Architecture on tour

Architecture is all around us, and Sydney boasts some of the most iconic examples of innovative design and construction. The Sydney Architecture Festival aims to honour the city’s built marvels with a range of tours.

We take a look at the top picks of the tour program.

Sydney Architecture Walks
This walking tour takes trespasses across disciplines and genres, seeking out the architecture and public art that best reflects contemporary conditions and attitudes with an emphasis on projects that respond to the culture, history and environment of Sydney. Shunning imported, formulaic codes of building, these tours take participants through the old city, lets them view the influence of Aboriginal occupation, landscape and colonial settlement through the prism of the city’s growth.

Uncovering art and architectural projects large and small, the tour takes in two contemporary iconic structures: Renzo Piano’s Aurora Place office and apartment buildings and Denton Corker Marshall’s Governor Phillip and Macquarie Towers.

STREETWORKS
STREET WORKS is a series of temporary installations that remodel seldom-used public spaces into engaging, vibrant places. Cities around the world are moving toward installing little interventions that reclaim under-utilised spaces and build creative and interactive places that invite public connection in urban environments.

An initiative of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) NSW, STREET WORKS brings this global approach to Sydney over summer and the tour will follow the STREET WORKS Line around the city, starting at Customs House before heading to each site to hear from the designers.

Australian Architecture Association Tours – Sydney City Walk
This walking tour of Sydney will offer participants an insightful look into some of the Harbour City’s most important buildings, such as the iconic Australia Square designed by architects Harry Seidler & Associates in 1970 that still retains its aesthetic appeal.

Another aspect of the tour will be an examination of the buildings that have had to adapt to heritage terms, such as the cantilevered Governor Phillip Tower by DCM that protects 19th century terrace houses, or the ingenious excavation beneath the Botanic Gardens, by architects Jackson Dyke, aiming to provide more classrooms for the Conservatorium of Music.

Five Suburb Sydney Derivé: Bicycle Tour
For those who want an insider’s tour of Sydney at a faster pace, this two-wheeled architectural adventure gives a comprehensive oversight of the city’s design. Inspired by the structured looseness (or organised chaos) of the Situationist International, this convoy of cyclists will weave through Sydney's quiet industrial edge before plucking out the most interesting and provocative architectural projects and hidden gems in Ultimo, Chippendale, Redfern, Waterloo and Surry Hills. Included along the route are a number of inspired projects, contested sites and politically charged themes.

Australian Architecture Association Bar Tour
The Australian Architecture Association’s incredibly popular Bar Tour is a special feature of the Sydney Architecture Festival. Weaving through some of Sydney’s best bar interiors including Café Sydney, Win Odyssey, Establishment and the Ivy, AAA President, Kate St James will help participants decipher the designs that define Sydney’s night life.

For full details of all the tours on offer head to the Sydney Architecture Festival website