Green arts precinct: a world first

Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton envisage a thriving green arts precinct in the centre of the city with Walsh bay at its heart.

 “The burgeoning arts hub of Walsh Bay is perfectly placed to be the world’s first green arts precinct and the beating heart of a cultural area stretching all the way from Barangaroo through to the Sydney Opera House,” the pair said.

The duo spoke at the first “City Talks” of 2011 held at the Centennial Hall in Town Hall on March 8.

Mr Upton pointed to rival precincts in Melbourne and Brisbane as proof that Sydney was being far too complacent.

“Sydney has rested on her laurels a bit and it is beginning to show,” he said. “More importantly it is beginning to feel like that, when you walk along the rivers in either Melbourne or Brisbane there is a palpable pride in their precincts and an ambition, a looking forward, a promise of more, a search and a push.”

The artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company spruiked green innovation and the need to build a precinct organically rather than killing it with red tape and DA’s. The couple said that sustainability would be the foundation of change.

“Last year we made significant strides with our long-term ‘Greening The Wharf’ project including the installation of 1,906 state of the art photo-voltaic panels on the heritage-listed Wharf,” Ms Blanchett said. “It is the second largest rooftop solar installation in Australia and the biggest on a building in Sydney.”

From three-storey mechanical elephants battling puppet girls and a lesson in psycho-geography to T.S Eliot and the laments of the stagnation of a once vibrant live music scene, the speech was many-faceted but always returned to a central theme; the need for Sydney to take the opportunity presented by development at Barangaroo and the Walsh Bay wharves to create something truly unique.

Transport was also a key theme of the evening and MC Adam Spencer questioned whether he would see light rail in his lifetime. Ms Moore said she was hopeful that he would see it within the next few years.

“All of these important creative elements are reliant on better transport in the city centre -ideally a light rail service running from George Street to Walsh Bay, through Barangaroo and back to Central Railway and better walking and cycling links,” Ms Moore said.

Ms Blanchett and Mr Upton spoke before holding a panel discussion hosted by Mr Spencer and joined by Ms Moore, the director of Six Degrees Architects, Craig Allchin, Lisa Havilah, CEO of Carriageworks, and Rafael Bonachela, the artistic director of Sydney Dance Company.

The night was finished off with a performance of interpretive dance.