Museum

<html><body>
GUEST OBSERVATION
The Australian Institute of Architects (the Institute) welcomes NSW Labor’s announcement of support for retaining the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo (pictured above) while maintaining a commitment to build a world-class cultural institution at Parramatta.
With Western Sydney’s growing population already exceeding two million, the case for a new MAAS facility in Parramatta is overwhelming and the Institute continues to support its development. But to downgrade the Ultimo Powerhouse is to short-change Sydney.
The Institute recently endorsed the design competition developed for the new MAAS in Parramatta. In doing so, the AIA has endorsed a competition process, not a policy.
"Regardless of who is in government after the upcoming election, we would like to see a MAAS Parramatta facility go ahead, beginning with an exemplary design excellence competition and resulting in a built outcome that delivers ongoing value and benefit for the community and for Western Sydney’s architectural culture," explained NSW Chapter President Mr Andrew Nimmo.
"And we want to see Australia’s world class architects demonstrating their skills on an international stage."
"But the facility should complement the Ultimo Powerhouse, not replace it," Mr Nimmo continued.
"The latter contributes to a cultural ribbon that stretches from Central Station to the converted 19th century goods line, weaving by highlights including the ABC and Frank Gehry’s Dr Chau Chak Wing building. The Powerhouse building’s form, its history and its siting within this publicly valuable precinct is integral to the social, cultural, technological and economic story of Sydney."
There is also the issue of the Ultimo Powerhouse’s high architectural value, which should be celebrated and retained.
The adaptive reuse of the building in 1988 won the Australian Institute of Architects NSW chapter's highest honour, the Sulman Medal, and it has earned listing on the Institute's own Register of Significant Buildings.
To this end the Institute recommends the government grant the Powerhouse Museum the heritage listing and protections that it deserves as a matter of priority.
"We need to ensure the integrity of the building itself is maintained in any adaption or upgrade works," Mr Nimmo concluded.
</body></html>

j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Sydney and Parramatta both need a Museum of Applied Arts and Science: AIA

<html><body>
The University of Technology Sydney is reportedly in talks with the NSW government to buy the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney's Ultimo as it looks at ways to expand its campus.
UTS and the government have not confirmed if the university has lodged an unsolicited proposal to buy the museum, but the Australian Financial Review cited sources as saying that the two parties were in negotiations.
The lecture theatre at the museum is already being used by the university for  classes as its main campus Building Two undergoes an upgrade. 
The university is keen on the site as it is less than a kilometre from its campus, either for expansion or for student accommodation, university sources told the AFR.
A university spokesman declined comment on the talks but said "the university is deeply involved in advancing the Ultimo precinct, already Sydney's creative digital technology hub". 
The precinct had the highest density of tech start-ups in Australia, he said. 
The NSW government first announced plans to sell off the Ultimo site of the Powerhouse Museum, part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, in 2105 and use the money to fund a new museum in western Sydney. 
The future use of the site has been met in controversy since the announcement.
Philip Thalis, architecture faculty industry advisory group member at University of Newcastle, had called the decision a mishmash of wedge politics and bad policy.
Earlier this month, NSW arts minister Don Harwin said the Ultimo site could remain a "cultural space" but would not reveal plans for the site. 
This is not the first time the NSW government has entertained unsolicited public proposals for public assets. Macquarie Group's unsolicited bid for the Martin Place redevelopment beat Dexus to the deal. 
A private developer has said a private sale without a public tender would not recover the best value for the state.
</body></html>

jonathanchancellor-7SQnKwU6yx

UTS, NSW government in talks for Powerhouse Museum in Sydney's Ultimo

<html><body>
“To me, this building is outstanding for the way it melds the different epochs of Germany.”
For Konstantin Kortmann, head of Residential Investment at JLL Germany, Frankfurt’s Städel Museum shows how an act of citizenship centuries ago can create something which is still valuable and relevant to a modern city.
Back in the 19th-century, banker Johann Städel dedicated his fortune and sizeable art collection to founding an institute that would educate the people of his city about art. Originally housed in Städel’s own home after his death in 1815, the artworks were eventually given their own space – in the Städel Museum, constructed in 1880 on the banks of the River Main.
Having survived two wars, a year’s closure and a bombing, today, it is Germany’s oldest museum foundation – and with two major extensions in 1990 and 2012, it is also an architectural ode to eras past.
“You can see its history as you walk around the building,” Kortmann says. At its main entrance, the Städel is the classical 19th-century construction with a grand stone facade buttressed by stately columns. Along the Holbeinstrasse end is its minimal, white 1990s extension with few, high-set windows. By these expansive walls lies the great lawn of the Städel, studded with over 30 circular panes of glass – skylights into the subterranean gallery housing modern art and photography, completed in 2015 to commemorate the museum’s 200th anniversary.
Built to preserve
Inside the building, which houses European collections from the 14th century onwards, the effect can be equally striking. “Take the original wing, you have the feel of the 19thcentury – marble stairs and columns, wood floors and colourful walls with golden-framed paintings from the Impressionisists and Italian classicists,” Kortmann says.
Yet much like with art itself, opinion on the interior design remains divided. “Some say the interior has not matched what is promised from the outside, because the architecture is a bit undecided,” Kortmann says. “But it has been an intelligent way to use existing stock to create more space – and without losing the museum’s heritage.”
Instead of demolishing existing features to make room for the new, each extension to the Städel was built to accommodate what was already there. “The concept for its expansions has been focused on preservation. Take the modern wing – by digging into the earth to create the gallery, the soil above can be used as a natural insulator to keep heating costs down,” Kortmann says. “Because the land was disturbed as little as possible, it can also continue to absorb rainwater, reducing the possibility of the riverbanks flooding.”
Shaping a modern landmark
The people responsible for the building have left an enduring legacy for modern day Frankfurt. “The Städel has been led by many visionary museum directors, one of whom was [eventual Director-General of Frankfurt museums] Georg Swarzenski, the first large-scale buyer of the French impressionist artists,” Kortmann says.
Swarzenski, who was of Jewish background, fled Germany in 1938 as the country, under the National Socialists,started the persecution of its Jewish population.. In this period, 77 of the museum’s paintings were classified as “degenerate art” and confiscated, and by 1939, a greater part of the collection had to be evacuated. In 1943 the museum closed; a year later, it was partially destroyed by bombs.
For the Städel, the end of the Second World War was followed by nearly 20 years of reconstruction and rebuilding the collection. “US forces, the famous monument men, also returned many of the paintings that had been taken from murdered or expelled citizens. Some of the paintings that had to be sold under Nazi regime were re-acquired and in addition to the remaining stock these were used to start a post-war education exhibition within the museum,” Kortmann explains.
In 1984, a civic cultural initiative started to turn the riverbanks of the Main into Frankfurt’s famous “Musumsufer” (‘riverbank of the museums’), which nowadays comprises 12 museums. The Städel museum decided to follow Johann Städel’s original directive – to provide access to art for all. As the Städel grew in prominence, a park was created around it, and the Museumsufer’s rundown buildings were converted into cultural destinations – the German Film Museum, Architectural Museum and Jewish Museum, among others.
“The Städel has regenerated a whole area,” Kortmann says. “It’s the nucleus for the ‘Museumsufer, and its story is the story of the whole of Germany.”
This article by Natasha Stokes appeared on <a href="https://www.jllrealviews.com/viewpoint/the-german-building-that-brings-a-legacy-to-life/" target="_blank">JLL Real Views</a>
</body></html>

Museum

Editor's Picks

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News

Museum

Editor's Picks

Receive the latest news stories to your inbox

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News