Hyde Park Barracks

Hyde Parks Barracks Museum is now part of the Sydney Living Museums group.

Originally built by early convicts in 1817-19, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site right in the middle of Sydney.

My Top 10 Sydney says:

In Francis Greenway's historic building, this museum uses objects, soundscapes and testimonies to recreate the lives of convicts in early Sydney. Learn about their crimes, their difficult voyage from England and their building of the colony. Then have a look at the dormitory hammocks.

Inspired. Vain. Delusional. No single epithet adequately describes Francis Howard Greenway. In 1809 Greenway...was sentenced to 14 years in the colony. Soon after his arrival in 1814, Governor Macquarie realised that Greenway's architectural talent was equal to his own Enlightenment aspirations, and in 1816 he appointed Greenway as Colonial Architect and Assistant Engineer. Starting with macquarie Lighthouse on South Head, Greenway and Governor and Mrs Macquarie set about transforming Sydney's civic landscape.

Conservation work began on the building in 1979.

It was eventually reopened to the public in 1984.

Various layers of the old building have been left exposed (above).

While some of the artifacts found underneath the floorboards have been put onto permanent display (below).

The Barracks were used by various Government departments and as a Courthouse from 1887 - 1979.

It was an Immigration and Asylum Barrack from 1848- 1886.

And from 1819 - 1848 it was a Barrack for the convicts.

The musuem is designed to to highlight these three distinct eras.

The bottom floor focuses on the history of Sydney and the building & its renovation.

I loved this panorama of early Sydney on the ground floor.

A 360° view painted by Major James Taylor from Observatory Hill around 1821.

It featured a way of life and landmarks no longer in existence. I loved seeing my suburb (Balmain) in all its former leafy glory.

Double click on this image to see it properly.

The middle floor features displays from the Immigration period.

The renovation stripped back the walls, floors and ceilings to the conditions of the time.

Whilst the top floor highlights the times and conditions experienced by the convicts.

Over 50 000 convicts were housed in the Barracks.

A room of convict silhouettes was slightly creepy, but a great photographic opportunity!

I also had lots of fun photographing the hammocks.

Outside the barracks were several buildings housing bakeries, stores, offices and the solitary confinement cells. The walls of the batrrcks were lit up beautifully on the day I visited, by the late autumnal sunshine.

I found it extraordinary to think that these poky little rooms were used as court rooms up until 1979.

Incorporated into the wall nearest Hyde Park is this Monument to the Great Irish Famine.

In honour of the large number of young Irish lasses who emigrated to Australia during the famine years (1845-1848), 420 names were selected to be etched into the glass.

The solitary confinement cells have now been converted into a cafe restaurant.

A lovely way to end a visit!

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot

Harry Seidler: Painting Toward Architecture

Life has been crazy, busy lately & I'm having trouble finding the time for some of my favourite memes.
Fortunately I found some time last night to put this post together.

Hopefully, I will have some time on Monday night to visit all my fellow Saturday Snapshotter's blogs.
Until then, Happy Valentine's Day one and all!
I hope your day is filled with love and kindness in all it's various forms!

I visited the Museum of Sydney again recently to see the Harry Seidler exhibition.

Harry Seidler (1923 - 2006) designed and built many iconic Sydney homes and buildings - many of them quite controversial to this day.

This exhibition displays many of his widow, Penelope's personal collection for the first time.

They include journals, artwork, sketches, letters and movies.

You may remember Penelope from last year's Archibald Prize as her protrait won first place.

I often find his houses too boxy for my liking, but I loved that Penelope made embroidery designs of some of them.

The whole exhibition had a very 60's/70's feel to it.

The Blues Point Tower is one of the more controversial designs.

I pass it every time I travel by ferry into Circular Quay & each time I'm amazed that such a huge, boxy tower was allowed to be built in such a prime area blocking views - standing out like a sore thumb.

I loved the diorama's...

 

...the architectural lessons and all the Sydney history.

And on the way home, just to prove a point...a few pics of the controversial Blues Point Tower!

The exhibition closes on the 8th March, 2015.

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot.

Museum of Sydney

The Museum of Sydney (MOS) is built on the site of the first Government House built by Governor Arthur Phillip in 1788.

It was officially opened in 1995 after years of debate, community consultation & protest.

To see some photos & sketches of the first Government House click through to the MOS page here.

I had my first visit soon after it opened to see what all the fuss was about.

At the time I was particularly impressed by the glass floor in the foyer that displayed the foundations of the first Government House.

Subsequent visits have revealed all sorts of curiosities from early botanical drawings, to thousands of photos taken during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to wild Rhino's & to collages created for a children's picture book.

My most recent visit was to see the Harry Seidler: Painting Toward Architecture exhibition (photos & story to appear in the next few weeks).

One of the things I learnt from this visit is that the unusual markings on the forecourt area actually mean something!

From one of the upper windows you can clearly see the white granite pavers that mark the outlines of extensions made to the original Government House.

The first nine governors of NSW lived & worked from here. 

Many extensions and renovations were completed during this time.

The steel studs mark the outline of the original home that Governor Phillip lived in.

 

The raised paver reveals part of the house's early footings.

 

An installation of poles stands out the front of the MOS.

Titled 'Edge of the Trees' (Janet Lawrence & Fiona Foley) it represents the trees that the Gadigal people watched the arrival of the First Fleet from. To complete the symbolism from this first encounter, language, materials and layers of memory have been embedded into the 'trees'.

My DK Top 10 of Sydney has this to say about MOS,

This stunning museum occupies the site of Australia's first Government House, a prefaricated structure that was shipped over the First Fleet in 1788. That structure was demolished in1846, but some of its original footings are still visible through glass panels set into the floor. The museum places the history of white settlement against the Aboriginal custodianship of the land. The museums'd plaza features Edge of the Trees, an installation and soundscape which explores Aboriginal history and culture.

The 31st August 2014 marked the bicentenary of Governor Phillip's death.

The day was commemorated with the installation of this bust into the forecourt of the MOS.

Sculpted in bronze by Jean Hill in 1952, this memorial bust was originally housed in the Museum of Contemporary Art.

One of the events I was fortunate enough to experience at the MOS was the launch of Jeanie Baker's latest picture book, Mirror in 2010. It was officially opened by Dame Marie Bashir, Governor of NSW. 

Bashir is a truly inspirational woman. 

Over the years she has advocated for adolescent mental health, early childhood servies and Indigenous & migrant health issues.

She recently retired, as the longest serving state Governor, after 13 years of serving the public interest.

I'm thrilled to have had a night in her company, checking out Baker's collages (below).

The MOS is one of the Sydney Living Museums.

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot.