From day one, the imagineers behind the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) recognised the meta-ness of the proposition. A digital museum of the media is itself a piece of digital media, so why do we have to go to a physical place to view it?
Twenty years later, the permanent exhibitions were dated, the inherent coolness of the design was simply glum, and the design was not really fit for purpose. It was time for a rebuild, and the Victorian State Government coughed up around $40m to entice visitors and proclaim the specific cultural swagger of Melbourne.
