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Moving
from the broad to the particular, the historic
to the contemporary, the gorgeous to the atrocious SAW 1 conjures a heady urban narrative revealing
the social, cultural and topographic forces
shaping Sydney. We
will concentrate on three contemporary iconic structures; Aurora Place, 1 Bligh Street and Governor Phillip and Macquarie Towers and the
ideas of four architects; Renzo Piano, Richard Johnson, Christoph Ingenhoven & Joern
Utzon. | |||||
Renzo
Piano is a virtuoso in the world of architecture and
someone deeply imbued with a craftsman's sense of materials.
The Aurora
Place office and apartment buildings were his first Australian
and his first high-rise structures. | |||||
Our
study of these remarkable buildings works on many levels. We
will explain Piano's environmental and social agenda, the irony
of using a suburban–inspired material palette in the most
corporate of environments, and the ways in which his
apartment building does at a large scale what Aussie icon Glenn
Murcutt does at a small scale in terms of specific environmental
response. You will also discover the many subtle and intriguing
ways in which Piano establishes a dialogue with the grand
old lady down the road; his soaring ghostly–white facades playing mainsail to Utzon's billowing spinnakers. |
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The
black-suited Melbourne firm Denton
Corker Marshall's tall, dark and handsome Governor Phillip Tower + Museum of Sydney will be explored, the ideas and concepts
behind the buildings discussed. The building was designed by Richard Johnson who worked with Jørn Utzon the ten years prior to his death on Opera House modifications. [see SAW2] The fruit of this collaboration is ongoing, both in Richard's work and at the Opera House itself. |
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| We will also explore the brand new 1 Bligh Street, one of Australia's cleverest and greenest buildings and the work of German architect Christoph Ingenhoven and Architectus. | |||||
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| SAW
2. Utzon & the Sydney Opera House. |
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Both an in-depth and textured portrait of enigmatic
Danish architect Jørn Utzon,
as well as the story of perhaps the 2oth Centuries most ambitious architectural project, Utzon draws the listener into the
amazing visionary world of the architect of Sydney
Opera House. |
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His
work was beautiful yet transcended the purely aesthetic. He
worked hard yet projected the image of a balanced life. He proclaimed
himself a builder more than an architect and prior to his groundbreaking competition entry in 1957 had only a few small houses to his name. |
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Discussing
the sources of the young Dane's deepest
inspiration, his working methods and influences, we chart the development of Utzon's ideas and
their meterialisation and realisation in the platform, concrete shells and ceramic
skin of Sydney Opera House. You will discover the influence
of towering 20th Century figures like Le Corbusier,
Alvar Aalto,
Eero Saarinen, Mies van der Rohe, Frank lloyd Wright
and even Picasso on Utzon's thinking,
his interest in the methods of Gaudi and you will discover the ways in which his work was at once contemporary whilst drawing its inspiation from the work of the ancients’s. |
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Booted out in by the despicable Askin Government , Utzon considered
the six years he spent developing the interiors of the
House, none of which were realised, the most productive of his
career. |
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Using discarded drawings, models and prototypes, Utzon's design of the acoustic interiors (two plump exotic birds perched within the bleached gothic vaults), glass walls (suspended curtains in bronze and glass) and furniture, much of it ready for construction before he left in '66, will be revealed and you can judge for yourself how much Sydney
lost when he was forced to leave the building half-finished. |
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SAW 2 finishes with the current Opera House refurbishment, a decade-long collaboration between Utzon, his architect son Jan and Sydney architect Richard Johnson. |
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COST > $25 concession / $35 adult WHEN > See Dates for timetable + booking info |
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| SAW
3. Harbourings. |
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Join
us on this stroll around Sydney's spectacular harbour edge,
from Circular Quay, through the city's great depository of memory,
The Rocks, up Observatory Hill and on to Walsh Bay. |
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The route
is diverse, spectacular and full of surprising recent projects
as well as gritty historical reminders of the cities industrial/maritime
past. |
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Getting
beyond the post–card view of the city and its two shimmering
icons, SAW 3 reveals the city at her rawest
and most spectacular, her most self–conscious and most
corrupt. Beginning with Circular
Quay, where the powerful forces of commerce are held back from
the harbour by that bland concrete motorway – the Cahill
Expressway – we will discuss Utzon's
vision for the Quay, controversial plans for the Museum
of Contemporary Art and the Toaster and explore the
beautiful ferry terminal conversion by Queensland duo Lindsay
+ Kerry Clare. The radical Sirius
Apartment building by Tao Gofers and Lippmann
Associates' KGV Sports Hall will also be discussed.
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SAW 3 focuses on the breathtaking early 20th
Century Walsh
Bay Finger Wharves,
a family of timber wharves and
shore sheds that extend out into Sydney's harbour. They are
the largest timber structures in the world, romantic symbols
of Sydney's maritime history and the first structures in Australia
to be nominated as a World
Heritage Site! Over the last few years the wharves and
shore sheds have been reworked into a modern residential + cultural
precinct by
Bates Smart and
HPA with the help of renowned
French architect Phillipe Robert.
We will move through this incredible development and discuss
the ideas and issues behind their re–development. |
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SAW 3 concludes at Walsh Bay at 12.30pm. Please allow a 10–15 minute
walk back to Circular Quay. |
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COST > $25 concession / $35 adult WHEN > See Dates FOr timetable + booking info |
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| SAW
4. Art, Place & Landscape. |
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| SAW4 examines the city through its evolving attitude to the design of it's public domain, and the elements that they contain; art, architecture and landscape. | |||||
For
the Eora people, the trees were an embracing home. For Europeans
these same trees were full of mystery, shadows and darkness.
Starting in the modern forest of concrete, skyscrapers and hard
paved surfaces at Edge of Trees by Janet
Laurence and Fiona Foley,
we walk outwards to the green harbour wedge, through the Domain
to the waters edge of Woolloomooloo Bay. The translucent Veil
of Trees by Janet Laurence and Jisuk Han
is the bookend. |
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We will map a living history on contemporary architectural, sculptural and urban projects, considering the role of art, architecture and design in the creation of some of Sydney's best loved and most used public spaces. Particular attention will be paid to projects by Lin Utzon, Brett Whiteley, Janet Laurence, Hossein Valamanesh, Lippmann Associates, Simeon Nelson, City Projects, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, Harry Seidler, Tom Bass & Hassell Architects. We will also look at the new Art Gallery of NSW Asian Galleries extension by Johnson Pilton Walker. |
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SAW 4 concludes
at the Andrew
'Boy' Charlton Pool on Mrs Macquaries Road, the Domain so bring your swimmers.
Please allow 20 mins return walk to either St James, Martin
Place or Circular Quay train stations. Pool entry is $5 for
adults, and the pool is open until 8pm (October–April). |
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WHEN > Custom walk only |
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| SAW Bike Tour. Five Suburb Sydney Dérive. |
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| Over five hours we will explore Sydney's frayed western edge, its rapidly changing inner city suburbs whilst sniffing out some of its most inspiring and surprising architectural gems. A real insiders tours with a two-wheeled twist. | |||||
| DETAILS & BOOKING INFO > here | |||||
| WHEN > See Dates FOr timetable + booking info | |||||
Custom Tour. |
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If you have a special request, particular interest or certain arrangments
you need met email us for a custom tour: info@sydneyarchitecture.org |
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SAW guides are enthusiastic and extremely well informed. They are snappy dressers and they have degrees in architecture. They are also very keen to show off their city. |
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| Our clients include many professional bodies, universities and schools including the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA), Tourism NSW, Art Quest, BASF, Stockland Property Trust, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Study Australia, Institut für Gestaltung, Montana State University, Savannah College of Arts, College of Fine Arts NSW, Cranbrook, SCECGS, St Ursula College, Mt St Joseph’s and St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox College. | |||||
See Newspaper Reviews for feedback in the national and international press. |
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