NAIDOC Week | King and Phillip

King and Phillip

Gadigal Land at Warrane Cadigal/Eora Sydney

The site lies within one of Sydney's most important heritage precincts consisting of St Jame's Church, the old and new Supreme Court and Hyde Park Barracks. It was important when designing this building that it relate not only to its post settlement history but acknowledged the land on which it sits and the catastrophic changes these colonial institutions caused the First Nations people. The design of the building itself embraces the concept of Country and the Australian flora and organic architectural forms. More importantly was the work fjmtstudio undertook with Jake Nash, the First Nations artist who produced Eora, a piece about reconciliation, healing and a joining of two nations to face the future in harmony.

"Equally important is to acknowledge at the edge of this remarkable colonial heritage precinct, is not only the pre-european Aboriginal presence and imprint on this place, but also the importance of the Aboriginal community in the making of the colonial city of Sydney” -

-fjmtstudio concept design

The presence of a looser fluid and organic architecture, connects with nature, the native flora, the craft and life and the canoes of the Eora. We recognise the importance of Aboriginal figures such as Bungaree and Pemulwuy, alongside Macqaurie and Greenway in the cultural story of colonial Sydney. This interpretation takes the form of an organic fluid and softer architectural layer behind the strict composition and geometry of colonial architecture. A free layer of wood and fabric weave behind the trabeated elements. This interpretation extends to the detail, form and materials reflected in this deep cultural layer. It also conveys a contemporary affinity for the natural and organic, located on the edge of Sydney's greatest city park. This affinity continues through the integrated artwork and collaboration with Aboriginal artists in the architecture.

The extraordinary timber vaulted ceilings are clad in leaf-life timber panels, connecting in an abstract way with a natural landscape and a sense of Country. The timber panels are jointed and ribbed in a radial form like the vein patterns in Eucalyptus leaves. The organic shapes contrast the more geometrical forms of the classical proportions of the Supreme Court and St Jame's Church in this important colonial heritage precinct.

“We cannot change the past, but we can acknowledge it, and make decisions and gestures that allow us to revise our history and share it with all people, placing the truth at the centre of our nation’s narrative for the future.” - Jake Nash

Changing the colonial narrative

Facing the Unesco listed Hyde Park Barracks precinct in Sydney, this important work is an initial step in changing the narrative of colonial Sydney. Particularly within important historical sites, a narrative which reveals Country, and continuous occupation, should be carefully intertwined to change the paradigm of historic story telling.

Jake Nash's work is integrated into a private development at the edge of this precinct, 'at a point of intersection between the past, present and future'. Its site is prioritised to face the triangle of the Courts, the Barracks and St Jame's Church to 'tell a story of resilience, strength and spirit in a contemporary form that is timeless and can be passed down to generation upon generation into the future'.

Design Ideology - Artist Jake Nash

The King and Phillip site sits at the crossroads of the centre of the city, a point of intersection between the past, present and future. This is a site which sits on land that always was and always will be Eora land, but which now has many cultural narratives running across it surfaces that describe who we are as a contemporary, multi-cultural city. 

Surrounded by institutions that now govern our land, the Law Courts, The Church, which has in the past spiritually guided this city, along with the heritage listed Barracks, the site is bound by buildings that are greater than just the materials they are made from. They are buildings that both now and in the past, house a rule of white governance in this city and represent the very beginnings and formalisation 

These historical and site driven factors are what drive my design for King and Phillip site. We have an opportunity to change the narrative of this landscape and reclaim a very significant site which sits amongst the institutions which now hold the country together, and tell a story of resilience, strength and spirit in a contemporary form that is timeless and can be passed down to generation upon generation into the future - a message stick.

I want my design to stand amongst the colonial building blocks of our contemporary society and remind everyone who passes it, that wherever they maybe travelling, we are all travelling together on the land of the Eora. I want ‘Eora’ to be a symbolic gesture of unity and acknowledgement, with a vision to the continued shared history we have in this country.

The distinctive marks I make, and Aboriginal people have always made, hold one thing in common, they are made by the hand and celebrate the natural world they are created in. For the 40,000 years of mark making that has happened in this country, the marks made were a reflection of the endless changing shapes that described the land and what lived upon it. Straight lines and flat surfaces didn’t exist. In ‘Eora’ I want to celebrate this visual language. I want the surfaces, the marks made, the line work used, to be filled with the spirit of the many thousands of people before me and not leave a surface untouched by the hand.

With this in mind, I do not want to fight against the wonderful architectural forms held within the King and Phillip building, but celebrate the remarkable fusion of two different worlds and design ideologies embracing each other. This has the possibility of creating something new, unseen and making a statement that Aboriginal design and organic shapes can exist in a considered raw form within the contemporary architectural forms of the city.

THE CIRCLE

In my design, the circle at the centre of the work, represents Eora country, the land we call home and acknowledges this extraordinary country, bound by sandstone that nurtures us all. It could also suggest the idea of the shelter, the campfire and the concept of inclusion. The void in the centre is a place of contemplation, where all of us, Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people, can reflect on the country we live on, and consider who we are and where we are travelling.

Together the two parts of the circle, the exterior and interior, speak about the spiritual and physical existence of each of us, who live in this city and who are nurtured by this Country. In an increasing busy city, the corner of King and Philip will become a place of solace, a contemporary church, born from the lore that will forever permeate this place.

SANDSTONE

Sandstone, apart from being the logical choice for ‘Eora’, as it speaks to the land we stand on, holds cultural importance and has been used in the construction of the many dwellings in Sydney that so define us; it allows me as an Aboriginal man to reclaim and reinterpret this material. I have the opportunity to pay homage to the architecture surrounding the site but at the same time reinterpret what can

be done with sandstone blocks, in a cultural context. I can reclaim the sandstone block from an Aboriginal perspective. The colonial sandstone blocks that redefined Eora life, I can now reclaim.

LIGHT

Light, design and narrative exist as one in ‘Eora’. The sandstone relief reflects the land we stand on and accordingly will change throughout the day responding to the available light and the shadows it casts. By night Eora will glow like the embers of a campfire and be reflected on the ground by the installation of a matching illuminating circle of light imbedded in the bluestone pavers. These mirrored light circles will serve as contemporary, nurturing campfire burning long into the night. Whatever the part of the day or night, the ever-present symbol of Eora, the circle, will always remain present and unmoved.

First Nations Collaborators

Emily McDaniel Independent Indigenous Curator (Venice Biennale, MCA] 

Jake Nash - Designer and Artist, Bangarra Dance Company, Sydney Festival 

Tamara Baillie - Shortlisted Artist 

Dale Harding - Shortlisted Artist

Photo Credit: Brett Boardman