Brisbane, Australia
March 2025
After a few short weeks in New Zealand, I spent about 24 hours in Brisbane on the way to nine days in Delhi and Chandigarh via Hong Kong and then back home to London. I was in Brisbane to see my three children and one of my two grandchildren. It was the first time we’d all been together in many years as I live in England, two of my kids live in Australia; one in Cairns, the other in Darwin and the third lives in Auckland, New Zealand. It was great seeing everyone and we had a nice time together.
With such a short time in town I stayed in a hotel by the airport and caught the train into the city centre. Upon exiting the station I was surprised to find myself standing at the foot of a tall chunk of brutalist concrete magnificence. By mistake it appears I may have stumbled into the brutalist capital of Australia; ooo er!
A small (OK, a large) part of me was disappointed to have such a small amount of time available as this was after all, family day and not (another0 brutalist architecture day.
The Queensland Rail building is, unsurprisingly right outside one of the station entrances, this seems quite a big site, with a few aspects to the buildings, but at this point in the day my focus was getting from the station, through the town centre and across the Brisbane River to the South Bank where I was meeting family.
It was only when I was crossing over the bridge that I realised how much lovely beton brut (raw concrete) was on display, the Brisbane Cultural Centre almost rivals London’s South Bank.
The Cultural Centre was designed by Brisbane architects Robin Gibson and Partners for the Queensland County Council. Construction started in 1976 and was completed in 1985, well in time for the opening of the World’s Fair in 1988. The centre comprises the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), the Queensland Museum, the State Library of Queensland (SLQ), the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) and the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA).
It’s an interesting to place to walk around, so after the family get together had finished, I spent some time wondering around the free public areas and up and down various stairs.
The Brisbane half marathon event is on tomorrow, so a section of the grounds was closed off to the public as the event site was being set up. This was a bit frustrating to be honest, but it’s how things go when trying to take photos of buildings that were constructed 50 or 60 years ago; it’s usually scaffold in the way. There were some great angles.
For some reason the Sofitel building reminded me of Ho Chi Min City, or Saigon as it was known prior to the end of the Vietnam War (or the American War of Aggression as the Vietnamese call it.)
Queensland Parliament – which has to be the sexiest parliament building ever. So much concrete and so many angles. It was such a shame I didn’t have the time to try and find a decent angle to get a shot, it being parliament made access ‘problematic’.
I have a newfound appreciation for Brisbane, it’s not a city I love, or even really like. I go there to see family, but maybe next time I will take a bit more time to explore and you never know, I could fall for the place.
Where is Phil now? 
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