Top Student Presentations
Cockatoo Island - The cultural transformation of a world heritage site
Studio Master: Rob Brown
2012 l ARCH 7201 Research Studio
2012 l ARCH 7202 Graduation Studio
UNSW Masters of Architecture Programme Architecture + Design
Studio Master: Rob Brown
2012 l ARCH 7201 Research Studio
2012 l ARCH 7202 Graduation Studio
UNSW Masters of Architecture Programme Architecture + Design
Student work
Camilla Persson
Camilla Persson
Manus Leung
Australian Institute of Architects NSW Student Design Medal (Joint Winner)
Jury Citation
The jury was impressed by Manus Leung’s alternative theatre, which deftly engages temporal metaphor and sensitive adaptation, to re-present aspects of Cockatoo Island’s fabric.
This evocative presentation transformed Cockatoo Island’s robust harbour topography and familiar industrial fabric into a dramatic and grounded yet ephemeral performing arts stage. The familiar industrial/arts transformation is offered a fresh interpretation via Leung’s sensitive insertion of an elegant new circular form suspended delicately above the chasm of the Sutherland dock.
The concentric layers of the new spatial rotunda assemble spectators; actors and storytellers alike suspended above water and nestled amidst the robust adjacent rectilinear warehouses transformed respectively into front and back of house. The hovering rotunda echoes the suspension of disbelief inherent in the contract between audience and actor, as the eternal circular horizon of the theatre; suspended, exposed and harbourside- beautifully delivers drama from the outset.
