Sydney Architecture Festival 2014

by Sas Lyon

The Sydney Architecture Festival  draws the attention of like-minded enthusiasts from all over Australia (and an ever growing contingent of International guests) to Australia’s self appointed proxy-capital city for ten days from the 1st to 10th of November for an architectural appreciation meeting of all things Sydney-side.

Each year the festival harnesses a specific agenda that looks at the role architecture plays in the frenetically paced city and how it impacts on those who dwell and visit there. This year the focus is on the role of transport and infrastructure and how the curves of our public transport loops through the expanse of the urban landscape.

There is this year for the first time a public colloquium ‘Growing Greater Sydney – Connecting People and Places’ that explores the role of our major transport projects in connecting Sydney’s growth regions, unlocking unemployment potential and shaping a better New South Wales.

QT Sydney is spread across two heritage buildings, the State Theatre and Gowings in central Sydney. This is the perfect place from which to explore Sydney during this exciting festival, and also to take in some of the rare architecture that the hotel presents. Take advantage of this special package to book your accommodation.

Once you have checked in to your new home-away-from-home in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, you will find a great many points of architectural interest in the hotel and it’s surrounds. Of particular architectural note is that September 2012 marked the return of the Gargoyles, Lions & Knights to Sydney’s heritage listed State Theatre building, ensuring the outside of the building has been restored to its original grandeur as it enters into a new era as hip designer hotel, QT Sydney.

As with many grand buildings of the era, stone figures graced the frontage of the building. When the threat of war arose, a decision was made to remove the gargoyles for fear of ruin and personal injury.With the original stone figures vanishing without a trace, the process of restoring the building to its former glory began in Melbourne where a highly skilled stone mason painstakingly studied images of the original figures and reproduced the Gargoyles, Lions & Knights.

The importance of the State Theatre building has been recognised by The National Trust of Australia that has classified it as “a building of great historical significance and high architectural quality, the preservation of which is regarded as essential to our heritage”.

Sydney Architecture Festival Photography Competition

Enter the Sydney architecture festival photo competition for a chance to win a signed photograph by one of Australia’s leading architectural photographers. Simply snap, and share a photo of your favourite piece of local architecture on social media with the hashtag #myarchitecture and @sydarchfest to be in the competition.

In the lead up to the 2014 Sydney architecture festival we invite you to keep an eye out and photograph your favourite piece of local architecture or built environment. We’re thinking anything from a sunny seat in your local park, to our most photographed icon the, Sydney Opera House. Share the image on Instagram and/or Twitter with the hashtag #myarchitecture and mention @sydarchfest

Shortlisted entries will be displayed alongside Brett Boardman, Katherine Lu, Michael Nicholson, Murray Fredericks, and Richard Glover at the ‘Behind The Lens’ photography exhibition, with three winning entries awarded on the opening night.

Make sure to check out the following exhibitions:

HEXTIC – A creative installation celebrating the 2014 Sydney Architecture Festival ….

Grasshopper Bar, 1 Temperance Lane, Sydney NSW

Time: 8:00 AM – 11:30 PM

University of New South Wales Bachelor Students in CoDe, Australian School of Architecture + Design, led by Dr Hank Haeusler, Rebekah Araullo and Eliot Rosenberg merge digital computation with interactive technology.

The process combines the hexagon as the integral building block and LED media culminating in a structure that augments the entrance to Grasshopper Bar.  In an alleyway germinating urban realities people are like water droplets that yield to form pools so do gatherings that form cultural dimensions?

Using digital fabrication, HEXTIC is designed to emulate water droplet ripples.  The hexagon cells illustrate the efficiency of circle packing structures.  They bond into a tight arrangement shaped to create fluid surface undulations using computational methods.  Audio sensors embedded in the structure will detect synthesised sound levels and trigger rich data forming dynamic images made by LED lighting.

Unbuilt Works: Augmented Australia

31 Oct 2014 to 15 Jan 2015

Customs House Sydney, 31 Alfred St, Sydney

Time:10:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Cost:Free, no bookings

Australia’s current exhibition in the Venice Architecture Biennale will be featured in the foyer of Customs House and on the Customs House Media Wall. This virtual exhibition will be “switched on” for the 2014 Festival and will take you into a world of beautiful unbuilt project around the City and in Parramatta.

Download the Augmented Australia app onto your hand held smart device and begin a virtual journey through 23 of Australia’s most intriguing unbuilt projects.

Augmented Australia was curated by felix._Giles_Anderson+Goad