NSW: Art museum launches $50m redevelopment

AAP General News (Australia)
12-10-2008
NSW: Art museum launches $50m redevelopment

By Karen Davis

SYDNEY, Dec 10 AAP - Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is to undergo a boxy
$50 million redevelopment.

The redevelopment includes a refurbishment of the existing building at Circular Quay
and a six-storey extension at the northern end, already dubbed the Rubik's Cube for its
modular design.

The wing, to be built on the current carpark, bears a resemblance to the twisted blocks
of the 80's puzzle.

Featuring galleries, education rooms, a restaurant, rooftop cafe and sculpture garden,
commercial tenancies and function spaces, the extension will alleviate space and accessibility
constraints at the existing building.

It will also directly link Circular Quay to George St.

MCA director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor said $27 million of the total cost had been raised
and work on the redevelopment would start in mid-2009, depending on the rest of the funding
being raised.

She said fundraising efforts would continue and funding would be sought from the federal
government.

The project would be completed in 2011.

Ms Macgregor said the modern look of the extension, next to the sandstone of the Maritime
Services Board building, was always going to generate controversy.

"Anything modern, whether its art or architecture, is fantastic for generating debate," she said.

"I think that's the exciting thing about modern architecture."

She said she thought the Rubik's Cube was reference was apt.

"It's a puzzle you want to solve and that's kind of like contemporary art," she said.

Sydney architect Sam Marshall created the plans, saying they respected the architecture
of the existing art deco building which has housed the museum since 1991, while reflecting
the contemporary nature of the institution.

"Materials and the earthen tones chosen for the exterior finishes reflect the land
on which the building stands and its rich history of Indigenous and European inhabitants,"

Mr Marshall said.

"Central to our approach has been the use of honest building materials, whereby all
external renderings have been selected for their functional purpose rather than for purely
aesthetic reasons."

The plans are up for public view on the NSW Department of Planning website.

AAP kd/hn/jfm/de

KEYWORD: MCA (PIX AVAILABLE)

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