 |
| Barangaroo hotel complex turned luxury apartments and casino for the super rich |
The designs for James Packer’s Barangaroo
casino were unveiled on May 16th. It’s a massive skyscaper reaching 250 metres
in height, above the 170 metres approved from the site right on the harbour.
Wilkinson Architects said they wanted to link the ground – meaning the water –
and the sky. It will house a 350-room hotel with luxury apartments and gambling
floors on the highest levels. The development is awaiting permission from the
NSW government that would also require a Sydney casino license. Crown (the
developer) is quoted in a tv news story as saying they will take their work
with Wilkinson Architects elsewhere if this project does not go through.
Essentially they want to build another
“icon” tower on the harbour which rises immediately out of the harbour and
disproportionately higher than any other buildings around it. The building
looks like the main sail on a sailboat. According to the architects it is meant
to be three petals of a flower twirling upward. What does that have to do with
Sydney and its harbour? It does not fit in context of the space… considering it
is right next to the Sydney Fish Market, that is a single-storey warehouse
complex underneath a freeway.
An opinion piece in the Sydney Morning
Herald claims the 3 finalists, before the winner was unveiled all looked like
“Dubai-type towers that would dwarf the rest of” the area. James Packer is
quoted as saying it will be “the most iconic [building] since the Opera House.”
The writer asks if the developer thinks that Sydney-siders are idiots because
that is what this development is to the area, idiotic. It shows how the vision
of an icon tower clouds all understanding of the surroundings and the people
who will use this building and bring the money the developer is hoping to get
out of this. Keep an eye on the news for this. It should be interesting. Let’s
hope the NSW government has some sense.
Links to news articles:
Image:
No comments:
Post a Comment