Downloads |
| SAW
timetable & routes map: pdf download here |
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Newspaper Reviews |
Sydney Morning Herald | Walk on the Tiled Side | Kylie Davis | June 6-7, 2009
Lewis fits the stereotype of a passionate student of architecture: thin, wild haired, long elegant hands that emphasise points and an artistic turn of phrase that shows deep thought, strong research and reverence, balanced with humour.
The Sydney Architecture Walks are the urban equivalent of stopping to smell the roses or, rather, stopping to notice the fine detail on the parquetry and run our hands over the terracotta. Artworks, previously invisible aginst the hubbub of the city suddenly come into focus. It has changed how I feel about my adopted hometown - revealed a depth I never thought it had and shown me the link between architecture and cultural expression | here |
Cartoville - Sydney | Florence Lagrange-Leader | January 2009
De géniales "conversations architecturales": un must!. |
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Sydney Morning Herald | Sydney's Best Walking Tours | Lisa Dabscheck | October 27, 2007
If the style is a touch undergrad, the substance is more PhD. Lewis effortlessly compresses two centuries of history, geography, sociology, architecture and art into two hours - while giving the impression he’s simply sharing a few off-the-cuff anecdotes. The result is like taking a stroll in the CBD with a clever friend.
Lewis leverages enough intellectual weight and industry asides to satisfy the pointy heads - while giving the design illiterate concepts we can understand. |
| The Sun Herald | What
Cultural Cringe? Sydney has an Architectural Wonder to Rival the
Best | Simon Webster | July 9, 2006
History, politics, philosophy - his quiet, compelling commentary
covers lots of ground featuring heores (Joern Utzon, creator of
the Opera House), and villains (former premier Robert Askin, who
wanted to demolish The Rocks and extend the Cahill Expressway
to Centennial Park, half of which would have turned into carpark)
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| The Sydney Morning Herald |
A Sorbet for the Jaded Urban Palate | Elizabeth Farrelly | September 24, 2002
A refreshing exercise for the jaded urban palate is to flip
into foreigner mode and walk our city streets as if they were
exotic. Sydney Architecture Walks (SAW), the brainchild of architects
Eoghan Lewis and Simeon King, is just such a sorbet, offering
a handful of downtown routes. Lewis and King make intelligent,
articulate and energetic guides, offering
insights into architecture's non-visible world of unbuilt designs,
political tensions and historical twists. Here's
a chance to remember how vivid and exciting Sydney can seem.
Recommended, three hats [out
of three!].
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| The Australian | Every Storey a Picture | Kate Hamilton | November
2, 2001
Lewis' passion for the art and life of the city structures
breathes through his language. He describes the buildings in terms
of their energies - the structures are "quiet", "honest",
and they are "clad in a zinc skin" or "glass skirt".
Their designers are poets, mathematicians, magicians. This piece
of urban theatre... a 2 1/2 hour walking narrative taking in the
city's design icons... is perhaps the most innovative of Australia's
architecture tours.
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| The Sydney Morning Herald | Genius
Doesn't Mean Pleasure | November 11, 2003 |
The Program > Feature Story on opening page > Ambling
through Sydney with SAW | Miles Merrill | December
16, 2003
This reporter went on a Saturday morning for a tour of Utzon’s
Masterpiece, the beloved Sydney Opera House. My group was treated
to the essential structural details one would expect on something
called an architecture walk. However, what surprised most of my
clan of 11 sun-visored water guzzling punters was the inside info;
the personal lives, the trivia, and genius insights are all tantalising.
Check out SAW for inspiration as an architect, tourist, or as
a young artist trying to get your own act off the ground. They
set a great example. |
| Sydney
Is | Mike Laanela | January 2001
Eoghan Lewis speaks quickly in the patois of the architectural
cultural elite. In a manner best described as informal and conversational,
Lewis leads his own walking tour around the CBD waterfront, showing
the curious how to interpret the complex language of the city's
office towers.
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| Punters |
Fernando Romero | founder of LAR - Laboratory Of Architecture
Thank you for all your kindness and for the most magnificent tour I had ever had at the Opera House. |
Alex Popov | Alex Popov & Associates
To Eoghan from Alex. Thank you for opening up Utzon to the general public. |
Michael Zaretsky, Assistant Prof of Architecture, University of Cincinnatti
Having been on many architecture tours in Australia over the last seven weeks, I can definitively say that you are in a league of your own. You rock! |
Florence Lagrange-Leader | Author of French Cartoville guide book "Sydney"
I will never forget the two visits ("SYDNEY", "UTZON") with you, so interesting and thrilling: thankyou so much! The text I wrote on the Opera was inspired by what I learnt with you. |
Elodie & Miguel Angel | Daedalus | Barcelona
Thank you very much for your amazing talk-walk (SAW1 - SYDNEY), Elodie and I are still assimilating the huge information you gave us this morning. Your explanation about the five main ideas of Utzon's work (we expect to hear about the 2 left on Saturday!) have made us think about our designing way... the conscious and the unconscious. |
David Robertson | Victoria
I went on your UTZON Opera House tour in August 2005. I think pound for pound, it was the best tour I have ever been on and I've been on tonnnes. The tour was so comprehensive that it went for around 3 and a bit hours. The coffee afterwards added a really nice touch to the tour. |
Dr.
Yvonne Perczuk | Sydneysider
We wanted to congratulate you on the remarkable UTZON architecture
walk we experienced a few weeks ago. As we are both architecture
novices, the walk was an absolute revelation. The guide's enthusiasm
was infectious, his depth of knowledge impressive and his wit
and humour were a bonus. Keep up the truly inspiring work! |
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Cathy Benitez | USA | February 2008
Just wanted to thank you for the architectural walk yesterday. As I told you at the close of the walk, I really enjoyed it. I've done some fine arts study and always loved researching artist motivation. Your presentation was inspiring and it's clear that you are passionate about what you do. What a great idea! Everyone in the group seemed fascinated with the information you shared.
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Michael Basso
I was on today's SAW02 UTZON walk. I just wanted to write a short note to say how great it was and how much I enjoyed it. The walk was interesting, well-organised and suitably paced. The walk leader was entertaining, extremely well-informed, passionate and a great story teller. I will be recommending the walk to others and look forward to completing the other walks myself. |
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Dr Graham Meltzer | Queensland University of Technology | architect student group | September 2001
The guide employed an impressive knowledge and understanding of these projects to speak engagingly and with passion. He was able to capture the spirit of the projects and talk to subtle matters of symbolism and design intent as well as more obvious aspects of technology and construction.
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Michael Rudko | Architecture graduate from Adelaide
Thanks again for the walk today (February 2006). I think it was by far the most intense tour I've ever experienced which is great (I would say tour de force but that would be far too cheesy); I feel like I just sat through a whole semester course in Johnson, Utzon and Piano |
Pam
Best |
traveller from Perth
I'm writing to express my thanks x 10 for the wonderful architecture
tour I did today (October 2005) to the Opera House. I was bowled
over by the depth of knowledge displayed and the passion with
which it was all delivered. It was so good no one seemed to want
to let our young architect go at the end of the tour. |
Rachael
Lee
Good
morning. Comments on the architecture walks: SYDNEY was excellent,
HARBOURINGS was fantastic, UTZON was superb! Thanks for a fun
and enlightening time. |
Marilyn
Miller | Melbourne
Did the SAW2 UTZON walk today [May 2006] and it was fantastic.
Got out of my sick bed (mostly because I’d prepaid) but
soon forgot about myself as [the guides] passion and vast knowledge
of Utzon’s work was pretty hard to resist. The walking was
not too strenuous, so that was enjoyable too. I flew back to Melbourne,
talking constantly about the ingenuity of the Opera House platform,
its clever drainage system and the sails that are really clouds.
Will certainly be recommending the walk to my friends and colleagues. |
Leon
Buker
| Sydneysider
Thanks for setting up SAW. I love the blend of architecture, history
and politics. |
Kim
Philip | 3rd year architecture student – NZ
It was particularly refreshing to hear an 'exposed' account (unlike
other tours designed solely to glorify a city for the tourists).
To a budding young architect such as myself, I gained most benefit
from discovering the undercurrent and contextual issues that shaped
the architectural responses, at a range of different scales. It
enabled a first-timer to Sydney the ability to apply ideas to
personal follies of exploration, and make informed interpretations
of architectural idiosyncrasies. As I came to know about you,
I intend to recommend that any of my architectural buddies who
are planning on visiting Sydney do one of your walks. |
Richard
Carver | architect – NZ
Just wanted to say that we thoroughly enjoyed our UTZON tour Saturday
13th August. It was the highlight of a 3–day Sydney trip.
Thanks very much to the young guide. His enthusiasm and excellent presentation
were a definite highlight and he needs to be congratulated. |
| Rinske
Geerlings | Final year architect student – Netherlands
Must say I really enjoyed the tour yesterday! You collected the
nice and comprehensible background information and also the spicy
details on the stuff. You managed to let us share in your enthusiasm,
which is quite something.
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Samantha
Goates | Textile designer – Scotland
I did your BRILLIANT (her capitals) UTZON talk a few weeks ago on the weekend....
been raving to anyone and everyone about it since you'll be pleased
to know. Even suggested to the boss that we take all the interstate
folk on your walks for our next conference....!!!! |
Dr
Janice Hirshorn |
UK | forwarded by www.sydneytalks.com.au
Thanks
to your website [Sydney Talks] I participated in an excellent
architectural walk on Wednesday February 9 2005. It was a pleasure
to see selected buildings through the eyes of a young architect
together with the other tour participants, most of whom were visitors
from overseas. I was so relaxed at the end. |
Ilana
McCorquodale
|
Sydneysider
Thank
you for your super lecture on UTZON on Saturday. Both Ilana and
I were really inspired and appreciated your real interest in the
Opera House and its story. We were really interested in your explanation
of the (unbuilt) glass construction - how we wish it could be
recreated to Utzon's dream one day. |
| Michael
Kinsella
| Sydneysider
I was delighted to meet you on your guided tour of Sydney
architecture 10 days or so ago (SAW1 SYDNEY). I thoroughly enjoyed the Tour
and it served to get my "creative juices" flowing again
in my new post retirement state. I found your narrative fascinating
and enjoyed the anecdotes.
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Alison
Haywood
|
City Planner – Britain
I just wanted to say "thanks" for the UTZON walk on
Saturday. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot more than i had
expected to. It's things like your walks that allow the lay person
as well as the professional to appreciate something that they
would never normally take in, and i think it acts as a forum for
people to feel good about themselves - it means that their weekend
didn't go to waste in the Coogee Bay Hotel (obviously, not me...i
wouldn't do that!) but have actually learned something. |
Lorna
Low |
Sydneysider
Today my daughter, who is also an architect, and i enjoyed your
wonderful narrative walk of Utzon's House. Your knowledge and
passion for this truly exceptional mans talents were a joy to
behold. I've always grieved for our failure at the time, when
we were so insensitive a people with a poor government to allow
such a tragedy... Iv'e always loved it but will now look at it
differently. I learned so much. Thanks a million! |
