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REPRESENTATION AND SYMBOLISM 203enter the tower at ground level and pass through it towards the museumproper. While rain and wind pass through the generous gaps between itsaluminum cladding battens and accentuate the bleakness of the space,the greater assault upon the senses arises from the structure that fillsthe volume. Steel tubes fly through the space, seemingly at all angles.They form a multi-member spatial framework that appears chaotic. Thestructural members appear to be mapping the three-dimensional trajectoriesof war planes through the sky.Libeskind’s works have influenced the design of Federation Square,Melbourne. The fragmentation of its façade surfaces and their supportingstructures is recognized as symbolizing a number of aspects of Australia’sculture – the individuality of Australia’s eight states and territories, itsethnic diversity and its relationship with the indigenous people. Behindthe fractural patterned glazing mullions and cladding panels, structuralform intensifies the idea of fracture through its ‘random’ three-dimensionalframeworks that support some roofs and exterior walls.▲ 9.25 Beams passing across the lightslotread as the bars of prison cells.From within and outside two of the main public spaces, the Atrium andthe interior BMW Edge amphitheatre, structural forms appear totallychaotic, verging on possible spatial versions of Pick-up Sticks (Figs 9.27and 9.28). Load paths are impossible to trace. There are no recognizablestructural systems or patterns, such as frames, arches or trusses,and no geometrical predictability. Most structural rules and traditionsare broken as horizontal and vertical members are avoided and eccentricconnections between members become commonplace. This is anexample of structural anarchy. When lit at night the structure appearsas a tangled thicket of bare tree branches.As well as symbolizing some of the realities of Australia’s national life,most of which are in fact universally applicable, other fundamentalissues as well are raised by the welded and rigidly connected steelhollow-section frameworks. Given one’s inability to categorize themand understand their workings, one is forced to accept that their structuralperformance is beyond understanding and trust in the expertise ofthose few structural engineers responsible for their digital structuralanalyses and designs. This structure forces its viewers to accept theunknown and live beyond their prior experiences. It also acknowledgesthe reality of the irrational and the unpredictable, that is, the environmentmuch of life is lived in.▲ 9.26 Imperial War Museum-North,Manchester, England, Studio DanielLibeskind, 2002. Structural membersdominate the Air Shard volume.By comparison with the explicit structural symbolism in the previousfour projects, any intended meaning in the exposed structure of theIndustrial Park Office Building, Völkermarkt, is far less obvious. Eventhough the nature of its exposed structure is far more flamboyant than