Launch 2014 Sydney Architecture Festival 31 October 2014 [Introduction] Thank you Tim for that introduction and good evening to you all. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the launch of the Sydney Architecture Festival for 2014. [Acknowledgements] I'd like to begin by acknowledging a number of special guests we have with us this evening - Ric Thorp, President of the NSW Registration Board - Steve Kennedy, President of the Association of Consulting Architects - Joe Agius, President of the Australian Institute of Architects in NSW - Peter Poulet, Government Architect & Deputy President of the ARB - The winners of Byera Hadley scholarships - and Alex Greenwich, the Member for Sydney I'd also like to give a special mention to Tim Horton, registrar of the ARB who has in conjunction with the NSW Chapter of the AIA and the Sydney Architecture Festival committee has done such a great job in making this event happen. [What makes a city] For those of you just joining us, we ve just had a ceremony to award 11 Byera Travelling Scholarships to another cohort of scholars who, with the support of the Trust Company and Perpetual, will travel the world to learn and return bringing the best back and adapting it to our own needs here in NSW. Page 1 of 11
And what a remarkable venue this is for tonight s event. The Sydney Opera House is the work of fine Danish architect, Jorn Utzon just over 40 years ago. I m told the concrete in the northern foyer is famous for how its Italian crew took matters in to their own hands - stripping the formwork before it was cured, and hand finishing the surface to a lustrous sheen in an old technique almost lost until only a few years ago. Combine this story of tradition and skill with the high tech capability of the remarkable Sydney entrepreneur and innovator, Ralph Symonds who worked with Utzon to develop the technology behind the bent plywood panels seen throughout the building. We stand in an exemplar of how architecture fuses tradition and technology. (As Finance Minister it would be remiss of me not to note Deloitte s valuation on this piece of treasured Sydney real estate assessing its cultural and iconic value at around $4.6bn. It really is one of the world s great and enduring examples of architecture whose value can be measured). Page 2 of 11
But let s not forget where architecture started in Australia. From this very spot you can almost see the work of our first architect; Francis Greenway. Greenway s first rum hospital on Macquarie Street was soon appropriated to become the colony s first Parliament building. (Some argue the behaviour hasn t changed since the days of the rum hospital...) Greenway made the leap from forger to be appointed government architect by Governor Lachlan Macquarie 198 years ago. I ve always thought it funny that a forger was chosen to appear on a bank note but Greenway was of course the man on the $10 note until 1993... While not a forger, it is fitting that we have our own current government architect, Peter Poulet, here with us today. From where we stand I can also see the AMP site at Circular Quay. I understand this was the first tower in Sydney to exceed the 150 feet height limit a limit set in 1912. And a reminder that some rules are there to be broken. Page 3 of 11
I m very pleased to be here, launching the 2014 Sydney Architecture Festival. In the time I have, I d like to sketch out a few thoughts on the role of architecture in urban growth and urban renewal. NSW is No.1 in growth at a time when all growth is welcomed, but good growth is especially welcome. Commsec s quarterly State of the States report a few weeks ago put housing at the centre of NSW economic resurgence. Housing starts are 36% above the decade average. Much of this housing is medium density a form of housing I know is dear to the heart of every architect. I want to say more about medium density housing, and innovation a little later. Our ambitious infrastructure projects are paying dividends for the state s economy even though most of our unprecedented investment in infrastructure is yet to come something I know you ll be speaking about more at the Colloquium event in Parramatta on 7 November, as you share what it means to Grow a greater Sydney. Page 4 of 11
Some of you in the room tonight, and at the Colloquium next week are already working with us to get the most from WestConnex, or the North West Rail link and the return of light rail to the city thanks to the leadership of my colleague, Gladys Berejiklian. Returning to growth in NSW is something that benefits us all. But growth alone is not enough. I would like to echo the words of the President of the NSW Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, Joe Agius; that the challenge we all share is to ensure that as Sydney grows, it is not just a question of bigger and bigger, but of how we plan to grow bigger and BETTER. Achieving the growth we all want is the work of planning, design, engineering, finance, policy makers and many others. Last Friday, my cabinet colleague Rob Stokes spoke to the Planning Institute noting that planning design can influence energy demand, supply and use. Page 5 of 11
This is not an interest exclusive to Planning or environment. As Minister for Finance I know that waste matters. Whether that is the avoidable energy we use in poorly designed homes, or in the centralized infrastructure that is being disrupted by distributed networks, fuelled by the new economy. The new economy is no longer a theory. Just as car share schemes represent new ways for infrastructure to be shared, we know innovation in the built environment will emerge to help us grow in smarter ways. I m confident this is what we will see in the work of Urban Growth NSW in Newcastle and North Ryde, Parramatta North and other urban transformation precincts including The Bays Precinct. I m interested in how urban growth can be a means to grow the human and natural capital as much as financial capital of NSW. Cities represent an important investment in our future. But it s been said we are facing 21st century challenges with 19th century tools. To be a great global city we need new ways to work better together. Is there any more critical need than to join up and connect the good people and great things underway in our emerald city? Page 6 of 11
It s why I was thrilled to see the theme of this year s Sydney Architecture Festival is: Connections; the making of a great city. And its why, on 3 June this year, the Premier announced a new Greater Sydney Commission to broker the connections needed to discover, design and deliver what Sydney needs to be an even greater city. It s not enough to dig or develop. We must ask - for what purpose, and for whose benefit? If planning is about laying out the conditions for the right development, architecture is about getting this development right. As minister responsible for the state finances, my interest is in making sure we invest intelligently - in the long term potential of places that last. I mentioned NSW s record housing starts. These figures are encouraging, but they are only one measure. It s not enough that we count houses if it puts families on the fringe where our infrastructure cannot support them. That s why we re preparing a metro strategy that gives people more choice to live within reach of green open space, public transport and local jobs. Page 7 of 11
It s not enough to provide choice in the market if the townhouses, apartments and terraces are not designed for how and where we want to live. That s why we ve updated the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP 65) - to safeguard quality in design and recognise those who do it best; our architects. You. It s not enough to talk about social networks and social change if we aren t engaging people in designing that change. That s why I welcome a Sydney Architecture Festival that engages beyond the professions and institutes, the Boards and committees of those involved in the field, to those who experience it first hand. I congratulate you for your Architecture on Show program that takes architecture out of the studio and into the libraries and civic halls of local communities. And I m pleased to see the Festival teaming up with the good people at Sydney Open to throw open the doors on buildings and sites Page 8 of 11
from our past, our present and with the Augmented Australia show at Customs House even the future. For me, architecture represents one of those sectors that doesn t just trade value, but creates it. And because you imagine make and deliver, you invent our future. David Bowie once said that tomorrow belongs to those that hear it coming. Few hear it coming better that those who imagine, design and build it. Artists, makers, designers, architects - those who scribe the culture of their place in the technology of their time - are the first to see what others fear is impossible. They hear tomorrow coming. Just like the relationship between Jorn Utzon and Ralph Symonds in this place; architects and manufacturers must work together to invent new home grown enterprises that go on to service global markets. Contemporary architecture can be a catalyst for innovation in those products, materials and technologies which we choose to integrate in the housing, workplaces and cultural buildings that form our built environment. Page 9 of 11
I m intrigued by the idea that innovative architecture can invent new products, or give a new life to those things we thought we knew. Like Frank Gehry s new building for UTS. Another Sydney example of architects working with a manufacturer Austral Bricks and the contractor to reinvent the Sydney brick for the new century. I am intrigued that architects can play a role lifting trades and suppliers up the value chain and making them more competitive in domestic and global export. My request of this Sydney Architecture Festival, is for you to provide me with the evidence of how and where architecture does this. I m very pleased to join you for the launch of the 2014 Sydney Architecture Festival. I look forward to hearing reports on its success and wish you a great week of events. Page 10 of 11