The Real Purpose For This Huge Red Tower #shorts

There’s a massive red tower in Southbank’s Art Precinct. But it has a practical use, rather than an artistic one.

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Unknown Melbourne is a series exploring unusual stories of design, culture and urban spaces.

[Merrybethable]

You should do the hotel installation on eastlink that fooled me for years.

[footrotdog]

I knew this! I remember when it was being built. You should have heard the local residents complain about it's little sister at the eastern end. It was Sky Rail level NIMBYism at it's best.

[brainsmatterpodcast]

I used to walk past it to go to work, always assumed it was public art, even though I knew the tunnel was nearby. Never put two and two together!

[russellphillips]

I got to go into this stack once. I went in with a field technician to change the air filter on the air quality monitors at the base (just above the road). The fans are so powerful that you need to first contact the control room and have them turned down so that you can walk past them without being sucked into it. I also removed my mask for about 3 seconds while in there. The air is absolutely unbreathable.

[mattyz]

*and whats more surprising is that "the yellow peril" still exists!*

[jacobpaint]

They are quite sneaky with these ventilation towers. They all look different and are all different shapes, camouflaged in different ways. The main giveaway is their size coupled with not having any apparent use (no windows, moving parts, viewing platforms etc). Here in Brisbane we have a big rectangular one in Woolloongabba that is shades of purple and I’m pretty sure most people don’t know what it is if they have even noticed it. If you’re not paying attention it probably looks like another high rise apartment building.

[markusberndkrause]

They made the ventilation not boring. Looks like art. 👍🏻

[SrikrishnaUndemane]

This structure is visible from my Southbank apartment, always wondering what kind of art could this be. Thanks again for sorting another Melbourne's "hidden" secrets. :)

[constantdissenter]

I love when local governments take a few minutes to make a functional structure look not like total garbage. Every US city I'm looking at you.

[thegorn]

I’d love to see a video on that strange pedestrian bridge in Southbank that’s bendy and I think inspired by aboriginal fish traps?

[UCvowTUIHdAxvikILzg]

I love how art has regressed so much that people think an ugly chimney is a piece of art.

[RiffRaffMama.]

The Burnley Tunnel terrifies me. I hate driving through it. I get so claustrophobic, especially in the middle section where you can't see the end yet and the entrance is out of view now too. When it starts to slope downhill all I can think about is how many megatons of water there is above me at that moment. Couple all of that with knowledge of the fire and I dread the thing. Oh and if there's traffic and I have to be in there just seconds longer than usual... It reminds me of a Sylvester Stallone movie called "Daylight" where he's trapped in a tunnel with a bunch of people and the tunnel starts to flood and stuff. **shudder**

[nowasgeorgiebest]

Moved to Southbank a couple of months ago and had wondered what this was. Love your videos on Melbourne, helps me learn a lot about this wonderful city.

[RT_today]

I live near that thing and I knew it was an exhaust shaft. The citylink signage around it gives it away. lol

[haydos]

Aftually I knew all about this because my family business fabricated the red steel around it, my old man delivered the steel to the site.

[patrickbrio]

I remember walking through random parts of Melbourne I hadn't been before and seeing this. Felt kind of surreal.

[DestinAU]

I have wondered what it was ever since I moved to Melbourne 4 years ago :O

[yakabothatesthis]

This Red Tower is more artistic than most stuff.

[JillontheLake]

Your picks to cover are fascinating. You just earned another viewer.
Good luck with your channel.

[s]

I guessed right!
We have a similar tower in Brisbane.
Not similar looking, just a tunnel vent tower decorated to look like an ‘art’ piece.