Unknown — Tom Oliver Payne | Writing on Place Identity and Cities

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‘The Pause Before’. A short photo study I’ve been doing along Parramatta Road. Once Sydney’s major commercial spine, the corridor carries small traces of its earlier lives. - An inter-war cinema, turned ice rink and now dilapidated. - Faded KB Lager and Tooth’s beer signs show the time when the road housed pubs and retailers for the busy foot traffic below. - Victorian terraces which had upper floors home to some of Sydney’s most prominent. It’s easy to drive through Parramatta Road and only notice its derelict character, but looking closely it holds incredible stories about how Sydney has changed. ______________________ #Parramattaroad #Sydney

This view’s been photographed before. Famously, Dupain in the 60s. He captured Sydney becoming a world city. The building is still iconic. Seidler, the architect, knew how to frame its views from the ground, helping to make it so memorable. _____________ . . . . . _____________ #sydneyarchitecture #maxdupain #harryseidler

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I don’t always love large sculptural public art pieces. Too often they feel out of place. But Interloop by @studiochrisfox at Wynyard gets it right. It speaks to its context and tells a story of the place. Made from the station’s original 1950s escalators, it loops past journeys back into the present. I love walking under it. One of Australia’s best. _____________ . . . . . _____________ #publicart #interloop #chrisfox #sydney

The old Sydney Water Head Office beneath the Greenland Centre. _____________ . . . . . _____________ #artdeco #sydney

The best time of year in Sydney.

In Portugal, Milan and on the Med in Sicily in October. I forgot how beautiful this part of the world is in Autumn. And as much as I love Australia, I always forget how beautiful old European architecture is. The ornament and detail makes for interesting places. Every street and building tells a story. We seemed to have lost the care and craftsmanship in creating places that we once had. It’s no wonder millions of people travel to older pre war cities to simply ‘walk around’. Awesome seeing the dudes @jonnycazzola @chriskeenan @samdjackson and cruising about each day with @merrydeath .

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