Jury citation
Sydney Modern at the Art Gallery of NSW is both simple and complex. From afar, it reads as a series of canted and warped pavilions that overlap and cascade from the original Walter Liberty Vernon sandstone monument down the hill toward the harbour. These simple rectangular forms complement the original building and its various additions, reframing the site as a campus of buildings connected by its garden setting and newly formed courtyard spaces.
As you move into and through the building, its spatial complexity and unconventionality become evident. Floors and ceilings swoop and fall, revealing views to the park and the harbour as well as other parts of the building. The journey is non-linear and invites the visitor to explore the spaces in between as well as the galleries themselves. The galleries are tall, wide and column-free, reading as individual boxes from inside and out. In between these boxes, public spaces serve as a means of orientation, albeit within dynamic angles and extraordinary volumes. Via a variety of lifts, escalators and stairs, the visitor finds their own way to the unforgettable Tank Room. Entered via a steel spiral stair, one has the impression of falling into the room.
Light, open and inviting, the Sydney Modern building masters the art of spatial complexity with calmness. It will no doubt get even better with time as it nestles into its extraordinary landscape setting.
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney Modern building is located in Sydney, New South Wales on Gadigal Country and was reviewed by Sandra Kaji-O’Grady in Architecture Australia March/April 2023.
Project credits
Architect: SANAA (lead consultant), Architectus (executive architect); Project team: Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, Yumiko Yamada, Asano Yagi, Soo Kim, Katagiri Hiroaki, Ray Brown, Stephen Long, Luke Johnson, Rodd Perey, John Jeffrey, John Whatmore, Lian Cronje, David Drinkwater, Manuela Silva, Vatsala Shahi, Tim Juckes, Samuel Morris, Adriana Alvarez, Sean Lacy, David Ho, Jonathan Dalbert, Anthony Kerr, Troy Cook, Nicholas Elias, Shawn Li, Andrew Chaplin, Hui Zhu, Hope Dryden, Lewis Jones, Jennifer Strilakos, Heba ElSaid; Builder: Richard Crookes Constructions; Structural engineer: Arup; Facade engineer: Surface Design; Landscape architect: McGregor Coxall and GGN; Acoustic, hydraulic, fire and civil engineer: Arup; Mechanical engineer: Steensen Varming; Building certification and accessibility: Group DLA.
