 people in 26 tiered rows. Behind this area are sloping lawns which can accommodate up to 28,000 people giving a total capacity of over 30,000. The Stage area is 27.4 metres wide by 19.5 metres deep. HISTORY The self made businessman and philanphropist, Sidney Myer , inspired the construction of the building, after attending the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles . A talented Violin ist who enjoyed music, Sidney Myer established free, open-air concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1929 , which were always well attended by Melburnians. Upon his death in 1934, the ''Sidney Myer Charitable Trust'' was established, now known as the ''Myer Foundation'', to continue the tradition of Philanthropy begun by its founder. The design and construction of a music bowl for the people of Melbourne was decided upon and funded by the Myer Foundation. The bowl was officially opened by Prime Minister , AC/DC , Wings , The Beach Boys , Crowded House , Dire Straits , Neil Diamond , Bob Dylan , the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra , Merle Haggard , Pearl Jam , The Seekers , R.E.M. and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa . During the mid 1970's performances by The Seekers and Billy Thorpe And The Aztecs drew crowds extending into the trees of the Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens of over 200,000 and 250,000 people respectivly. While most were unable to see the stage, the unique design of "The Bowl" allowed the sound to be heard several kilometres back. In 1980 administration of the bowl was handed over to the Victorian Arts Centre from the ''Myer Foundation'' by Kenneth Myer, Sidney Myer's son. In 1984 a temporary Ice-skating rink was created on the Bowl’s stage for use during winter months. The venue was closed for a major renovation in 2000 to bring the facililities up to an appropriate standard, and was reopened by the Premier Of Victoria , Steve Bracks , at Carols By Candlelight on Christmas Eve , 2002 . Recent works on the lawns extending from the seating and stage, and the construction of a fence and gates has reduced the total capacity to a little over 30,000, however, has also improved the visibility and standard of facilities out of sight. The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is registered on the Victorian Heritage List for its cultural importance to Victoria; its architectural importance as the largest, purpose built, permanent outdoor performance venue in Australia; and its engineering experimentation in new forms of construction involving use of membranes and a tensile structural system. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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