Formalizing the space comes from the inner knowing of what collectively is acceptable to all visitors, users and staffed personnel. For instance, somewhat adulterated, the Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan had the original concept that it would reach 1776 feet high, the year the USA was established… after all the changes the building reaches 1776 feet high, everyone identifies with that, anywhere in the world , it precipitated form…. though the competition architect's original solution, not fully built, was so keen with vertical gardens.  Answering the question as to what Sydney's identity is, and might become, was catalyst to an idea fresh in the minds of the cyberspace users.

"Sydney's history began with the Aboriginal people who made their home along the shore for thousands of years. "
(Sydney History Link)

Cadigal people called Darling Harbour Tumbalong - meaning ‘the place where sea food is found’

What strikes one looking at an abbreviated history of the Darling Harbour area and environs, prior to 1788, a people lived and presumably prospered for millennia, then subsequently with outside influence began a revolution that culminated in recent history of the building of a convention center, now planning its demise and to tear down, or preferably dismantle, and build again.  The choice appears obvious, that one gain insights from an aboriginal population and ways of sustaining life with thoughtful living patterns, or continue on a path that has brought us 400 ppm (parts per million) CO2 emission levels & massive amounts of CH4, (methane) in the atmosphere, a species on the verge of earthling annihilation. What suits the best interests of future generations of Sydney inhabitants ? Could we moderns learn from walking the beaches the ancients walked and hear their inner wisdom?

Perhaps, the smells of the harbor, the sights before our very eyes, the tastes of an unpolluted sea, and the touch of the sand between our toes, spawn the promise of a good life, in a "darling" harbour, by the sacrosanct acts of design, building, and operation, as we plan of & for the immediate resource allocation from the City's treasures, to our left and to our right. We must reach deep, deep into our collective experience to pull from, and collaborate with, an idea that will not pass, or be torn down, or be forgotten in a mere generation, or century, or more, but build on the knowledge that gives breath to each, every waking and sleeping hour living as long as Earth may celestially spin. Let no man or woman dispute your boldness, creativity, or perseverance.

And so TEAM SIMSALABIM decided not to destroy a substantial Convention Center built in 1988, when the program called for demolition of existing structure, when really only an additional 2500 occupants are to be housed on the same site? TEAM SIMSALABIM decided not to go there, indeed their design bent over the lower 3 existing floors adding two levels above, with features for a Green Star rating of six (6). Clean modern lines of the final submission incorporated a Mobile Architectural Promenade (MAP) spanning over the highway A4. 

Now living in present, we should all take time to look at the past, before deciding what it is we need to build into the future. Our hope is that Sydney, looking to their final decisions builds for the benefit of the entire planet, and not just a few economic minded souls.
goo.gl/BMWMnI  

©103113 r
mcas