File(s) under permanent embargo
An exhibit calculated to elevate and ennoble: celebration and suppression of natural landscape in nineteenth-century urban visions of Sydney
conference contribution
posted on 2023-05-23, 11:06 authored by Orr, KIn 1909 the Report of the Royal Commission for the Improvement of the City of Sydney and its Suburbs sadly concluded that the ‘irregular configuration of the foreshores of the harbour and the hilly character of the city’ made it impossible to achieve the sort of idealised, European-style city that Sydney’s elites had long been hoping for. The desire to impose symmetry and order was frustrated by the unruly charm of Sydney’s natural landscape.
This paper investigates panoramas of Sydney presented at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition and offers an explanation of their impact on later planning decisions. When Sydney hosted its international exhibition, the view from the top of one of the Garden Palace towers became an experience not to be missed.
In his essay, La Tour Eiffel, Roland Barthes explores the aerial panorama’s power to alter visual sensibilities and spatial perceptions. Barthes argues that there is a dialectical nature to the aerial panorama that distinguishes it from other forms of spectacle and makes it more profound. On the one hand the lofty outlook is a ‘euphoric vision’ that induces a blissful sensation as the eye slides passively over a complete and continuous image. On the other hand, the outlook activates an intellectual struggle of ‘decipherment’ in which the mind attempts to read and make sense of the transcendent space by identifying landmarks, recognising known sites and finding signs.
Likewise, the aerial panorama from the Garden Palace provided a new medium through which people oriented themselves to their urban milieu and the natural landscape. This paper reveals how the interplay of opposing urban and landscape forces foreshadowed Sydney’s late nineteenth-century planning decisions regarding the attainment of public institutions and the commercial development of the city and port.
This paper investigates panoramas of Sydney presented at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition and offers an explanation of their impact on later planning decisions. When Sydney hosted its international exhibition, the view from the top of one of the Garden Palace towers became an experience not to be missed.
In his essay, La Tour Eiffel, Roland Barthes explores the aerial panorama’s power to alter visual sensibilities and spatial perceptions. Barthes argues that there is a dialectical nature to the aerial panorama that distinguishes it from other forms of spectacle and makes it more profound. On the one hand the lofty outlook is a ‘euphoric vision’ that induces a blissful sensation as the eye slides passively over a complete and continuous image. On the other hand, the outlook activates an intellectual struggle of ‘decipherment’ in which the mind attempts to read and make sense of the transcendent space by identifying landmarks, recognising known sites and finding signs.
Likewise, the aerial panorama from the Garden Palace provided a new medium through which people oriented themselves to their urban milieu and the natural landscape. This paper reveals how the interplay of opposing urban and landscape forces foreshadowed Sydney’s late nineteenth-century planning decisions regarding the attainment of public institutions and the commercial development of the city and port.
History
Publication title
Panorama to Paradise: Scopic Regimes in Architectural and Urban History and Theory: XXIVth Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ)Editors
S Loo, K BartschPagination
1-13ISBN
9781920927554Department/School
School of Architecture and DesignPublisher
Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New ZealandPlace of publication
Adelaide, South AustraliaEvent title
XXIVth Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ)Event Venue
Adelaide, South AustraliaDate of Event (Start Date)
2007-09-21Date of Event (End Date)
2007-09-24Rights statement
Copyright the authorRepository Status
- Restricted