Year 11 GraphicsArchitecture unit

Graham, J (1997) Sydney Architecture: Watermark Press: Sydney

ar·chi·tec·turenoun /ˈärkiˌtekCHər/ 

architectures, plural1. The art or practice of designing and constructing

buildings2. The style in which a building is designed or

constructed, esp. with regard to a specific period, place, or culture- Victorian architecture

3. The discipline dealing with the principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings; "architecture and eloquence are mixed arts whose end is sometimes beauty and sometimes use"

Definition

Pre-Colonial Period 30,000 BC – 1788 AD Old Colonial Period 1788 - c. 1840 Victorian Period c. 1840 - c. 1890

Federation Period c. 1890 - c. 1915 Inter-War Period c. 1915 - c. 1940

Post-War Period c. 1940–1960 Late 20th Century 1960–2000

21st century 2001 --

Australian Architecture periods

110 George Street North, The Rocks 1815-16 (possibly) Francis Greenway

With this one exception, all the smaller non-descript buildings of the period of first settlement at Sydney Cove have vanished. This sandstone structure was built in 1815-16 as the ‘Coxswain’s Barracks’ attached to Governor Macquarie’s dockyard and stores on the shores of Sydney Cove.

The present name comes from John Cadman, who took up residence there in 1827. The building has largely survived because of constant Government or institutional ownership, first as a barracks, then as Cadman’s residence as superintendent of Government Craft (1826-45). From 1845-64, it was the Water Police Headquarters, and, from 1865-1970, the Sydney Sailors’ Home Trust. Restoration began in 1972 and the building is now used as an information centre by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Graham, J (1997) Sydney Architecture: Watermark Press: Sydney

Cadman's Cottage

It is Sydney's oldest surviving house and was built for the Coxswain and crew, the Coxswain being the person in charge or command of the boats.The building was cut into a natural rock shelf and had a small sandy beach in the front. it is now set well set back from the water's edge due to land reclamation in The Rocks area. The plain Georgian design was copied from English pattern books and constructed using local materials.

Macquarie Street, Sydney 1811-14 architect unknown

The Mint Museum and the NSW Parliament House are the two surviving ‘bookend wings’ of the very early triple wing General Hospital commenced in 1811, barely 20 years after first settlement. Refused both funding and permission by London, Governor Macquarie accepted a proposition by three businessmen to provide a hospital in exchange for three years’ exclusive rights to the importation of rum.

The architect is unknown, but the design is typical of barracks designed by military engineers for warmer climates. Unfortunately, the buildings were badly built by the entrepreneurs, using stone-faced rubble rather than solid stone and faulty roof framing design, which was later rectified by Francis Greenway. The entire centre wing, erected on poor foundations, was demolished in 1879. (As the result of an 1880 competition, a new building was erected in its place to accommodate the Sydney Hospital. The two veranda-faced wings, originally surgeons’ barracks, are what remain today.

A branch of the Royal Mint was located in the southern building from 1852-1927, immediately after the New South Wales gold rush, making it the first British currency mint established outside Britain. After 1927, when the Mint moved to Canberra, a variety of taxation and judicial offices were haphazardly housed inside. The building was repaired and conserved between 1975 and 1982.

Sydney Mint

Designed at the vast scale of the harbour itself, its low edges contain enough visual appeal for human interest. More remarkable is that the scheme makes no reference to history or to classical architectural forms. The roof is more important than the walls, consequently the language of walls - columns, divisions, windows and pediments - has been effectively dispensed with. As a public building, it conceals its usage in its lack of historical associations, and restores the concept of the ‘monument’ as being acceptable in social terms.

Sydney Opera HouseBennelong Point, Sydney 1957-63 Joern Utzon (Stage 1) 1963-73 (NSWGA), Hall Todd & Littlemore (Stage 2) - interiors and glass walls) An extraordinary site on Sydney Harbour at Bennelong Point, an ambitious state Premier (Joseph J Cahill), a visiting American architect (Eero Saarinen) and a young Dane’s billowy sketches (Joern Utzon) were the key factors which generated one of the world’s most important modern buildings.

The Sydney Opera House also embodies timeless popular metaphors. The building’s organic shape and lack of surface decoration have made it both timeless and ageless. Moreover, it demonstrates how buildings can add to environmental experience rather than detract from it - something of spiritual value independent of function. The building and the setting look orchestrated, and the synergy between the setting and the building make it appear that the scheme actually involved flooding the harbour valley to set the building off to best advantage.

Despite so much richness, the building has had virtually no influence on the shape and form of Australian buildings which followed. It remains something of an enigma which crowns the silent collapse of Western Classical architecture from being the one language for great public buildings.

Joern Utzon’s historic resignation causes a furore and divided the Sydney architecture profession. There were rallies and marches to Sydney Town Hall led by architects such as Peter Killar and Harry Seidler; other architects resigned their profession and became teachers, chefs, film makers and artists in protest, and the Victorian Chapter of the RAIA (but not NSW) black banned the replacement of Uzton by an Australian architect.

However, as with Governor Macquarie, Greenway, Light, Barnet and Griffin before him, Utzon’s vision had exceeded the norm. The immense difficulties of achievement were seen as a waste and the importance of controlling the state’s expenditure won the day. On 19 April 1966, the new architectural team (Lionel Todd, David Littlemore, and Peter Hall) was appointed in a whirlpool of debate.

Use the information provided on the previous pages to answer the following

Homework questions