Vault (popularly known as The Yellow Peril) is a public sculpture located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The work of sculptor Ron Robertson-Swann, Vault is an abstract, minimalist sculpture built of large thick flat polygonal sheets of prefabricated steel, assembled in a way that suggests dynamic movement. It is painted yellow.
| Vault | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Vault at Southbank, pictured in 2005. | |
| Artist | Ron Robertson-Swann |
| Year | 1978 |
| Type | abstract, minimalist |
| Medium | prefabricated steel |
| Location | Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Southbank, Victoria, Australia[1] |
| 37°49′33.87″S 144°58′3.82″E / 37.8260750°S 144.9677278°E | |
Presently located outside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, it is a key work in Melbourne's public art collection, and of considerable historical importance to the city.[2]
Vault has weathered much controversy throughout its existence. Commissioned by the Melbourne City Council after winning a competition in May 1978,[3] for the newly built Melbourne City Square, the sculpture was not even built before it began to attract criticism from certain media and council factions, on the grounds that its modern form was felt to be unsympathetic to the location. The cost of $70,000 was also felt to be excessive.
The sculpture had no official name for over two years, and acquired a number of nicknames during this time. Robertson-Swann himself called it The Thing.[3] The steelworkers who constructed it called it Steelhenge.[3] Newspapers gave it the derogatory nickname The Yellow Peril, a name which has stuck. Robertson-Swann eventually officially named the sculpture Vault in September 1980.[3]
Installed in the City Square for its opening in May 1980, the Melbourne City Council voted to remove it only three months later. The controversy was one of many issues that led to the State Government's sacking of the City Council in December 1980. The Builders Labourers Federation announced they would ban any attempts to move it.[2]
In July 1981, Vault was finally dismantled and re-erected at Batman Park, a much less prominent part of the city. It remained there until 2002 when it was moved to a position outside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Southbank.[4]
Following a heritage study of the Southbank area in 2017, the sculpture was recommended for heritage protection through inclusion in the City of Melbourne Planning Scheme Heritage Overlay, which was applied in 2020.[5] In May 2024 it was proposed for listing at the State level on the Victorian Heritage Register.[6][2]
Vault's design has inspired many built and propositional architectural projects in Melbourne. Several of Denton Corker Marshall's works have "adopted peril's yellow almost as a point of pride and solidarity", while its form has been referenced in some works by ARM Architecture (Ashton Raggatt McDougall), including Storey Hall (1996) on Swanston Street.[7] Vault is also referenced in the yellow origami-like bases of tram stops in the Melbourne city centre, and the yellow sculptural work of the Eastlink freeway's Melbourne International Gateway.[8] Other Melbourne buildings that incorporate references to Vault include the Adelphi Hotel on Flinders Lane and St Jude's Church in Carlton.
References
edit- ^ "Vault". Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ a b c Statement of Recommendation from the Executive Director, Heritage Victoria; Vault, PROV H2450; 13 May 2024
- ^ a b c d Attwood, Alan (19 June 2004). "Peril in the Square: The Sculpture that Challenged a City". Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ Masanauskas, John (24 September 2012). "Yellow Peril set to return to Swanston St". Herald Sun. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ^ 'Controversial Vault sculpture to get heritage protection in Southbank planning review', IAN ROYALL AND JAYITRI SMILES, Herald Sun 6 November 2017
- ^ Brook, Stephen (25 May 2024). "Melbourne's controversial sculpture vaults its way to heritage listing". The Age. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ Edgar, Ray (25 March 2018). "From yellow peril to pure gold: 40 years on, Vault has been vindicated". The Age. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ O'Brien, Kerrie (28 July 2020). "Four decades on, the controversial Vault has won hearts". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- Notes
- Wallis, Geoffrey J. Peril in the square. Melbourne: Indra, 2004 - 2006
- Melbourne's mellow peril The Age, 3 October 2002
- Maquette for Vault