Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

SIR Da,id Muir (left) and Robin Gibson ... A couple of kids ready to show off their model choo-choo. Muppet-type trumpeters' balconies, and choir-boxes alongside and behind the stage. Robin Gibson, who is not known ror using pedestrian language, says 1hcy have approached the concert hall like a violin. Arter all, he says. a Stra• divarius is no1hing more lhan timber, space and a11cn1uated s1rings. and if you apply those principles to a concert hall, well . .. The Lyric Theatre. says the archi– tect, is intimacy. The concert hall is exhilaration. Then there's a quick nip through the studio theatre below (holding 200), the backstage accoutrements. the Green Room for the artists and the dressing rooms for the stars. "Sutherland will go in there," says Robin Gibson . "Just imagine her sweeping around here, then on to the stage." Upslairs, on the highest available level, Robin Gibson has designed an outdoor balcony where artists might cn1cr1 ain fomily and friends . It runs alocg 1h,· riverside like the deck of an ocean liner and would arguably be the best outdoor entertainment area in Brisbane. It could h Id 500 for a par• ty or barl::~cuc and once the politi- . ms. public servants and business in• ·; rests discol'er it, the artists will need to go for 1he jugular to keep ii. Dack in the concert hall. I remark on all the scaffolding reaching to the ceiling. Robin Gibson, still reluctant to lei a nice phrase go begging. replies: "It is at the transition point. It is like a young girl growing up. She may grow 10 be beautiful, but may need braces in between: We have plenty of braces here." Which means it will still be a while before the public sees the place. Ac– cording to Sir David, the schedule al– lows for cons1ruc1ion 10 be completed by la le 1983 or 1he first quarter of 1984. Then six months ror fit-out, testing acoustics and such-like. h should be completely operational on a commercial basis by the end of 1984 or the first quarter of 1985. The museum should be finished at Plcturr. MIKE MOORES the same time, and the library - the final stage of the Queensland Cullur• al Centre complex - will be finished towards the end of 1985 or early 1986. . I ask Sir David if the Performing Am Cenlre will cope with both halls open on the same evening. "No problems," he says "We'd stagger the opening times, of course, but we could have 4200 people in the place at one time - 2000 in each of the halls, 200 in the studio theatre. We could cater for 450 in the bistro. If it were Friday night, the Art Gal– lery and Museum would be open as well." He doesn't say it, but what he means is it would be a hot time in the old town tonight. As we make our way over the timbers, round the scaffolds, through the dust, astride the puddles, Sir Da– vid makes a final point. "The whole thing is creeping up on the public. They will be staggered." It's impossible to argue with a statement like that from a knight like this. I I