Aqueous landscape

Sydney is one of the world’s great harbour cities. The 320-kilometre harbour foreshore enfolds an array of broad bays and deep inlets across a diverse range of natural and developed landscapes. The exposed cliffs, raw coastline and dense bush landscape of the ocean entrance and outer harbour give way to a sequence of protected beaches and intimate waterfront pathways along the harbour’s edge. The network of bays and inlets is marked with distinctive landscapes, both natural and constructed, which collectively give Sydney’s waterfront public spaces a unique character. Fifty per cent of the Sydney Harbour foreshore has been reconstructed as part of urban development. This collection of drawings, photographs and film explores the nuances of this constructed edge, showing how the foreshore operates and where it has been reshaped, reclaimed, and restored in different ways in different places and through different projects. The places included in this exhibition range broadly from ancient sites of Aboriginal habitation through to large-scale new developments. The visibility of these places and projects varies. Some require careful observation to detect, while others demand attention. The prevailing language of these constructed waterfront spaces is restrained, contextual, and attentive to diverse community use. Together, these places reveal a unique and intrinsic Sydney character and, importantly, a sustained and coherent commitment to publicly accessible foreshore so that all the people of Sydney can share and enjoy the waterfront.