The Dance of the Cranes – Barangaroo Development, Sydney

Guest post by Chris Haldane in Sydney.

Since the beginning of 2014, I’ve been really interested in documenting the huge 22 hectare Barangaroo development which is changing the face of Sydney’s central business district. It is named after an important indigenous woman of colonial New South Wales who was also the wife of Bennelong, after whom the site of the Sydney Opera House is named.

In my first sketch of International Towers Sydney in February 2014, I tried to capture the noise and energy of the site with its Lendlease cranes.

In August last year, Barangaroo South was a hive of activity, yet these massive pieces of machinery seemed so graceful and birdlike, I call my sketches “The Dance of the Cranes”.

In November 2014, from a park in Millers Point – now closed – I had a good view of Central Barangaroo and all the construction paraphernalia. Tower 2 was up to the 42nd floor. 

On Australia Day 2015, I drew from Darling Harbour with the Harbour Ballroom boat in the foreground. I just love the logos stenciled on the towers, which began as a way to track progress but have become a public calendar of significant events. Because Australia Day falls on 26 January, the corresponding floor of Tower 3 was plastered with a giant Australian and Aboriginal flag to celebrate our national day. 

February 2015 – Drawing Tower 1 from Napoleon St while the cranes and machinery hammered out their music around me. The triangular forms of the cranes really appealed to me. Note the Australia Day flags and two stencils painted on the tower to commemorate the 100th centenary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli. Another flag honors Australian cricketer Phil Hughes, who was fatally struck by a ball during a game at the Sydney Cricket Ground last year. The flag reads “63 not out” in reference to his final innings.

Drawn recently from the Maritime Museum. There are so many changes since I first started to draw this site in early 2014, but the cranes continue to intrigue me. It’s interesting to see how the glass reflects the surrounding building colours now that it’s in place. As the sun was beginning to set, the red floating lighthouse at the Maritime Museum provided such a lovely contrast in colour.

Last weekend I went back to where I drew from last November, to see the changes to Central Barangaroo. The gardens on Barangaroo Point are well established now and in the foreground there is row on row of individually crafted sandstone blocks, 10,000 in all, and all quarried onsite! Nawi Cove has also been created between Barangaroo Point Reserve and Central Barangaroo. The waterfront promenade has just been named Wulugul Walk. Wulugul is Aboriginal for kingfish, which have a golden band along their blue-green skin, similar to the foreshore walk’s golden sandstone lining the blue of the harbour.

It’s exciting watching the energy and scope of this development and it will certainly be high on the list of places to see for visitors to Sydney in the future! I look forward to documenting more of the site as various sections are opened to the public.

Chris Haldane is an avid member of USK Sydney. Some of her happiest sketching times are when she is surrounded by cranes overhead, on busy construction sites, or by the rusty wear and tear of industrial areas with stories to tell of the past. You can see more of her work on her Flickr sítio.