EXHIBITION: GLENN MURCUTT – ARCHITECTURE FOR PLACE

From a dashed out drawing, to the painstaking design process and eventual development in situ, this exhibition of one of Australia’s greatest architects, Glenn Murcutt, traces the journey of buildings that “touch the earth lightly,” and yet weigh heavily in our shared history. Awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2002, international architecture’s highest honour, Murcutt is famed for attuning his designs to their environment. He views his creations not as objects in the landscape, but rather instruments of. He speaks in sensations; listening, smelling, observing. Can this playful delicacy be adequately communicated in static re-representations in one of architectures most laden edifices, a museum? Every effort is made, with large, evocative photos by Anthony Browell, audio-visual presentations and initial sketches. But if that doesn’t satisfy you, the best idea might be to go see a Murcutt for yourself – like the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Art Centre near Nowra, the Magney House at Bingey Point or his piece de resistance, the Simpson Lee House at Mount Wilson in NSW.

Until Oct 5, Museum of Sydney, cnr Bridge & Phillip Sts, Sydney, $5-10, 9251 5988 or hht.net.au/museums/mos