Sydney E-Book

Yvonne Shafir

• Herausgeber: Parkstone International
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 36

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Sydney Bay was discovered by European explorers in 1770. Populated at first by colonial convicts and their guards, the city today accounts for one fifth of the entire population of Australia. Renowned for its Opera House, it presents an ultramodern vista to the tourists’ gaze. Sydney Harbour Bridge - one of the longest bridges in the world - and the immense high-rise buildings that sore skywards both astound and fascinate. At the same time the great city is truly cosmopolitan, incorporating a celebrated Chinatown and even more prominently an Aboriginal area in which the colourful way of life of these first Australians is plainly to be seen.

Leseprobe

SYDNEY

Publishing Director: Jean-Paul Manzo

Text: Yvonne Shafir

Design and layout: Newton Harris Design Partnership

Cover and jacket: Cédric Pontes

Publishing assistants: Paula von Chmara, Aurélia Hardy

Photograph credits: Klaus H. Carl; Australian Tourist Commission; Sigrid Wolf-Feix; Monika Mager

© 2024, Confidential Concepts, Worldwide, USA

© 2024, Parkstone Press USA, New York

© Image-Barwww.image-bar.com

All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or adapted without the permission of the copyright holder, throughout the world.

Unless otherwise specified, copyright on the works reproduced lies with the respective photographers. Despite intensive research, it has not always been possible to establish copyright ownership. Where this is the case, we would appreciate notification.

ISBN: 979-8-89405-034-8

Contents

Sydney at the Turn of the Millenium

The Central Business District

The Domain

Chinatown and Darling Harbour

The Rocks and Circular Quay

Darlinghurst and Surry Hills

Kings Cross

Paddington

Beyond Sydney

List of pictures

Sydney at the Turn of the Millenium

From her lowly beginnings as a convict settlement in the late eighteenth century, Sydney is soaring into the new millennium as one of the world’s most stylish and cosmopolitan cities. No longer bound by her geographical isolation, the premier state’s (as New South Wales is called) premier city is host to the Olympic Games in the year 2000, and is one of the hottest international travel destinations. Yet Sydneysiders, who modestly proclaim their home as “the best address on earth” have long appreciated the city’s infinite pleasures: the sun and surf; the café culture and fine cuisine; the cultural treasures – both colonial and contemporary; the multicultural mélange, and the decadent nightlife.

From a visual perspective, with the breathtaking scenery of its harbour, cliffs and beaches, and ample parks and gardens, Sydney is the most picturesque (dare we say ‘operatic’) of urban environments. The city itself however is not an exemplary model of urban planning, with many streets simply tracing the colonial bullock paths upwards from the harbour. As a result, a haphazard group of neighbourhoods with distinct personalities – including Chinatown, Darlingurst, the Rocks, Kings Cross – are wedged together around the city centre albeit interspersed with large expanses of greenery, such as the Domain and vast concrete pedestrian malls like those at Darling Harbour. Fine examples of Georgian and Victorian architecture abound, from the great bastions of civic power in the central business district and Macquarie Street to the famed terrace houses of Paddington. Beyond the city centre lie chic residential neighbourhoods and the natural wonders of sea and sand – most notably Bondi and Manly beaches – which are as much a part of Sydney’s iconography as the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

The Central Business District

From a distance, the imposing skyline of Sydney’s central business district, known as CBD, would seem to confirm the city’s claim (hotly disputed by its historical rival, Melbourne!) of being the business capital of Australia. The claim to commercial precedence is not however reflected in the district’s girth, a relatively small area bounded by Circular Quay to the north, Chinatown to the south, Darling Harbour to the west, and on the eastern periphery by the green expanse extending from the Domain to Hyde Park.

1.Sydney CBD

2.Archibald Fountain (1932) in Hyde Park by French sculptor F. Sicard features motifs from Greek mythology.

3.Sydney’s famed sunlight creates gorgeous reflections in the glass façades of city buildings

4.A view of Sydney Cove

5.View of the city from Bennelong Point, site of the Sydney Opera House

6.Hyde Park

Hyde Park, named after its London predecessor, originally marked the outskirts of the township. Today it forms a leisurely breach in the city’s commercial tide, with its handsome public art and luxurious lawns.

Alongside is the city’ s central hub, a compact grid dissected horizontally by pedestrian malls and vertically overshadowed by modern towers such as the elegant Chifley Square. From close-by, the citadel of steel and glass is tempered by buildings which, while smaller in scale, emanate a poetic grandeur.