This year’s Sydney Architecture Festival will address the vital role that transport and infrastructure plays in the making of a great city, and will engage the public on key planning decisions affecting the city’s future.

The 2014 program, ‘Connections: The Making of a Great City’, will feature exhibitions, talks, public forums, short films, open days, architectural tours and cruises, presented at locations across greater Sydney.

Here are just a few of the highlights from the eighth annual Sydney Architecture Festival:

Growing Greater Sydney The Colloquium, Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre, Friday 7 November

The one-day colloquium and public forum will include keynotes from Lucy Turnbull and CEO of Urban Growth NSW David Pitchford. It will bring together policy-makers, planners, architects, urban designers, community, developers and government to explore the role of major transport projects in connecting Sydney’s growth regions, unlocking employment potential and shaping a better future for NSW. 

Speakers:

  • David Borger (Western Sydney Director of Sydney Business Chamber)
  • Ross de la Motte (Principal, HASSELL, Head of Urban Transport)
  • Philip Graus (Director, Cox Architecture)
  • David Holm (Director, Cox Architecture)
  • Bob Meyer (Director of Planning, Cox Architecture)
  • Gregg Pasquarelli (SHoP Architects, New York)
  • David Pitchford (Chief Executive, UrbanGrowth NSW)
  • Peter Poulet (NSW Government Architect)
  • Rod Simpson (Urban Design Director, USYD & Principal simpson+wilson)
  • Lucy Turnbull (Chair, Committee for Sydney)

Harry Seidler: Painting Toward Architecture Exhibition, Museum of Sydney, 1 November

The exhibition will illuminate Seidler’s acclaimed designs and long-lasting collaborations that the architect forged with the great names in art, architecture, design and engineering. The exhibition also charts Seidler’s studies with Walter Gropius, Josef Albers and Marcel Breuer – three of the greatest names in 20th-century architecture and painting – before delving into his extraordinary personal story.

Temporal Formal at Seidler City, three iconic Seidler CBD buildings, 7 November

The one night only exhibition will present a series of projections and other temporary projects in the foyer spaces of Australia Square, Grosvenor Place and 9 Castlereagh Street in Sydney.

Sydney Open, various locations, 2 November

On 2 November, join Sydney Living Museums for the 10th edition of Sydney Open as they throw open the doors to more than 50 of Sydney’s best loved buildings. With a City Pass you will have the key to unlock the city’s architectural secrets, including the Harry Seidler designed tower at Australia Square, the viewing platform on level 29 of the AMP building (Sydney’s first skyscraper) and the new glass dome on top of 50 Martin Place.

Sunset & sunrise curated cruise of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River, first two weekends of November

Bridge Ahoy!, steers a course past some of Australia's engineering wonders, taking in some of Sydney's most iconic bridges including Sydney Harbour Bridge; ANZAC Bridge; Iron Cove Bridge; Glebe Island Bridge; Gladesville Bridge; Meadowbank Train Bridge; and Urhs Point (Ryde) Bridge.

Guided walking tour of Sydney’s laneways, goat tracks and rat runs, 3 November

The tour reveals a hidden world of connections throughout Sydney’s CBD including the Barbershop on York Street and Grasshopper Bar in Temperance Lane. 

Dream of Discotheques for Parramatta, Information and Cultural Exchange, 7-21 November

ICE and the University of NSW School Of Architecture puts forward concepts for nightclubs to be created in three heritage buildings - Roxy Theatre, Astra Theatre site and Cumberland Land and Investment Building. The design concepts, created by UNSW architecture students, show how lost spaces can be revitalised in the face of the explosion of economic, cultural and population growth in Parramatta. 

Cinecity Architectural Film Project, the Golden Age Cinema, Sunday 9 November

25 short architectural films were specially curated for the Festival and will be screened at the Golden Age Cinema in Surry Hills.

David Moore (photojournalist) tribute to Sydney’s Anzac Bridge, Customs House

The exhibition is curated by Moore’s daughter Lisa Moore and features photographic works that are a result of a three-year documentation by the photographer of the construction of what was then known as Glebe Island Bridge. 

Architecture on Show Tours, hosted by architects and designers, events at: Parramatta, Hornsby, Mosman, Newport, Marrickville, North Sydney and Randwick.

Images: www.sydneyarchitecturefestival.org