Fink’s Buildings

Fink’s Buildings

By Kate Prinsley

When built in 1888, at a cost of 110,000(pounds), Fink’s Building was one of Melbourne’s tallest office blocks. 

Designed by noted Melbourne architects Twentyman and Askew (also responsible for the Block Arcade), the building epitomises the speculative early 1890s period.

It was built by and named after the notorious land financier Benjamin Fink.

In 1897 fire destroyed this and all other buildings on the south side of Flinders Lane. The façade survived and the Fink Building was reconstructed a few years later. In 1967 it was demolished.

This photograph and many others are currently on display at the RHSV as part of the exhibition Standing on the Corner : Remembering Melbourne 1850-1960.

The Hoddle Grid, symbol of Melbourne, created a city of corners and intersections. This exhibition illustrates the uses made of Melbourne’s corners by individuals, companies and local and state governments across a 110-year period. These are corners of Melbourne as they were – so many of them now lost to us.

Most of the images are drawn from the RHSV’s collections and many appear in the RHSV’s recent publication Remembering Melbourne : 1850 – 1960. A reprint of the book will be available from August 30.

The RHSV is the peak body for local history in Victoria and the Historical Society for the City of Melbourne.    www.historyvictoria.org.au  239 A’Beckett St. 9326 9288. Open Mon- Thurs 10.00 – 4.00; Friday 10.00 – 3.00

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