Timbers

These timbers have been removed from an old flour mill at Lewisham West which is being adapted as an apartment building. From the look of them they are iron bark, which are incredibly hard. We had them in the building I used to work in.

"Lit up like a Christmas tree!" Leichhardt Town Hall

Spring trees

TAFE College building, Mary Ann St Ultimo

Frank Gehry comes to Sydney

renowned American architect, Frank Gehry, is making his presence known in Sydney with this building-in-progress for the University of Technology, Sydney.

Archaeology

I wonder if one day these walls will be exposed in an archaeological dig?
Graffiti tags still visible under construction....now the building, a budget hotel,  is complete.

Archaeology of the future

This new building at St Peters abutts walls on either side which are adorned with graffiti, or art. I spotted it as I drove past, and it led me to wonder whether some time in the future when the new building reaches the end of its life, people will take scrapings and wonder at the decorative daubings of the early 21st century.....

Space ship?

This "spaceship" appears to have landed in Wynyard Park in Sydney. It allows light in to the underground entrance to Wynyard railway station.

I think it's rather elegant, and "Parisian", matching the nearby AWA tower / mini Eiffel Tower, which dates from 1939.

It was Australia's tallest building until 1958. It has a viewing platform which is no longer open to the public. AWA was a communications company and it was a radio transmission tower.

SDP on tour....in which we see that Paris is not immune

Rue de Fleurus. Central Paris has some of the most beautiful architecture anywhere (but don't get me started on the housing estates and some suburbs, which can be as ugly as anywhere...). Here in the bourgeois 6th arrondissement, across the road from where Gertrude Stein once lived with her brother Leo, and her partner Alice B Toklas, is proof that "even Paris" was not immune from examples of 1960s uglification!

It's kind of nice to see in a perverse way....otherwise you might walk around in a permanent fugue of Paris-inspired romanticism!

Old and new

Part of historic Sydney hospital, with modern buildings on the opposite side of Macquarie Street behind.

White and glass

Latest facade

The newest facade in Sydney is that of the redeveloped Westfield shopping centre (previously Centrepoint) in central Sydney.
Left: A worker puts the finishing touches on the weekend before the grand opening, which was last weekend.

Bounce!

23 September: Spring Equinox.
An interesting name for a hotel. The southern edge of the city is home to many of the city's budget hotels and backpackers' hostels. This hotel is in Chalmers St, across from Central Station and Prince Alfred Park. In the spirit of the current theme of spring and renewal, here is another example of renewal - an old building finding new life. The facade would not be out of place in Europe. Here's what it looked like when Google Maps drove past:


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Facade, Surry Hills

University Hall

Originally the University Hotel, University Hall is home to students from the nearby University of Sydney. In around 1990 the University Hall was renovated and expanded for use as apartments.

Outside is a fountain commemorating the 50th anniversary of Glebe Municipality in 1909. The pillar is a detail from the fountain.

Detail from top of building in Darlinghurst

Former Grace Brothers building

The copper dome and clock towers of the former department store, Grace Brothers, buildings at Broadway. Now one building houses student accommodation (Unilodge) and the other a shopping centre, the Broadway Centre.

Gardener's Lodge, Victoria Park

In 1865 an area at the corner of City Road and Paramatta Road was added to the University of Sydney to provide a formal entrance. The entrance avenue through the park was planted with fig trees and entrance gates installed, flanked by the Gardener's Lodge, and the mirror-image Messenger's Lodge (demolished in 1940).

Office building after dark

Thankyou to everyone who wished me a happy blogiversary for yesterday. I wish I had time to respond to everyone individually, but at this stage of my being, it's enough just to be able to keep up posting.

Another uncommon sight

These "New York style" fire escapes are exceptionally rare in Sydney. This one is in Chalmers Lane, Surry Hills.