Experience first-hand challenges, issues and successes with conserving 20th Century heritage in Sydney through an exciting range of field sessions.
A special selection of field sessions will be conducted between 1-5pm on Thursday 9th July. These field sessions will give you the opportunity to experience some of Sydney’s most iconic modern heritage sites under the guidance of individuals with a specialist interest in the sites, and to discuss the challenges of conserving these places with your fellow conference attendees. All field sessions include a packed lunch.
Each field session is limited in size, so that the group can more easily inspect the sites and discuss relevant issues. You need to select and pay for your preferred field session at the time of registration, so register and book early, as each field session has a maximum capacity.
We reserve the right to cancel any of these field sessions if the minimum number of participants do not register. If this occurs, we will contact you to arrange an alternative (different tour or refund of your payment).
Tour 1 – The Sydney Opera House, 1.30pm – 3pm – $35 per person
Maximum group size: 30 people
See inside the world’s most recognisable sails. Experience this miracle of architecture and engineering. A work of art that came into existence against impossible odds – to become one of the busiest performing arts centres in the world. Working with new, rich audio-visual components, where images are projected onto the fabric of the building, this tour will be led by Ms Maria Sykes, Director Commercial & Operations (who was also the Project Director on the World Heritage Nomination) and Mr Greg McTaggart, Director Building Development & Maintenance. You’ll visit at least one of the venues – where live performances occur every day. Following the tour, Ms Sykes and Mr McTaggart will speak to the group to provide further technical, architectural and historical insights and of course would be happy to take questions. The development and provision of this tour has been generously sponsored by the Sydney Opera House.
Tour 2 – Castlecrag Architecture, 1pm – 5.30pm – $50 per person
Maximum group size: 15 people – FULLY BOOKED!
Discover Castlecrag in a two hour walk. One of Sydney’s most picturesque suburbs, Castlecrag is perched on a rocky peninsula surrounded by the sparkling waters of Middle Cove. Explore Castlecrag with tour leader Ben Gerstel, a local architect who reveals the suburb’s development from its earliest days of the 1950’s as well as the most interesting contemporary architecture in its hilly streets by architects as familiar as Harry Seidler and Alex Popov and little known as Hugh Buhrich. This tour includes a visit to the Willoughby Incinerator by Walter Burley Griffin, currently undergoing major conservation works.
Tour 3 – Castlecrag and work of Walter Burley Griffin, 1pm – 5.30pm – $50 per person
Maximum group size: 25 people – FULLY BOOKED!
For Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin nature was their great source of inspiration. Professor James Weirick will take this guided tour of Castlecrag where the Griffins implemented their dream for an idealised urban community subservient to the landscape. This tour will take you through some of the community reserves and walkways, past some Griffin houses and to the outdoor Haven Amphitheatre. It includes a visit to the Willoughby Incinerator, currently undergoing major conservation works.
Tour 4 – Sydney Landscape, 1.30pm – 3.30pm – $35 per person
Maximum group size: 30 people
This tour of art, place and landscape examines the city through its evolving attitude to the design of the public domain, and the elements that they contain; art, architecture and landscape. This tour maps a living history on contemporary architectural, sculptural and urban projects, considering the role of art, architecture and design in the creation of some of Sydney’s best loved and most used public spaces. Particular attention will be paid to projects by Brett Whiteley, Janet Laurence, Hossein Valamanesh, Lippmann Associates, Simeon Nelson, City Projects, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, Harry Seidler and Tom Bass. We will also look at the new Art Gallery of NSW Asian Galleries extension by Johnson Pilton Walker.
Tour 5 – Sydney CBD, 1.30pm – 3.30pm – $35 per person
Maximum group size: 30 people
Moving from the broad to the particular, the historic to the contemporary, this walking tour of the Sydney CBD conjures a heady urban narrative revealing the social, cultural and topographic patterns and forces which have shaped Sydney. Exploring Sydney’s downtown we will focus on a series of modern and contemporary architectural projects by Renzo Piano, Denton Corker Marshall and the late Harry Seidler.
Tour 6 – Art Deco Sydney, 1.00pm – 5.00pm – $35 per person
Maximum group size: 30 people – FULLY BOOKED
CBD walking tour led by Jennifer Hill, President of the Art Deco Society of NSW, will examine the office buildings and skyscrapers of the interwar period which were the precursors to the post-war office building boom. Art Deco, Stripped Classical and Modern office buildings will be showcased.