SYDNEY

Simon, Jerusa | B.S. Architecture | Arch 162

Sydney
is the largest city in Australia
Sydney discoversydney.com.au

is the largest city in Australia

located on the southern coast of
New South Wales
was named after Viscount
Sydney, the British Secretary of
State

Map of Australia
Sydney
It covers:

1. Greater Metropolitan
area of Sydney, surrounding inner
city suburbs
Outer City

Inner City
Sydney
It covers:

1. Greater Metropolitan
area of Sydney, surrounding inner
city suburbs
Outer City
and

2. Sydney central business district

(CBD)
Inner City
Aboriginal History
50,000 - 70,000 years ago
it was thought that first humans came to the continent from
South-East Asia
around 3000 Aborigines lived around what is now Sydney

Cadigal band – the clan or “tribe” traditional owners of the

Sydney City region

Eora – name given to the original inhabitants of the place

– means “here” or “from this place”

they lived close to the shore

gathered fish and shellfish as the main food
provided shelter and sometimes slept in a
Cavern of Rock
perform ceremonies which integrated
religion, history, law, and art
History

Year 1770
first British contact and colonizers
landed at Botany Bay

land was declared New South Wales

to be the property of Britain's King

One of their aim was to establish

‘prison settlement’ for British convicts.
History
Port Jackson

Year 1788
Botany Bay was not suitable for the
settlement, so they rowed north to Port
Jackson (now Sydney Harbour).

Sydney Cove
a cove at Port Jackson which had the
freshest spring of water and the finest
harbour
was named after the British Secretary
of State, Viscount Sydney.
History
Functions of the city
even before,
main functions of
the city were
government and
trade.

Government House, Sydney Cove c1809

Sydney Cove Settlement became town on the foreshores of Sydney Cove.

public buildings: The First Goverment House, Hyde Park Barracks, Rum Hospital, St.
1824 James Church
1940
Macquarie Street

named after Governor Lachlan

Macquarie, who took charge of the colony
in 1810, and managed to transform the
Royal Botanical Gardens
penal colony into a town with roads

It houses important buildings such as:

State Library of New South Wales

Government House Parliament house

Reserve Banks Australia

Functions of the city
Trade - focused on the port, as
Sydney is a ‘port city’

Alcohol - used as a means of trade by

the British
- served to shatter traditional social
and family structures of the original
inhabitants
Functions of the city
Port Jackson became maritime and
industrial heart of Sydney.
The Harbour was dominated by large
scale industrial plants, gas works, bulk
storage facilities, etc.

Now: open space as

“Little Manly Point Park”

1950: Manly Gas Works

Functions of the city
Botany Bay Container Terminal
Replaced the fragmented
container facilities of Port Jackson
most of the cargo goes through
Port Botany

Botany Bay Container Terminal 1987

Culture
Bennelong
a notable Aborigine, one of the first to be
civilized into the European way of life
attempted to aid relations between the
Aborigines and the colonizers
Aborigines in ceremonial dress pose for a photograph of ‘a
Corroboree’ in the late 19th century.
(Government Printing Office Collection, State Library of
New South Wales.)
singing and dancing were part of daily life for
Aboriginal people in Port Jackson.
non-sacred songs and dances were performed
at night at Bennelong Point
Culture

Bennelong
a notable Aborigine, one of the first to be
civilized into the European way of life
Bennelong Point
attempted to aid relations between the
he asked the Governor to build him a hut
Aborigines and the colonizers
on what known as Bennelong Point (which
is now the site of the Sydney Opera House)
where he then entertains the Governor

known to be Cattle Point because of livestock

from the First Fleet landed there
Hut was a gathering place for the Aborigines at
Sydney Cove
History Architect: Jørn Utzon

Bennelong Pt.
Sidney Harbour

Sidney
Cove Farm
Cove
Religion
Aborigines have their own ‘Supreme Beings’
sandstone and rock drawings demonstrate
their religious beliefs

Today, many are beneficiaries of the

engraving sites that remain:
- parks
-industrial estates
-residential backyards
WATER the reason for Sydney’s Foundation

Darling Harbour
Intent: “a place for people”

Sydney Harbour
WATER
determined as the site of white
Tank Stream

settlement, where prisoners and

soldiers dug the Tank Stream

marks the colony’s original water

supply

It is part of the stormwater system of

the city today. Tank Stream superimposed on a map of current
Sydney
WATER
determined the site of white
Tank Stream

settlement, where prisoners and

soldiers dug the Tank Stream

marks the colony’s original water

supply

Stephen Walker sculpture

-located in Herald Square at Circular Quay
- dedication ‘to all the children who have
played around the Tank Stream’

It is part of the stormwater system of

the city today.
WATER
Pyrmont – waterfront development

2002: The bay with narrow

pedestrian is dominated by high rise
buildings
WATER
Alexandria Canal, Sydney
A transformed marshland to a canal
capable of carrying barges to transport
goods from the nearby Woolsheds,
brickworks, tanneries and foundries

Sydney's first inbound waterway

flows from Alexandria through St. Peters,

Mascot, Sydney Airport, to Cooks River at
Tempe
discharges as Botany Bay
Sydney’s Urban Growth

Sydney CBD

* The city basically grew from the

CBD core at the harbour - spreading
through a star-form growth radiating
out to the suburbs of Sydney.
 Sydney’s Urban Growth
Sydney CBD
 Sydney’s Urban Growth
Sydney CBD
Sydney Harbour
the heart of the metropolis

Harbour Bridge Sydney Harbour

Opera House
Sydney Harbour Bridge
opened opportunity to the economy of the city

focal point for Sydney and the harbour-side areas

the tallest structure in Sydney and still dominates
the harbour skyline.
Sydney Harbour Bridge
opened opportunity to the economy of the city

focal point for Sydney and the harbour-side areas

the tallest structure in Sydney and still dominates
the harbour skyline.

Sydney and Sydney Harbour Bridge taken

from North Shore, 19 March 1932. The
National Library of Australia.
3 Phases development in SYDNEY skyline

1879: 3-4 storey buildings 1900s: CBD – dominated by office buildings with new limit
of 150 ft.

1957: removal of height

restriction
Open & Public Spaces Public lands
superimposed on Sydney
“Pedestrian Network” Map

Consists of arcades, plazas,

overpasses, underpasses, and minor
lane closures

Interconnects major developments

within the area:
-Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority
-Harrington Mall
-Qantas Plaza
-Lang Park
-Wynward Park
-Martin Place

links into the central spine of the city

Open & Public Spaces
Queen Victoria
Pitt Street was originally designed as shopping street,
was remodeled as office space

1900 vs 2010

Pitt Street Mall has been pedestrianized

street as part of the Pedestrian Network
Open & Public Spaces
Sydney Square
Martin Place was originally designed as shopping street,
was remodeled as office space

built in the 1960s

Public space, retail and office
complex in Sydney CBD
was a “revisioning of Sydney’s
downtown”
Major Street in the city
was transformed into a pedestrian
area from 1968-1978
Sydney
Location
Sydney is located 33 degres 55' south of the equator

Climate
Sydney
receives sunshine for 342 days per year
annual rainfall of approximately 48 inches. Overshadowing of Public Spaces
shadow diagrams of Hyde Park – showing large areas are shaded
further buildings are not allowed as to escape from an entire “wall
of shadow”
SUBURBANIZATION: Housing Development
Before: houses were just one storey
development

1950s+: higher density development

was promoted for more efficient use of
urban land

Problem encountered:
Street frontages were dominated by
garages

Solution: unobstructed residential street

where people can meet-up and socialize
Transportation
Transportation
Railways were connected to the ports

1997 Bus – Rail interchange were

constructed to give the public smooth
travel
Transportation
inner suburbs – served by tram routes

outer suburbs – served by rail system, which

was used to promote suburbanization

1980: Bankstown
suburban
development

Blacktown Town Center: located on a railway junction

Sydney Airport the expansion of the city gave way
to construction of airports

Sydneyairport.com.au
Late 20 th Century Sydney
Sydney Tram Museum (1950)
Powerhouse Museum opened(1988)
Sydney Jewish Museum opened (1992)
Sydney Opera House was opened (1973)
Sydney Tower (1981)
Wharf Theatre opened (1984)
Chinese Garden of Friendship (1988)
Bicentennial Park opened
Sydney Exhibition Centre opened
The Australian National Maritime Museum (1991)
The Museum of Contemporary Art
The Sydney Harbour Tunnel (1992)
Macquarie Towers (1994)
Museum of Sydney (1995)
The Anzac Bridge (1996)
Star City Casino Complex opened (1997)
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park
events of the 2000 Olympic Games took
place at Sydney Olympic Park
first Olympic Games of the new millennium
in September 2000
21 st Century Sydney
Aurora Place (2001)
The Olympic Games were held in Sydney in 2000
Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre (2007)
The Rocks Discovery Museum (2005)

Today the population of Sydney is about 4.2 million.

References
• cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

• discoversydney.com.au

• HarbourBridge.com.au

• sydneyports.com.au

• metrostrategy.nsw.gov.au

• Webber, G.P. Ed., “The Design of Sydney”. Sydney: The Law Book Company Limited, 1988.

• Toon, John and Jonathan Falk, Ed. “Sydney – Planning or Politics : Town Planning for Sydney Region since 1945”. Sydney: Planning and Research

Center Univeristy of Sydney, 2006.

• heritage.nsw.gov.au

• sl.nsw.gov.au
Images
Tank Stream superimposed on a map of current Sydney. - (Reproduced from
Maps: W V Aird, The Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage of Sydney, The
- Google Earth Metropolitan Water Sewerage & Drainage Board, Sydney , 1961.
- National Library of Australia <nla.gov.au> Tank Stream - Sydney Water Corporation

Harbour Bridge - flickr.com/photos/pacocanker ; HarbourBridge.com.au Alexandria canal

- flickr.com/photos/ghee/
Founding of Australia - sl.nsw.gov.au - alexcanal.com

discoversydney.com.au
-Map of Australia - Pitt Street
-HMS Sirius - flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum
-Adam.J.W.C.
cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
- Aborigine woman portrait
- New South Wales painting The Rocks Discovery Museum
-Bennelong portrait -sydney.diarystar.com.au

sydneyairport.com.au Aurora Place

-Control Tower -smh.com.au
-International Terminal

Webber, G.P. Ed., “The Design of Sydney”. Sydney: The Law Book Company
Limited, 1988.
-Images of Sydney’s growth
--Sydney Cove 1824

Government House - heritage.nsw.gov.au