'There's a lot of very second-rate buildings going up': Professor Andrew Saint.

'There's a lot of very second-rate buildings going up': Professor Andrew Saint. Photo: Wayne Taylor



Melbourne's high-rise boom is being dominated by second-rate buildings, according to a leading international architecture expert.


Professor Andrew Saint, former professor of architecture at Cambridge University, has questioned both the standard and the placement of the new towers, which are increasingly dominating the Melbourne skyline.


"I don't think I've seen a single one which I thought was an exceptional building," he said. "There are some adequate ones, but there's a lot of very second-rate buildings going up."


Professor Saint was the keynote speaker this week at a University of Melbourne conference on the city's urban heritage, where a constant theme was concern about the mushrooming of high rises and their quality.