There are many well-known architects who have helped shape Sydney’s buildings. Three of the best known worked in different eras, former convict Francis Greenway, in the 1810’s and 1820’s, Edmund Blacket, who designed the Main Buildings at the University of Sydney in the 1860s and 70s, and Walter Burley-Griffin, the architect of Canberra, and the Sydney Suburb of Castlereagh, in the 1920s and 30s. In this course we look at the achievements of each, and the buildings and landscapes they contributed to Sydney.
- Introduction: architecture in Sydney in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries
- The three architects: a brief biography of each architect and their lives
- Francis Greenway, design and building of the Sydney: Hyde Park Barracks, the Macquarie Lighthouse, St James Church.
- Edmund Blacket, design and building of the Great Hall and Main Quadrangle that formed the first buildings of the University of Sydney, St Andrews Cathedral Sydney, St Thomas’s North Sydney
- Walter Burleigh-Griffin, design and construction of the suburb and buildings of Castlecrag
- Legacy of the three architects
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Have an understanding of the different approaches of Greenway, Blacket and Burleigh Griffin to design, and the social influences on their approach
- Appreciate the practical difficulties of construction and the architect’s input
- Compare and contrast the different approaches of each architect
- Appreciate the contribution to Sydney’s architecture and discuss the nature of architecture and its impact on a city’s character
