The Sydney Forum for Architecture and Urban Design Inc is a not-for-profit association incorporated in the state of New South Wales, dedicated to exchanging ideas on placemaking - how to make cities better, more liveable places.
Although its prime focus is on Sydney, it also examines urban issues in other cities around the world. For more information, click here SFAUDi RETURN VISIT TO NEWCASTLE EASTER 2019
posted 26/04/19 The new light rail service that’s helped to connect Newcastle’s CBD to the city’s waterfront is already attracting a higher than expected number of daily passengers, as we discovered on our Easter Saturday excursion.
Despite a few teething problems with the technology that recharges the trams’ batteries at each tram stop, the system is now running smoothly - to a generally positive response from residents and visitors alike. This follows significant local opposition when the project was first announced, although older Novocastrians tended to be more vocal in their criticism, while younger residents were generally in favour. Now the new light rail service is up and running, there appears to be a growing consensus that it's a major improvement to the city's infrastructure, will help to make Newcastle a more liveable place, and should be extended in the near future. As with our first excursion to the city exactly a year earlier on April 28, 2018, David Wilson, Principal Network Planner at Transport for NSW, who played a major role in planning Newcastle’s light rail project, was our guide. 
SFAUDi members and friends in the courtyard of Newcastle’s Lucky Hotel on Easter Saturday 2019. Left to right: Paul Rappoport, heritage architect; Patricia Gosling, architect; Liane Ringham, market researcher, CEO of Inside Story Pty Ltd; Paula Valsamis, architect; Virginia Cuppaidge, Newcastle-based artist; David Wilson, Principal Network Planner at Transport for New South Wales; Jenny Wilson (Jenny Towndrow) writer specialising in architecture, design and planning; Caroline Goh, originally from Singapore; partner John McCrum, engineer who designed the ticketing system for Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit system; Judith Rintoul, architect.
A Newcastle tram preparing to recharge at the Queens Wharf light rail stop, just across from the Three Bears Kitchen café and restaurant
THE CAT THAT WORSHIPPED JUPITER: HOW SCULPTURE BECAME THE VOICE OF ARCHITECTURE
by Philip Drew posted 07/04/19 read article 
DULWICH HILL: THE SURPRISING SUBURB WHERE GREENERY & NEW APARTMENTS MEET VICTORIAN ELEGANCE
posted 26/11/18
Dulwich Hill and Lewisham are not the most obvious Sydney suburbs for a SFAUDi architectural walk, but in fact these rapidly improving neighbourhoods contain a rich seam of architecture from the late nineteenth century onwards. Sections of The Boulevarde (someone added the extra “e”) have heritage protection, with grand Victorian mansions veiled in cast iron lace which would not be out of place in the Garden District of New Orleans, and two former flour mills - Waratah Mills and the Flour Mill at Summer Hill have been converted into upmarket apartments. From California bungalows on the Abergeldie Estate to the fine late Victorian facade of the Dulwich Hill School of Visual Arts and Design on Seaview Street, there is something for everyone, not to mention the well used Johnson Park with its heritage-listed sports stand - and all within easy walking distance of several stops on the new light rail extension. The Dulwich Hill light rail connection has also helped to stimulate the construction of new apartment buildings down the hill on Wardell Road: if the copious graffiti were cleaned up, and the ugly overhead power lines put underground, this could visually enhance the good integration between the light and heavy rail station groundworks and Jack Shanahan Park. 
Cast iron lace and Victorian stucco in the heritage section of The Boulevarde, Dulwich Hill/Lewisham
This free standing 19th century house shows clear signs of French influence
SFAUDi members after their walk on 24/11/18, outside The Larder - one of the many eateries and cafes that have opened on Marrickville Road, Dulwich Hill, in recent years
2018 SFAUDi SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR
Members of the 2018 SFAUDi tour of South America pictured on Cerro Santa Lucia (Santa Lucia Hill) in the centre of Santiago, Chile, on 18/10/18. The gateway (behind the group and below) was originally part of Fort Hidalgo, built in 1820. Details
THE IMPACT OF URBANISATION AND MASS TOURISM ON AUSTRALIA'S FRAGILE LANDSCAPES
Read Helen Armstrong's analysis of conflicting imperatives here: 
AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON SYDNEY'S TROUBLED LIGHT RAIL PROJECT
Paul McGillick argues that grievance is threatening to stifle what should be a celebration of urban transformation. Read article 
HOBART: BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
As the Tasmanian economy finally gets out of first gear, there are big changes happening in the Hobart CBD. Read Paul McGillick's article here: 
FROM SUBMARINES TO BARBECUES
posted 24/09/18 
SFAUDi members at HMAS Platypus on Saturday, 01/09/18, during a tour of the new waterside walk connecting North Sydney Ferry Wharf with Kesterton Park. The former submarine base is being gradually opened up for public use and enjoyment, and also includes a barbecue and picnic area, and a submarine themed children’s playground. Work is currently underway on creating new public areas and conserving some of the original buildings. A waterside café is also planned for the future. Simeon King, of Aspect Studios (which has been involved in the project) was the group’s guide (top image, pictured fourth from the left).
GREEN SQUARE WALK
The Infinity development under construction in July 2018 at Green Square, Sydney. Designed by Koichi Takada Architects, it will be one of the defining buildings of the new Green Square Town Centre, with an underground pedestrian connection to Green Square Station. Part of the glass entrance to the new library is on the right.
Posted 25/07/18
It’s Australia’s largest urban renewal project - the eight billion dollar Green Square scheme in Sydney - so it was a fitting location for our SFAUDI urban walk on Saturday July 14th 2018. Our members’ response to the transformation of this former industrial area into an attractive and sustainable urban environment was generally positive, in contrast to their concerns about the quality of the massive residential developments that have been built in Rhodes. The walk began at the new Joynton Avenue Creative Centre, formerly the Esme Cahill nurses quarters, which will provide artists’ studios, workshops and gallery spaces, and will also be available for community hire. The building’s transformation, which includes a dramatic canopy designed by Peter Stutchbury, extending from the arched windows of the original 1936 era facade, has drawn widespread praise, and won the Australian Institute of Architecture NSW Architecture Medallion. The walk continued to the unfinished Infinity building at Green Square Station, which will provide an innovative corner-piece to the new Green Square Town Centre - which is now finally underway after two decades of planning. Infinity has been designed by Koichi Takada Architects. The fluid form of the building, essentially two interconnected loops, is - according to Koichi Takada - designed to create a “seamless connection between the public and the private ......a haven for its residents but also an embracing and sculptural portal for the easy everyday flow into and out of its private, public, recreational and retail zones and its open, light-flooded heart”. Other developments nearing completion are the new library - designed by Stewart Hollenstein, and Mirvac’s 28 storey Ovo development, which in addition to being the tallest building in the new town centre, (a useful landmark for disorientated newcomers) will also include some affordable accommodation. The next destination on the walk was the East Village complex, whose shopping centre, with its distinctive “timber mushroom” columns, was also designed by Koichi Takada. The large numbers of people who already inhabit Green Square’s new apartments have already triggered the establishment of new cafés and restaurants, including Allpress Espresso on Epsom Road - where the SFAUDI grouped stopped for coffee, followed by lunch at Café Vité on Elizabeth Street, which has only be operating for twelve months. With 55,000 residents expected to occupy Green Square over the next twelve years, expect many more cafés, bars and restaurants to open their doors in the months and years ahead! 
SFAUDi members in front of the new canopy projecting from the Joynton Avenue Creative Centre. The transformation of the 1930s era nurses quarters was carried out by architect Peter Stutchbury
Contrasting old and new in Green Square
A FAST TRACK REVIVAL FOR NEWCASTLE'S CBD
posted 03/05/18 After numerous attempts over the years to revive Newcastle’s CBD, New South Wales’ second largest city is finally reaching a tipping point to become an attractive place to live and work. Already, population pressures, traffic congestion and lack of housing affordability have prompted large numbers of Sydneysiders to head north, to enjoy a more affordable and relaxed lifestyle - the way Sydney used to be. On Saturday, April 28th 2018, SFAUDI members - including David Wilson of Transport for NSW - made the trip themselves to see some of the projects that are transforming the heart of the city. Chief among these is the Newcastle Light Rail Line, currently under construction, which will run 2.7 kilometres from the new Newcastle Interchange at Wickham to Pacific Park in Newcastle East, replacing the heavy rail line which created both a physical and psychological barrier between the waterfront and the city centre. The light rail project is part of a $500 million program to revitalise the centre of the city and provide a catalyst for further urban renewal, as well as forming the basis for an extended light rail system in the future. 
SFAUDI members on Newcastle’s light rail construction site, with David Wilson of Transport for New South Wales, (fourth from the left.) In the background is the recently completed NeW Space - the University of Newcastle’s $95 million education precinct and city campus.
A view of the Newcastle light rail line currently under construction, looking east along the light rail corridor in Hunter Street.
The disused platforms of the old Newcastle Station, following removal of the heavy rail track. Various ideas have been suggested for the station’s future, including conversion into a space for cafés, eateries and an arts precinct.
The decommissioned Newcastle Signal Box (left) with barriers fencing off the new light rail construction site
SFAUDi TRIBUTE TO JØRN UTZON
SFAUDi members gathering at the Observatory Hill bandstand in Sydney to mark the centenary of the birth of Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect of the Sydney Opera House, who was born in Copenhagen on April 9th, 1918. (Posted 10.04.18)
THE RELEVANCE OF JOHN RUSKIN TODAY
Dr Anuradha Chatterjee gave a well-attended talk to SFAUDi members on April 12th 2018 on the impact John Ruskin has had on architecture throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Dr Chatterjee is an architectural historian and theorist based in Sydney, and her talk followed the publication of her book “John Ruskin and the Fabric of Architecture” published by Routledge. UPDATE: On 25/05/18 Dr Anuradha Chatterjee announced that she had been elected a Companion to the Guild of St George (set up by Ruskin in 1871, 1878) and was now one of two Australians who are Companions. She was compelled by the premise that the Guild's "purpose has never been to pursue antiquarian projects" and that it "aims to work in the spirit of Ruskin's Company, promoting Ruskin's values in the modern world." She said it will be interesting to see how she brings her postmodern/ post structuralist/ feminist thinking to bear further upon unravelling the potentialities of Ruskin's writings. SYDNEY MODERN EXPLAINED
Nicholas Wolff, Project Director of the planned expansion of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, explaining to SFAUDI members on March 28th 2018 how the new gallery buildings will step down from the land bridge over the Eastern Distributor to a currently underutilised lower level currently occupied by two disused oil tanks constructed during the Second World War.
One of the oil tanks will be retained and incorporated in the new Sydney Modern Project, which has been designed by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryun Nishizawa of Tokyo-based SANAA, who also designed the New Museum in New York and the Rolex Learning Centre in Lausanne.
The Sydney Modern Project is intended to transform the Art Gallery of NSW into one of the world’s great art museums, enable it to host more major international art exhibitions, and create “a vibrant new cultural hub”.
OUTRAGE OVER PLANNED KINGS X DEMOLITION PLAN
posted 26/02/18 Community anger over plans to demolish an entire city block in Sydney’s Kings Cross is growing, If the development goes ahead, all the buildings on the block, from the Empire Hotel on the corner of Roslyn Street and Darlinghurst Road, to the Fountain Café facing Fitzroy Gardens, will be razed. Only the curving facade of the Empire Hotel (formerly “Les Girls”) and parts of the late Victorian arcaded facade of the Bourbon building - which would be incorporated in the new development of luxury apartments, shops, cafés and restaurants, would be retained. However, the developers, Piccadilly Property Trust, maintain the development would revitalise a “ decaying area........(and) will help create much more of a village atmosphere with a boutique lifestyle.” THE DYNAMICS OF DORMANCY Reviving and re-energising the Outer West town centres of the Sydney Basin - by Jonathan Drane posted 03.02.18 
A solution to dormancy? Greater Sydney will be a global metropolis of three productive, liveable and sustainable cities: Western Parkland City, Central River City and Easter Harbour City.
A BELIEVABLE, LIVEABLE SYDNEY versus SUSTAINABLE MELBOURNE. by Jon Johannsen posted 16/11/17 From co-working to communal living, new strategies are emerging to tackle sky high urban property prices and rents, traffic congestion and urban stress. With "liveability" now attracting so much media attention, and with so much analysis of the ‘most liveable city criteria’, it's timely to look at what constitutes a good urban and suburban quality of life. 
Steam Junkies Café in The Commons, Brunswick, Melbourne
The Commons, Brunswick, Melbourne
SYDNEY IS CHANGING - BUT IS THIS THE FUTURE WE WANT? 
Posted 13.11.17
To get an idea of how large areas of Sydney may look in 10 to 15 years time - take a train to Rhodes (or drive if you don’t mind being stuck in endless jams) and walk along the waterfront. That’s what a group of SFAUDi members did on October 28th 2017, and it was quite an eye opener. Reactions to the endless modern apartment blocks stretching along the waterfront, ranged from “a shocker” and “a missed opportunity” to “only good in parts”. But this is the future we’re facing as the NSW Government presses ahead with its policy of providing hundreds of thousands of new homes through densification and “priority precincts” with high rise towers clustered around railway stations and along transport routes. Already public unease at the rate at which suburbs are being transformed is showing signs of turning into outright opposition, especially where this transformation is not being matched by the construction of additional infrastructure to cater to the growing population. Yet with Sydney’s population continuing to increase, and the lack of affordable housing an increasingly politicised issue, the alternative to urban consolidation is new dormitory suburbs built on distant greenfield sites on the city’s periphery, which is hardly an ideal solution. 
At least in Wentworth Point and the western section of Rhodes, no existing community has been disrupted - the area was largely industrial until about 15 years ago - since when an entirely new urban environment has been created on land that was once the home of paint and chemical works, the Ralph Symonds plywood factory and other industrial facilities.
And whatever one’s view of the aesthetics of an overwhelmingly modernist - some would even say sterile - built environment, and the absence of any new terrace housing - one of the most successful forms of medium density housing ever devised - considerable thought has gone into creating a sense of place, with the new low rise Rhodes Community Centre - The Connection - acting as a community hub, and the new car-free Bennelong Bridge linking Rhodes to the Wentworth Point peninsula - where the design quality of the new buildings currently under construction - compared with what’s been built in some other parts of Sydney - promises to be high. It’s a shame, though, that the only pre-existing structure of any “heritage” value - the former plywood factory - a building of real architectural distinction which would have made an excellent adaptable space for events - is to be demolished. SFAUDi member Bob Perry, of Scott Carver architects, designed the Bennelong Bridge, and has also been involved in the design of Marina Square, one of the main developments on Wentworth Point. After showing the group of SFAUDi members round the area, Bob Perry told us about the critical importance of the new pedestrian, cyclist and bus-only bridge to the future success of the development: Benefits of SFAUDi membership:
For a one-off lifetime membership fee of $100: ENJOY guided architectural tours of Sydney and its environs RECEIVE generous discounts on ticket prices of regular SFAUDi talks and events ENGAGE with Sydney's leading urban design & architectural thinkers & writers. CONTRIBUTE to discussions around Sydney's urban design & architectural future. SHARE your expertise with some of the world's best architects, urban designers & writers. PUBLISH your ideas with the help of our professional editorial team. CLAIM Continuing Professional Development points for your SFAUDi activities. SFAUDi members who are registered architects in NSW are able to claim up to 5 hours CPD per registration year. Membership is cross-disciplinary and is open to residents of Sydney, visitors, and anyone with an interest in Sydney Contact us on: info@sydneyforum.org.au  SFAUDi membership badge: 32 mm diameter
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