Adjaye Associates unveils design for the new Sydney Plaza, a collaboration with contemporary Aboriginal artist Daniel Boyd.
Rooted in lost history, this is a project about the meaning of place, heritage and identity. An attempt to uncover, layer and celebrate the Eora origins of this part of coastal Sydney, the project is about the reconciliation of cultures and defining identity in an ever changing world. This reconciliation of difference lies at the heart of the proposal and aims to articulate and establish dialogue around the complex relationship colonizers have to their indigenous communities.
Inspired by simple unitary forms and place making in Aboriginal culture, we imagine the new community building and plaza as a ‘found place’ based around the notion of the shelter, a symbolic respite away from the busy streetscape that is discovered and dissolves through light.
To connect this profound centre with the sites heritage and origins, we have collaborated with Daniel Boyd, a renowned contemporary artist of Aboriginal dissent, on the projects key feature – a 27 x 34 m perforated canopy that shelters and unites the community building and the plaza under a poetic layer of light and darkness.
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