Footpath Guides
Architectural Walking Guides
Footpath Guides, the headquarters of which are situated in a Bauhaus inspired building of epic brutalist proportions, is a conglomerate of three creative heads with backgrounds in film making and academics with a shared interest in architecture.
Eventually they decided to honour the architectural heritage of their hometown Melbourne via a pocket-sized walking guide shedding light on the different eras and incarnations the city went through, which finds its equivalent in the design and illustrations, courtesy of Sonia Post of Design Democracy fame.
The first, Melbourne centric installment of their architectural walking guides is a triptych, featuring buildings, transitions and new developments along with their impact on the present from the early 1850s to the 1970s, charmingly showcasing the expansion of the city at the tail end of the 19th century, the emergence of St Kilda from the Edwardian via Victorian, art deco, Spanish influences and modern apartments. The third part is highlights
What followed were three books on the city of Sydney, which followed the original formula in that it sheds light on how the architectural DNA of Sydneytown evolved and blossomed and where among the ever expanding central business district, true gems can be found in the historically not insignificant urban enclave The Rocks.
Particular interesting is the part of the Sydney triumvirate that focuses on what developed between the ravages of the two World Wars and became the foundation for the post-war innovations that are still resonating throughout the pillars of the city.
With the descriptions that are accurate and concise in nature along with the illustrations that are both informative and visually appealing and the overall playful approach, it will hopefully only be a matter of time until other, international cities will get the Foothpath Guides treatment.
