Exploring the Sydney Laneway - Angel Place

Forgotten Song at Angel Place is a creation by artist Michael Thomas Hill. The place has 186 birdcages and 10 speakers which play the songs of about 50 bird species. The birdcages were originally installed as a temporary exhibition, but now the birdcages are empty and the speakers are no longer play the songs, but still can remind us about the habitat loss. I came to the place not with a purpose, I was shocked when I discovered this place! The narrow street, tall building on the sides and the lonely birdcages there made me feel depressed. The bird cages are hung very high, if you pass the lane in a rush without look up, I think you are going to miss the birdcages. So when we observe a place or a city, we should always slow down our pace, we might get surprised by the detailed design of a place or a city.

Why reconnect nature and the city?

 "If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is Nature's way." - Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

Maynard Avenue, in Seattle's old Japanese neighbourhood, is a green street with cisterns, art, and landscape that draw on the area's culture and history.

Even the youngest community members can be involved in turning the medians into usable habitat.

There are several ways to reconnect nature and the city:

-Improve water quality 

(green stormwater infrastructure slows and filters rainwater, reduces erosion, and removes pollutants in the water that enters lakes, rivers and streams.

- Improve air quality 

(trees and plants )

- Reduce urban heat island effect 

(heat builds up in urban areas, where natural vegetation is replaced by buildings, roads, and other paved areas that absorb heat during the day, such as parking lots. Reintroducing green materials helps make a more comfortable urban environment for people and lowers energy consumption.)

- Improve habitat 

(Greening the city provides shelter and food for wildlife. Selecting the species of trees and plantings to be used in the right-of-way for their habitat value helps to support healthier urban ecosystems.)

- Improve well-being of people who live in the city 

(people connect with nature in the city: gardening, bird-watching, enjoying the local park bench.)

- Create economic benefits 

(people value living in green neighbourhoods with tree-lined streets. Studies show that people are willing to pay more for homes with trees.)

- Engage children, citizens, and decision makers 

(The more connected people are to the natural environment, the more they commit to keeping it healthy. As children are increasingly spending time with digital toys instead of outdoor play, environment education has taken on great importance.)

Sustainable Mobility, Sydney 2010

Problems:

• Low density city

• Lack of transport infrastructure for North-Western and South Western Sydney

Solutions:

There are two main projects of different scales. Firstly is the North-West and the South-West rail link which extend the rail system to the 'growth centres' on the city periphery. The second project is the installation and complete renovation of George street as a main artery through the city. The plan undertaken by the City of Sydney Council and proposed by Gehl architects will provide a strategic pedestrian focused connection from circular quay to Central Station with three new plazas along its length. 

City Observation: Railway Square (rainy days)

Sheds protect passengers from passing tunnels and waiting for a bus. Glass can let the light go though, so the sheds are not making the areas dark.

Urban Network Analysis from City Form Lab

This video introduces Urban Network Analysis concepts that are implemented in the City Form Lab's Urban Network Analysis Toolbox for ArcGIS. It demonstrates how new data and analysis approaches not only transform the way we think about cities in comparison to each other, but also improve our understanding of urban environments at the fine urban design scale.

New Models for Dense Living, Sydney 1910 - Strickland Building

PROBLEMS

• Rapid population growth, increase of urban density 

• Insufficient affordable housing stock for workers

SOLUTIONS

The City of Sydney council commissioned the Strickland Building in Chippendale in 1913 to house poor working-class families who worked at nearby warehouses and wharves. The mixed-use, solidly constructed building contains seventy-one apartments and eight shops over three storeys. It was reputed to be the densest housing project in Sydney and it is the first public housing in Australia. 

City Observation: Railway Square (night)

At night, glass can create some nice effects with lights. 

Lights to protect passengers to go up and down the stairs.

Elevator is nice and obvious to see at night.

Nights in the tunnel. I like the colour strips, the blurred effect showing a fast pace movement.

Redfern Terrace

Terrace houses can be found from a lot of areas in Sydney. Redfern has many terrace houses. They are tidily arranged, painted with different colours.In architecture and city planning, a terrace(d) house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls.

The term terrace was borrowed from garden terraces by British architects of the late Georgian period to describe streets of houses whose uniform fronts and uniform height created an ensemble that was more stylish than a "row". Townhouses (or townhomes) are generally two– to three-storey structures that share a wall with a neighbouring unit. 

Terraced housing in Australia ranged from expensive middle-class houses of three, four and five-storeys down to single-storey cottages in working-class suburbs. The most common building material used was brick, often covered with stucco.

Sydney Hospital

Sydney Hospital is the oldest hospital in Australia, dating back to 1788. It is located on Macquarie Street and has been at its current location since 1811.

Currently, Sydney Hospital has three buildings and a café or restaurant on the ground floor with large windows facing the courtyard.