Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MODERNISM ARRIVES
Between the two world wars Sydney boomed, and Australia looked to the USA for archi-
commerce, is a well-preserved example. Similarly lavish buildings began to dot the eastern
suburban skyline, giving a stylish look to many suburbs, although there have since been
some hideous modern incursions.
Some of the more innovative contemporary work in Sydney often happens far from the public
gaze in the realm of the family house, where progressive clients bankroll the creative ambi-
tions of architects.
for Sydney architecture, opening up the densely forested North Shore to development.
Much of this shoreline retains a bushy character, reflecting local architects' determination
to engage with Sydney's natural charms.
Some good news in the 1950s and '60s came via the Sydney School, which pioneered a
distinctively Australian architecture, characterised by the appreciation of native landscapes
and natural materials, and the avoidance of conventional and historic features. Further steps
were taken as 'new Australians' such as Seidler and Hugh Buhrich brought to the local ar-
chitectural scene a sensitivity to place, infused with Bauhaus and modernist concepts.
Since the 1960s, central Sydney has become a mini-Manhattan of tall buildings vying for
harbour views, thanks to the lifting in the late 1950s of the 150ft (46m) height limit. The
ings. Plans for an almost total redevelopment of the city's historic districts were afoot in the
1960s as the irascible Askin Liberal Government (which kicked Sydney Opera House de-
signer Jørn Utzon out of Sydney) deemed many Victorian and early-20th-century buildings
undesirable in its race to construct an 'all new' metropolis. Thankfully, union green bans
and plenty of vociferous local protests managed to save large chunks of The Rocks and
areas such as Kings Cross, Paddington and Woolloomooloo.
