Sydney Architecture Walks

05/10/2022

Some of the hidden gems and back-street surprises we will examine on Saturday morning's bicycle tour of Surry Hills, Redfern and Waterloo: SAW Bikes - Three-Suburbs South

Sunday October 9 is the last day you can redeem your PARENTS NSW Vouchers. We have posted public tour dates through to April 2023 and you can use them to purchase any SAW tours or Gift Cards. Click on the link in our profile.

29/06/2022

This is the place of maximum complexity; conceptually, structurally, materially, geometrically. Most of us try to hide these moments because they're so difficult to resolve. Not Utzon. You might have wondered what the peculiar steps in the lowest precast elements are all about. Are they a bit formal play, some fun and games after so much work? No! Each of them, and two more out of shot, flair out to receive steel post-tensioning cables that connect the precast elements from ridge to column. You can see the fibre cement caps that give you access to them. If the mood took, you could release these cables, disassemble your LEGO set (being careful to organise each of the 14 repeating elements together) and reassemble it elsewhere.

Today and tomorrow are the last two days to redeem your Discover NSW Vouchers. We have posted public tour dates through to April 2023 and so long as you use them by June30 you can purchase any tours in the future. You can also use them towards the purchase of Gift Cards.

SAW 2 - Utzon

01/12/2021

This weekends tour of Chippendale, well, a tour of half of Chippendale which equates to a

SAW 7 – The Transformation & Regeneration of Chippendale

18/11/2021

The clarity of Seidler, the energy of Calder and the coiled power of Nervi.

Calder's Crossed Blades cost US$55K back in '68. Years later a developer from Osaka offered $5M for it. Having originally baulked at the price, Lend Lease founder Dusseldorp remarked “this is a better investment than real estate”.

SAW 6 – The Track

Promo code GETSAWFEET will earn you a 15% discount on all our public tours till 24 December 2021.

17/11/2021

Temperance Lane off George Street.

Circle/s in the Round by artist Newell Harry was inspired by Miles Davis’ 1967 Circle in the Round album. It's just perfect - the elegant electrical cables referencing the sci-fi ductwork opposite, both a kind of landscape abstraction and landscape homage.

Grotty and forgotten little lanes like Temperance have been transformed by the city's small bar legislation, introduced by Clover Moore back in 2007. In these hidden, hard to find and difficult to get to spaces you're relying on information-driven culture to thrive.

SAW 6 - The Track

Promo code GETSAWFEET will earn you a 15% discount on all our public tours till 24 December 2021.

20/10/2021

Our public program is back. Our next tour is Saturday morning.⁠ SAW 1 - The City, Sydney⁠. 9:30am-12noon, Saturday 23 October 2021⁠.⁠
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https://www.sydneyarchitecture.org/

05/05/2021

The NSW Government has launched the Dine & Discover NSW program to encourage the community to get out and about and support dining, arts, and tourism businesses.

We are delighted to let you know we are registered for the DISCOVER NSW part of the program!

You can claim one or two vouchers per booking on any of our tours. You can also use them towards the purchase of Gift Cards. Just follow the prompts at check-out. They are valid till June 30 but there is no problem using them to purchase tickets beyond that date.

www.sydneyarchitecture.org

31/03/2021

Einstein said that ‘everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler’ a mantra shared by Utzon.
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Utzon's 'clouds’ at Bennelong Point are geometrically defined by one radius and constructed from a family of post-tensioned, precast concrete ribs that were fabricated directly in front of the Tarpeian Way from fourteen plywood moulds. Made on site under factory conditions, no transport costs, fourteen moulds and the intelligence of the elements means that (relatively) unskilled labour could erect. Constructing the Opera House became child's play, a LEGO set; LEGO - the great Danish contribution to the 20th Century!
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But that is jumping to the end of five years of research and one important chapter; one chapter in the incredible story of Utzon’s Opera House. Join me on an Utzon tour next Wednesday morning where we will go deep into the young architects thinking and design methodology. Were did his ideas come from and how did those ideas materialise architecturally?
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https://www.sydneyarchitecture.org/
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SAW 2 - Utzon & the Sydney Opera House
Wednesday, April 14th 2021 @ 9:30am - 12:30pm

23/03/2021

The radical Aurora Place office and apartment buildings by that quietly pay homage to the 'grand old lady down the road'.
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They feature on this weekend's The City, Sydney tour that will examine the city through three contrasting master works from the last three decades.⁠ ⁠
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SAW 1 - The City, Sydney⁠. 10am-12noon, Saturday 27 March 2021⁠.
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https://www.sydneyarchitecture.org/

22/12/2020

Eastern facade of Macquarie Apartments - Piano’s ‘kinetic crystalline’ skin. So good it’s almost no there. And you clean it from the inside!
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13/12/2020

Taking the form of a series of urban provocations, each tour is a simple exercise in story-telling. We want you to understand the 'why' of the city whilst we explore Sydney's most provocative and inspiring projects – works of contemporary architecture, public art and landscape that inspire and delight but also projects that reveal something of Sydney’s grimy pulse. If a project is awesome we celebrate it, if it’s rubbish we take note as we reveal the vibrant network of invisible forces – political, economic, environmental and cultural that give architecture, and by extension the city form.

We offer Gift Cards that can be redeemed on any of our walking or cycling tours. We will print and post them to you as well - so long as you order them by noon on the 22nd December.

Details and a promo discount code here:

19/11/2020

Sydney City Council Architect Robert Hargreave Brodrick designed this Chippendale beauty in 1914 - the Strickland Building. It is Sydney’s first public housing, conceived at the time as a kind of architectural antidote to the plague-ridden slums and it marked a shift from the dominant terrace-typology to denser apartments. The massing, landscape integration, integrity of detailing, quality materials, detail and ex*****on set it so far above the current fodder of generic apartment buildings nearby. ⁠
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It's actually a mixed-use building before that was even a thing, combining eight commercial spaces (including the fabulous where the tour begins) with a variety of apartment types. Such a gem.⁠
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It should be a beautiful tour this Sunday afternoon - join us. We will finish at Handpicked Wines Cellar Door designed by Melbourne’s where we invite you for prosecco and cheese.⁠
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SAW 7 – The Transformation & Regeneration of Chippendale⁠
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19/11/2020

Chippendale beauty⁠
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SAW 7 – The Transformation & Regeneration of Chippendale⁠
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17/11/2020

The transformation of Chippendale over the last decade has been spec-tacular. But how did this come about and what are the forces driving this change? Who are the key protagonists and what are the new ideas shaping this gritty inner-city pocket that is barely 0.7 square kilometres?⁠
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It should be a beautiful tour this Saturday afternoon - join us. Eoghan will be leading it and we will finish at Handpicked Wines Cellar Door designed by Melbourne’s where we invite you for prosecco and cheese.⁠
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Judith Neilson's private theatre and gallery - Phoenix pictured. A blind date of sorts between Melbourne practice and Sydney's .⁠
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SAW 7 – The Transformation & Regeneration of Chippendale⁠.
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15/10/2020

Eoghan was honoured to discuss one of his favourite topics at the Opera House this week - the ideas, inspiration and design methodology of Jørn Utzon and their relevance to contemporary architectural practice.⁠

It was an online event celebrating Jørn Utzon on World Architecture Day with a distinguished panel that included Abbie Galvin (NSW Government Architect), Bobbie Bayley (MADE alumna ), Peter Mould (former NSW Government Architect) and Tim Horton (Commissioner, architect & host )⁠

You can watch it here: https://vimeo.com/465987333/a61cd3a5ef⁠

14/10/2020

SAW 3 - Harbourings⁠

A lot has changed in Sydney these last six months, particularly around Circular Quay so it's exciting to be doing this tour again. There is also resolution of the architectural variety and a silver lining to the epic drama that is Tao Gofers' Sirius as well (pictured). ⁠

There are still a few spots for Saturday's tour - 10am start - join us!

14/12/2019

SAW News - https://mailchi.mp/708801d0f8f4/saw

Architectural practice has a particular rhythm. It is often frenetic but there are also lulls when projects like these get some oxygen. Truth is, they’re something of a distraction - but that doesn’t make them any less fun! The EL2 Coffee Table takes its design cues from objects like bicycles, s...

12/12/2017

SAW news | Christmas 2017

We have had a super-busy year and want to thank you for being part of it.  The numbers don't really matter but they mean a lot to us because each tour means time out of the office and time on the street engaging with the city whilst traipsing recklessly across political, cultural, economic and env...

27/09/2017

We're launching a new archi-tour this Saturday, 30 September 2017 9:30am-12noon. SAW6: The Track.

Type "SAW6" into the Discount Code window at checkout to get 50% off

http://www.sydneyarchitecture.org/pages/opening.htm

A pedestrian artery for twenty thousand years, the ancient walking track from the birthplace of Sydney, Circular Quay to the fresh water spring known as the Tank Stream is now Sydney’s meandering George Street spine.

We will slalom down George and flirt with its public and private edges, trespassing across territory political, cultural, social as well as architectural. Charles Darwin’s 1836 narrative along the same path will inflect our journey as we examine the city and reflect on Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s transformative urban strategies.

The tour will focus on the defining urban and architectural elements of George including master works by Harry Seidler, Angelo Candalepas, Johnson Pilton Walker, FJMT, Alexander Calder and Grimshaw Architects.

15/09/2017

Sydney Architecture Walks News - A new archi-tour, a new web site and Gift Cards that can now be used on whatever tour you like, whenever you like *|URL|*

Many of you would know our public tour program but we also conduct a private program of architectural tours throughout the year. School groups, professional groups, architects and non-architects alike - If you have a special request, particular interest, professional angle or certain arrangments you...

15/12/2015

SAW News - Christmas 2015

Thanks to those who were part of our macrobiotic, organically-grown, hand-made, quasi cultural experiment we call SAW. We remain as aggressively independent, aggressively public and as passionate about our city and the contemporary architecture and ideas it houses as the day we started.

30/09/2015

SAW Spring News

The second tour Transformation & Regeneration of the Inner-City Suburbs is an exploration of the former working-class suburbs of Redfern, Surry Hills and Chippendale. Crossing territory political, cultural and economic we will discuss the forces changing these dynamic and rapidly changing city-edge…

27/05/2015

Sydney Architecture Walks news

Sine the beginning we have been creating customized tours for special groups; high school and university students as well as professional groups of developers, strategic and statuatory planners, engineers and of course architects. Sometimes the tours are for one person; sometimes a group of 150. The…

13/12/2014

Our tours are available as Gift Vouchers. If you order them before the 22nd of December we will print and post them at no charge. They will look a bit like this.

13/12/2014

Hugo Moline working his magic on this mornings SAW bike tour: Three-Suburbs South.

12/12/2014

Sydney Architecture Walks Newsletter - Christmas 2014
Christmas gift vouchers, imbibing awesome new architectural projects (Sydney is going off), a fabulous idea for the design-inclined and some nice things people said...

July 2014 "My dad and I did the SAW 3 walk ... and it was seriously awesome. The guide was knowledgeable, friendly and a real pleasure to spend the morning with. Such an interesting tour - would highly recommend!"

28/09/2014

A summary of our tours, all of them examining the city through contemporary architecture, art, public spaces and urbanism. We want you to get stung by architecture. Sydney will never look the same again!

10/07/2013

Tracing the influence of modernity on the modern city. Our new walking tour starting Sunday14th July 2013. http://www.sydneyarchitecture.org/pages/saw_modern.html

10/05/2013

Five Suburb Sydney Dérive Bike Tour Photo essay.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.183986544995630.47061.118037588257193

10/05/2013

Eoghan just won the Marrickville Medal architectural prize for conservation.
http://www.sydneyarchitecture.org/supple/pages/tempe.html