An Open Letter to Sydney
An open letter to all creatives, collectors, curators, critics, conservationists, circularity champions, changemakers, construction companies, conscious consumers, cooperatives, cultural custodians, councils and citizens of the Commonwealth, whoever you are, wherever you are…
Dear Community (that’s probably enough alliteration for now):
An observation, a proposal and an appeal for your consideration:
AN OBSERVATION
Four interesting things took place right around the same time at the end of last year.
Touted as a ‘once-in-a-generation transformation’ and ‘the most significant cultural development in the city since the Sydney Opera House’, the Art Gallery of New South Wales opened its much-anticipated Sydney Modern Project to the public.
Design plans were unveiled for the proposed ‘renewal’ of the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo (although the full scope of the controversial project remains in question, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald).
It was also around this time that Sydney Living Museums restructured and rebranded as Museums of History NSW.
And finally, Planet Ark’s Australian Circular Economy (ACE) Hub held its inaugural Circularity conference in Sydney.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Sydney Modern project opened to the public on 3 December 2022.
Sydney Living Museums restructured and rebranded to become Museums of History NSW
Three museum headlines and a circular economy conference in the span of a few weeks. So what?
You might be wondering what the last event has to do with the other three. How does circularity relate to the expansion, ‘renewal’ or rebranding of a museum?
That is precisely the point of this letter.
The fact that the aforementioned events practically coincided with each other is interesting for at least two reasons. On one hand, one could argue that it paints a picture of a city brimming with environmental progressivism and a vibrant museum scene. On the other, one could argue that it paints a rather different picture. In any case, the coincidence of these events presents a unique opportunity for us to look at museums (all museums) through the lens of circularity.
The point is that these two themes (museums and circularity) need each other. I will even go so far as to say that as a civilisation we need these two things to need each other. That is, we ought to want them to be one in the same, at least in theory, instead of operating separately. We ought to encourage an alignment, a hybridisation, a synthesis of the ideals and missions of the groups of people associated with these themes.
I’m not suggesting that these two things are mutually exclusive. I’m not disputing whether or not we have some excellent museums in Sydney that promote sustainability or that we don’t already have numerous sustainably-minded organisations that are also supporters of the arts. We most certainly have both. Naturally, there are circularity proponents who are art and design lovers and vice versa in our midst.
What deserves closer inspection, however, is why our art museums and cultural and civic institutions are not the standard-bearers of the circular economy. When I view the aforementioned events together as a group, it’s not that I see incongruency, it’s just that I don’t see a level of interrelatedness that should be there. To me this is a microcosm of something bigger that I think is very much amiss with our institutions, which is that rarely do they properly address the relationship between our built environment and the natural environment despite being the ‘tip of the spear’, so to speak. That is, art museums, science museums, history museums, and the like, perhaps more so than any other entities, are notoriously responsible for bringing about what is considered iconic architecture.
That’s all good, but the question I have is this: When is such an institution going to finally produce an architectural icon that is as superlative in terms of circular design?
If our own arts & culture and civic institutions, many of which are publicly funded, are not going to lead the acceleration of our transition to a more circular economy, then who can we count on to do so?
Could a building as architecturally significant as the Sydney Opera House be designed and constructed using entirely reclaimed building materials?
A DESIGN PROPOSAL
In my ideal world, the circular design champions and the people behind the various museum projects mentioned would get together and combine forces.
I’m not sure exactly what such a conglomeration would look like in terms of human resources, but I do have an idea of what it would instigate in terms of material resources and what it would produce in terms of a physical building.
Imagine, for example, in some alternative universe this joint committee already existed. Then perhaps instead of the headlines we got in late 2022, we would’ve instead seen headlines announcing the opening of the new Sydney Circularity Museum (we can workshop the name later), ‘a daring display of diversion by design.’
If that were to happen, I would have no objection to it being described as ‘the most significant cultural development in the city since the Sydney Opera House’.
This is not to criticise the Sydney Modern Project. I personally think it’s a lovely building, and it is no doubt a ‘sustainable’ building by current standards; as the AGNSW website states, it is ‘the first public art museum in the nation to achieve the highest environmental standard for design with a 6-star Green Star design rating from the Green Building Council of Australia’.
Flowers that Bloom in the Cosmos (2022) by Yayoi Kusama on the Welcome Plaza at the AGNSW Sydney Modern
I applaud the renewable energy strategies and the retention and reuse of the existing structures on the site (the decommissioned WWII oil tanks), and I’m sure the materials specified are ‘low impact materials’ (although this should be the case on all building projects regardless of whether or not it is a necessary box to tick to achieve such ratings).
The elegant materials palette on the interior of the SAANA-designed Sydney Modern features rammed earth walls made of materials sourced from across New South Wales that give the light and airy space a grounded sense of warmth.
The AGNSW has set a high bar with the Sydney Modern. Nevertheless, I feel there is now an opportunity for another museum to come along and do something even better in terms of environmental impact.
I would like to see a new museum in Sydney that successfully combines art, design and history with circularity underpinning it all—a museum that seriously, demonstrably addresses the problem of chronic waste in the world. I’d like it to be not only a world-class work of architecture (this should be a given) but also one that truly embodies and exemplifies circular design principles, a museum that truly reflects a sensitivity to its environment and a connection to place and local history through its purposeful use of locally sourced existing materials. I’d like to see it constructed using methods that don’t rely on non-renewable resources.
In short, I’d like to see the design and construction of a museum that takes the ideas being discussed in circularity circles (pardon the pun) and applies them in the form of a building for the purpose of tangibly demonstrating what’s possible with reclaimed building materials.
There would be a lot of details to work out, to say the least, but a generic design brief for this hypothetical Zero-Waste Museum might be as follows:
The museum must be made using local construction and demolition ‘waste’ (materials that have been sourced and collected from construction and demolition sites and/or from local materials reclamation centres for the purpose of being reused, repurposed, upcycled, etc.). The museum shall have a gallery or series of galleries for the public exhibition of art and design made from ‘waste’. It shall house a new design and technical institute to conduct ongoing research and education dedicated to unlocking the potential for the reuse of existing building materials. It would also house a public marketplace dedicated exclusively to the exchange of reclaimed materials and goods made from reclaimed materials. The vision for the museum is that Its workshops, gallery, grounds and surrounding neighbourhood would become a destination for locals and domestic and international visitors—distinguishing our city, and Australia, as a global leader in waste reclamation innovation.
The time has come for us to abandon conventional, linear ways of building, and architects, designers, artists and, most importantly, museums and cultural institutions should take the lead. On top of that, Sydney should take the lead.
A SECONDARY PROPOSAL: A PRECINCT
In addition to the museum as envisioned above, I propose the development of a circular design precinct (the museum would presumably be the centrepiece of the precinct, but one would not necessarily have to precede the other).
I propose that this precinct put down roots in Alexandria in Sydney’s Inner South. I’m biased because that’s where I live, but it would also serve a practical purpose. It’s an ideal central location with an ideal building stock and in some cases ideal zoning for experimentation. It has good proximity to infrastructure and public transport that would make it easy to maximise participation (we would, after all, want to enable the efficient mobilisation of material resources, want as many people as possible to contribute to the cause and want as many people as possible to experience the results in person). The precinct could be home to a growing sustainable arts and circular design ‘village’ to enhance an already robust ecosystem of artists, architects, designers and makers in the Alexandria area. The precinct would enable artists and designers whose primary medium is reclaimed building materials to strategically interface with the broader community through curated programs and events.
I further propose that we dub this precinct the Alexandria Sustainable Arts Precinct (ASAP).
Conveniently, if Alexandria doesn’t pan out, we can substitute another suburb (Annandale, Arncliffe, Artarmon or Ashfield, anyone? All good options). For that matter, we could just make it a nationwide initiative and call it the Australian Sustainable Arts Precinct. Look at that. Still works. Whatever the case, let’s get ASAP on the map asap!
AN APPEAL
It’s encouraging to see a growing number of people in both the public and private sectors committed to moving us towards a more circular economy. Some of those people are bound to care about the arts and/or the built environment. Likewise, there are bound to be plenty of people working in property development and construction and in the arts and design professions who are passionate about circularity. These people – the ones sitting astride the overlapping of this Arts-Built Environment-Circularity Venn diagram – are the people I am speaking to.
If there is anyone out there who agrees with me on some level that we need not just a new museum but a new kind of museum—one with a specific focus on the relationship between art, the built environment, history and waste—then let’s talk. Better yet, let’s not just talk about it, let’s make this happen.
Alternatively, if you feel that this appeal is misguided in some way, then let’s talk about that, too (I’m prepared to have my assumptions corrected).
And if you’d rather not talk to me about it, that’s totally fine, too. But please do talk about it, to someone. Talk to someone you know who cares deeply about the environment. Talk to someone you know who loves art. Talk to someone who makes art. Visit a local gallery or museum. Talk to architects and design professionals. Talk to builders. Visit your local reclamation centre or salvage yard. Talk to your local council. Talk to your neighbours.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, well, there is no conclusion. There are no ends in nature, only new beginnings. Let’s design and build accordingly. Let’s respect building materials accordingly.
The challenge, for those who choose to accept it:
A challenge to the building industry to rethink its use of materials
A challenge to planning authorities and all levels of government to more strongly incentivise development and redevelopment that mitigates Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste while minimising any red tape that makes using reclaimed materials difficult
A challenge to architects and designers to get much more involved in the demolition process (we should really change the vocabulary in favour of something like ‘deconstruction’ or ‘disassembly’)
A challenge to all artists and makers, especially those already using building materials in some way, to create (or continue creating) art that isn’t wasteful
A challenge to all art institutions, galleries, curators and collectors to promote and purchase art that isn’t wasteful
A challenge to the general public to demand change in the areas listed above
Can a city have too many museums? I don’t think so. Obviously I think Sydney could use another one, especially if it’s a purpose-driven museum designed to spur innovation at the intersection of industry and the arts in order to raise awareness and reduce waste in a meaningful way.
If you’ve read this far, thank you for indulging my unapologetic pontification.
Sincerely,
Andy
