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Australia’s only architecture festival grows to 50 events at over 20 venues across Greater Sydney

Sydney, Australia: The fifth annual Sydney Architecture Festival has announced its largest program yet to be presented from 20th until 30th October 2011 at leading cultural venues and public spaces spanning the Greater Sydney region.

“As the only official architecture festival in Australia, the Sydney Architecture Festival continues to grow from strength to strength. We believe our 2011 program is our strongest yet,” said Festival spokesperson Kate Doyle.

“We  hope  the  Festival  program  will  celebrate  our  city’s  architecture  and stimulate debate about what constitutes good architecture and design,” said Festival spokesperson Roslyn Irons.

The  Festival  offers  international  and   local   insights  into  the  city’s  built environment with a packed 10-day program of architecture talks, exhibitions, panel discussions, films, art installations, children’s activities, open day events and guided architectural tours on foot and bicycle.

The 2011 program is spread across lunch-time, evening and weekend timeslots and includes both paid and free events suited to all ages and walks of life, from industry professionals through to local community members.

Key  themes  for  2011  include  the  challenge  of  creating  sustainable  and affordable housing, the intersection of art and architecture, international perspectives on the built environment and the work of emerging practitioners.

The Festival takes place on both streets throughout Sydney and at 20 leading cultural institutions including CarriageWorks, Customs House, Sydney Opera House, Museum of Sydney, Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, Sydney College of the Arts and the University of New South Wales.

The next generation

The laneways and public spaces in the CBD will be taken over by architectural installations created by students of the built environment from the University of New South Wales as part of the STREETWORKS exhibition.

The STREETWORKS installations are the outcome of an Australian Institute of Landscape Architects competition that invited students to re-imagine Sydney’s under-utilised  city  spaces  into  dynamic  temporary  public  places  that  bring people together in unique ways.

Australia’s next generation of architects and built environment practitioners will also showcase models and videos of their work as part of two exhibitions at the Customs House: the annual Open Agenda exhibition and the Australian Institute of Architects Design Medal and NSW Architects Registration Board Architects Medallion.

International Perspectives

The Freshlatino talk by Spanish architect Andres Jacque at the Cervantes Institute offers international insights into local architectural issues. This event considers new approaches to the complexities of contemporary city living, with Jacque presenting 14 projects by Ibero-American architectural practices that integrate contemporary art, performance and architecture.

The Cervantes Institute will also host a presentation by the winners of the 2011 Barcelona Ideas competition that asked architects to create a 100m2 zero- ecological impact tower for the city’s historical Gothic Quarter.

Alliance Française hosts an update on architect Tim Williams’ sell-out ‘Le Grand Paris’ talks from last year’s program. The event provides new learnings from the ground-breaking   consultative   project   that   set   out   to   improve   the   built environment of Paris.

Swiss-born and Sydney-based architect Nicolas Perren will moderate a panel discussion on affordable housing concepts at the Goethe Institut.

Talks, tours, open days

Tours by bicycle and on foot will be led by architecture experts, taking in the streets  of  the  CBD  and  the  Inner  West.  Highlights  include  the  recently completed  Sydney  Opera  House  refurbishment,  outstanding  examples  of historic brick buildings throughout the CBD and Sydney’s biggest terrace in Millers Point.

Lunchtime talks will be hosted daily during the second week of the Festival at the city campus of the University of New South Wales looking at a range of topics including a comparison of post World War II architecture in Melbourne and Sydney, energy futures of the built environment and art in public spaces.

The popular one-day event ‘Architecture on Show’ consisting of architecture stalls, exhibitions, talks and activities will be hosted on Saturday 29 October at Tusculum Potts Point. For the first time in 2011, this event will be replicated at a number of suburban hubs around Sydney including Surry Hills.

A new open day at Sydney College of the Arts has been added to the 2011 program, offering architect-led tours, talks, exhibition of work by Dulwich Hill students and children’s activities.

The Sydney College of the Arts will also host a lecture by MCA Director Liz Ann Macgregor and architect Sam Marshall will discuss the extension and renovation of the Museum.

Open  Practices  returns  in  2011  offering  rare  public  access  to  several  of Sydney’s leading architectural practices, with behind the scenes tours and insights into current architectural projects.

A keynote lecture by a leading figure in the architecture and design industry will be  announced  next  month.  The  lecture  will  address  key  festival  themes including how to create a sustainable, healthy and culturally rich built environment.

In addition to events hosted in the CBD, Inner West, Eastern suburbs and Northern Sydney, the Festival has a new focus on Penrith in 2011. Architectural talks and tours will be hosted around Penrith city, whilst a discussion forum at the Sydney Opera House led by French artist Sylvie Blocher will look at the future of Penrith’s built environment discussed within the context of the C3 West program that is a partnership between the MCA, Landcom, Penrith City Council and Penrith Panthers.

Architectural Exhibitions & Events

Nine exhibitions exploring a range of architectural themes will be presented as part of the Festival. German Modernism is the focus of two free exhibitions at the Goethe Institut exploring the UNESCO World Heritage listed Berlin housing estates  built  between  1913  and  1934  and  the  work  of  eminent  modernist architect Bruno Taut.

The intersection between art and architecture is the starting point for the Expanded Architecture exhibition at CarriageWorks that will see 10 local architects partner with 10 local artists in order to project imagery on the floors, walls, ceilings and floors at CarriageWorks.

The  Museum  of  Sydney  will  host  a  two-day  symposium  exploring  the architecture and design of Australian Houses of the 1950s and 1960s on Friday

21 October and Saturday 22 October. The symposium will be complemented by a limited number of Open House tickets to view Rose Seidler House, Atherton House and the Jack House, where specialists will discuss the iconic properties.

Other exhibitions include ‘Liquid Luxury’ presented at the Stanton Library celebrating 75 years of North Sydney Olympic Pool and an exhibition at Potts Point’s Tusculum of previously unseen works by Max Dupain, one of Australia’s foremost photographers. Dupain gifted over 1000 photographs of Australian architecture to the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1989 and this exhibition presents works exhibited to the public for the first time.

Watch this space: www.sydneyarchitecturefestival.org for more information on this years festival.