The Capitol Theatre in Melbourne was design by Walter Burley Griffin and his wife, Marion Mahony, the same architects who designed Canberra, Australia's capitol. The people who commissioned the theatre asked for the feeling of a crystal cave, and the architects complied in full measure! The lights in the ceiling cycle through color schemes ranging from turquoise to red.
The movie theatre opened in 1924. After several changes of ownership, and the establishment of a mall in what was the ground-floor seating of the original theatre, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology bought it to use for lectures and rent out for things like the Melbourne Film Festival. They are committed to its restoration.
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An original light fixture from the lobby ceiling |
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The cave-like wall designs near the ceiling |
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The ceiling lights in full lighting |
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The ceiling lights cycled on red |
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| Wall mirror in the lounge area. The upper frieze is in honor of the film that marked the opening of the theatre: Ben Hur |