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An exhibit calculated to elevate and ennoble: celebration and suppression of natural landscape in nineteenth-century urban visions of Sydney
Citation
Orr, K, An exhibit calculated to elevate and ennoble: celebration and suppression of natural landscape in nineteenth-century urban visions of Sydney, 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), 21-24 September 2007, Adelaide, South Australia, pp. 1-13. ISBN 9781920927554 (2007) [Refereed Conference Paper]
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Abstract
In 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.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Sydney International Exhibition, Roland Barthes, natural landscape |
| Research Division: | Built Environment and Design |
| Research Group: | Architecture |
| Research Field: | Architectural history, theory and criticism |
| Objective Division: | Culture and Society |
| Objective Group: | Understanding past societies |
| Objective Field: | Understanding Australia's past |
| UTAS Author: | Orr, K (Professor Kirsten Orr) |
| ID Code: | 107632 |
| Year Published: | 2007 |
| Deposited By: | Architecture |
| Deposited On: | 2016-03-21 |
| Last Modified: | 2016-04-13 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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