circular quay urban design ideas

sydney, australia

in 1992 I was involved in an exhibition entitled ‘future city’, curated by davina jackson.  for that exhibition I designed the ‘museum for the moving image’ at circular quay.  fortuitously, 2 years later the NSW state government announced a competition around the same site, so my ‘museum of the moving image’ became the base for this competition entry.  I felt that many architects would adopt a ‘clean plaza’ approach, so I set about investigating other ways of dealing with the problem.

as a result of those investigations this scheme became a layering of programs, ideas, and objectives, attempting to deal with the multitude of issues at circular quay.

it was awarded second prize.

introduction – circular quay is a physical, cultural, social, technological intersection.  it is a layering of physical presence.  the land was once inhabited by indigenous people and their physical traces.  over these traces, new lines were drawn, oblivious to what had previously been.  each generation forgets and remembers, and traces new lines over the old accordingly.  with each trace there is a reason – a meaning behind the line – be it functional, psychological, spiritual, sculptural or magical.

the design idea – the design is a composition of layers.

physical layers – buildings, streets, lanes, natural landform, landscape.

functional layers – working, living, recreational, transportation.

cultural layers – art, music, eating, drinking.

psychological layers – the memory of things past.

spiritual layers – aboriginal place.

sculptural layers – landform and built form.

technological layers.

sensual layers – visual, aural, olfactory, oral + tactile.

the solution to the problems of circular quay will not be solved by built forms alone.  this scheme has inserted a combination of carefully considered activities to complement and extend those that already exist.  the idea is to capitalise on the existing intersecting layers of transportation, landform, cultural facilities and built forms.  this design proposes to insert the missing pieces necessary to fill the voids, to create the centre, and to act as a catalyst for future layers of activities.

project:                                     circular quay urban design ideas competition       

location:                                    circular quay, sydney, australia

budget:                                     $100 million

site area:                                   1,000,000 sq. m

floor area:                                  1,000,000 sq. m

time to complete:                       design – 1994-95

architect:                                   stephen varady architecture

project designer:                        stephen varady, penelope garrett

project team:                             stephen varady, penelope garrett

3d rendering:                             stephen varady

photographer:                            stephen varady