New building will transform way humanities are taught

A new era for the Faculty of Arts began with the start of Semester Two and the opening of the Arts West building.

This stunning five-star energy-rated building is located at the heart of the traditional Arts precinct on the Parkville campus, next to the Faculty’s historic home in Old Arts.

The new building’s visual impact is immediate, with representations of images from the University’s rich cultural collections.

The feature image on the north façade is by Indigenous artist Tommy McRae.

Curators have also worked alongside staff to create cabinets of curiosities throughout the building, which build on learning outside the teaching and learning spaces.

Professor Mark Considine (BA(Hons) 1976, PhD 1986), Dean of the Faculty of Arts, says the entire building makes an impression, inside and out.

“The focus of Arts West on immersive, interactive and collaborative learning is unsurpassed in the Asia Pacific region,” he says.

“Arts West is an innovative, amazing and fun place that opens our minds to the rich possibilities of an Arts education.”

Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis says Arts West will transform the way humanities and social sciences are taught at the University.

“It will be a true student hub, with 24 new teaching and learning spaces, a digital studio and a façade that displays images from the University’s cultural collections,” he says.

“A key theme in the building’s design is connectivity – embodied in the principle of interdisciplinary, which informs teaching and research in the humanities at Melbourne, and the significant connection the Faculty of Arts has to our University and city.”

Arts West was designed by the architectural teams of Architectus & ARM Architecture and was built in partnership with Kane Constructions.