Vault (popularly known as The Yellow Peril) is a public sculpture located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The work of sculptor Ron Robertson-Swann, Vault is an abstract, minimalist sculpture built of large thick flat polygonal sheets of prefabricated steel, assembled in a way that suggests movement. It is painted yellow.
Presently located outside the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, it is a key work in Melbourne's public art collection, and of considerable historical importance to the city.
Vault has been controversial throughout its existence. Commissioned by the Melbourne City Council after winning a competition in May 1978, for the newly built Melbourne City Square, the sculpture was not even built before it began to attract criticism from certain media and council factions, on the grounds that its modern form was felt to be unsympathetic to the location. The cost of $70,000 was also felt to be excessive.
The sculpture had no official name for over two years, and acquired a number of nicknames during this time. Robertson-Swann himself called it The Thing.
Following a heritage study of the Southbank area in 2017, the sculpture was recommended for heritage protection through inclusion in the City of Melbourne Planning Scheme Heritage Overlay, which was applied in 2020. In May 2024 it was proposed for listing at the State level on the Victorian Heritage Register. Vault is also referenced in the yellow origami-like bases of tram stops in the Melbourne city centre, and the yellow sculptural work of the Citylink tollway's Melbourne International Gateway. Other Melbourne buildings that incorporate references to Vault include the Adelphi Hotel on Flinders Lane and St Jude's Church in Carlton.
References
;Notes
- Wallis, Geoffrey J. Peril in the square. Melbourne: Indra, 2004 - 2006
- Melbourne's mellow peril The Age, 3 October 2002
- Maquette for Vault