A new book celebrating Central Sydney's architectural treasures will be published later this year thanks to public funds granted the Historic Houses Trust of NSW.
Public Sydney: public rooms, public spaces is the result of a decade of research into public architecture in Sydney, and profiles more than 60 key buildings and places including the Sydney Opera House, Cook and Phillip Park and Queen Victoria Building.
Public Sydney documents Sydney’s public buildings and spaces in significant detail, with hundreds of previously unpublished architectural drawings, historic and contemporary photographs, and accompanying essays.
Themes covered in the book include the evolution of city buildings over time, such as a cemetery becoming the site for Sydney Town Hall, and the use of Sydney’s public spaces for major demonstrations, marches and celebrations.
Support from the City will allow the authors to include an additional 16 pages of illustrations and historic maps, new photography of the buildings today, and pull-out sections featuring construction timelines and drawings.
“Central Sydney is home to dozens of iconic historical buildings and public spaces and it’s essential that we document their role in the social and cultural development of our City,” said the city’s Mayor Clover Moore.
“With its profiles, maps and illustrations of some of Sydney’s landmark buildings — including the recently upgraded Sydney Town Hall — this book will make an important contribution to the public record of local architecture, urban history and public space.”
The book is a joint project between renowned Sydney architects Philip Thalis and Peter John Cantrill, the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of NSW, the NSW Government Architect and the Historic Houses Trust of NSW.
