This is the approach to the Sydney Opera House last night.
The temporary structures on the right are for the “stage” which takes over the forecourt for much of the summer. If an event is actually on the obstruction will be even greater, assisted by black-screened “no peeping” barriers erected to preserve the commercial advantage of those running whatever event it is.
Tonight, nothing was on, but the entire forecourt was still fenced off. A sign announced that this was for safety because of the construction involved.
The approach continued. People had to negotiate a kind of fencing maze to get to the front steps.
Note the area in the middle distance of this shot, to the right of the gent with the white t-shirt and jeans fiddling with his phone. We’ll get back to that.
Meanwhile, here are the men keeping it safe and the scattered objects about the stage from which we need to be protected:
As you negotiate the maze, look more closely at the fenced off area, previously spotted in the middle distance:
That’s right, a fenced off area devoted entirely to fencing off….
….fencing.
Tags: alienation of public space, Louise Herron, overkill, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Opera House commercialisation, vandalism
February 17, 2019 at 1:40 pm |
Safety first. We can never be too careful. How much commercialisation of public space should be allowed?
February 17, 2019 at 7:50 pm |
More like: they couldn’t be arsed restoring the (world heritage listed) public space to the use for which it was designed.
Meanwhile, on the upper podium level concert- and opera/ballet- goers are corralled into unnecessarily tiny outdoor spaces, similarly subverting the original design and its connections between outdoor and indoor spaces. What happened to our wide brown land?
The open space between the two shells is now a total no go area to people in either venue: last night I saw the house manager rushing out to shepherd back into the hall a few concertgoers who had unwittingly taken the door out into that area to take in the atmosphere and the air.
There are guards aplenty and it’s not a discernible safety issue at all.
February 18, 2019 at 5:20 am |
I live in the Blue Mountains now, so going to the ‘Hopera House’, as we sometimes call it, is a big deal. So, every year or two I am there, with my sister or a friend, meeting near Customs house, often with light luggage, a small security nightmare too ! It has been a never-ending dig up and disarray zone every time, so tedious. I was recalling the opening day, I was there, with friends, we all just sat and watched it all unfold. So far away, that 20th century dreaming.