Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 9 : Construction of the cultural centre, 1977-1981

ATURDAV MAGAZINE ic, Queensland;s k of the river it is fin1sh~d, I ·,_, ~ . wills lie ' \'ery soft plaiidllp' all over the ddianed Ille southern mpfex to reaemblc an city. rl, on under a plaza rt Gallery with the <'l:ntrc, tlic roadway ive buildinp and two arks. ouiht in term• of Robin Gibson. "No uglit of tbil a1 just a of lluildh1• in isolatiqn. pe and an entrance to formatioe Pavilion, a ul,iauitoiil Vilitora' nlfy' ?rom around the nnecl their 0~ing 1he job of designing the x, Mr Oiblon had seen rseu, but he ha • been i nee to keep up with to put all one's cultural ··- • ARTIST'S lmpreuioa of - sectioe of tlle Queealland Culflnl Ct11trt. It is deslaned ror easy accesa betw- die Art Gallery, M111t11111, State IJlnry and Performllla Arts Centr~. thous_ands of plants which will soften the i•l!i noi "!•king a million out of this. And cxlepor of the complex. he knows that there is no entrepreneur or • The main building material is ·· developcr'putting a million in his pocket · sandblasted concrete and . ii !'.lOks in profits. ma'gnificcnt. • ",I tftink we're getting great ·•· "I hate things luoking ne'I'," says workmanship out of them beccusc of , • , 1 ,, lilllllli ,Robin Gibson. "Tha\:~ why I'vflchoscn that. Their energies arc directed for their - . ·•~·~ sancj!>l~•t~ concrete. . 1 children and grandchildren. " , ,; ~ i~ ,L. , A.nd to the casu~I yisitor; cvtn in the · · "It is iettini back to tbo ideals or the. ' · cu~rcnt state of butldmg, the walls have old masons." . that lived-in look. · Mr Gibson bas high praise for the Mr Gibson pointed to a wall at the top worken and for his own team. · of the riverbank, .overhung with green· : ,And Q~land Oovernmcnt•bubcn plants. , · · ' ' and• pu.blic scrvicc-knocken will be "Look," he ,says, "~ how t_lle sha~~ surptlsed; but he cannot speak highly and shadows do · their. own · so~g. It . enouah of tholc,involved in tbe project. creates its own poetry." . . . • Throughollt the compl,cx,.Mr Gibson The qove~ment for •!! forcslaht .a~ lap striven for· unity between the Art wfsclom an,&,q1n1:a_!tead w1J~ lll~ ,projeg. Gallery, the Museum, t.he 'State tLibrllry,. the 1111bllc1s,ryapta - l!ll tbe way up the , I and the Performing Arts Centre with ill ~dder,-. f9,r ~pc;rat•~I! ~nd hefp, 1, , 2000-scat lyric · tbrcatrci 2000:.-t "I· ~n · be obJ~livo 1• atiout tliil, lit , <:anccrt hal! and 1111all uporimental.. says, I .have proj~ ,1n Ca,n&e,ra and , theatre. · · Sydney. I am on the A111tralian Opera Inside the Art Gallery, a water mall ~rd. runs parallel with the P,Odestrian mall J'he Quoenat.nd people arc NOOlld to th t cct th d 'fli r t • r tb none" a conn I c I ercn area, o o N, h • 11 be••· r complex ow we are on w at w1 we roo ' garden above the auditorium ind Mr I I I I I Under the walkway, says Mr Gibson, the German.tank from the.Museum will sit. It is a condition of the tank stayi!!g in 'Australia that ii be under cover. One room is SCI aside for ttic gallery's artisans, the carpenters and others who make stands and equipment for exhibitions. · ,But it's no second-class conditions for them. They will look through plants to . the sculpture garden. "'Fhcrc will be no .Indians and no· chiefs here," says Mr Gibson, "Everyone ii part of the whole scene." The restaurant, overlooking the river, is•divided into an upper and --.J9.wer section. The upper is for t~e brcaknecks– who arc dining before a show at the performing arts centre. They will be able to leave without disturbing the civilised diners enjoying a more leisurely, evening-long repast. We stand at the main entrance to the art gallery, high above the river bank. "There will be large glass doors here," says Mr Gibson, "and believe me the view will be magnificent coming or going." Gibson; who designed Mayne Hall at Queensland University, is summing up the vast complex. "The whole project I will be light, terribly light,'' he says, "Wherever you go, wherever you arc, .you will be able to look into other activities, even thouah you arc outside." Did he look on this as Giblon'a cultural centre? · "Oh, no, I am merely the vehicle to create the complex. . "We have never bad a true home for the arts, We arc now creating such a home because there ii sueh a arcat need, "In the performing arts, the • backstagca of Adelaide, Mclbeurnc and Brilbane will be identical so it will be cheaper for production• to come here because there will be no need to adapt for ouratages, . "You cannot generate excellence. The architect pursues cx~cllcrlcc as far as he can and provides people with the environment to do exactly the same." Mr Gibson swept his eyes in a 180-degrcc arc across the river, finishing up gazing at the Captain Cook Bridge, nskct, so to 3':k? · i oridYj;a/sh~!~~~ioi: •ARCHITECT ROBIN CIBSON....,"Cilies are for people, and this centre algamate most of the is for people." PHOTO: BOB BARNES in one centre - the As lie delivers his tour spiel, Mr Gibson mostly uses "we" and "the team''. rarely 0 J". He feels the project is a special team effort, partly because the State Works f'·~artmcnt is the constructing i.~mority. "Do you know what would finish off this area? he asks. ''They should put a pedestrian walkway along the Captain Cook Bridge. It could be done, it'I feasible. "Imagine walking over the Captai1 Cook Bridge to the south bank in the cool of the evening, strolling along a riverside park to the restaurant for 'dinner and then strolling over the Victoria Bridge. ncdy Centres, areas of f London." urcdly jibs at any he Queensland Cultural be Brisbane's Royal or Stratford-on-Avon In Centre. , aying," he says, "but odious. This complex is any of those things. It the needs of the people owed some top brass in ,·rseas. 1h1, former chairman of ent for the Arts, came . said that when the hcd the world would be o Brisbane's door to see ell, head of the Royal mpany, was absolutely . ject is due to cost $45 terms, with a normal ' calatlon index, and is on the two-bob tour of ou don't realise how s gone on here," s11ys qui1c , tu nning." The high riverbank landscaping and the situation of the site has mostly shielded progress from commuting Brisbane. · But behind the barriers, mini– bulldozers arc busy dozing, cranes arc swinging, · ant-like workmen arc clambering over huge walls, trucks arc delivering massive pieces of equipment, supervisors with tape measures on their belts and bleepers in the hip pockets arc striding around the site. We pick our way betwcen scaffolding, over cables, round concrete blocks as Mr Gibson acts as guide through the current maze of walls and staircases and walkways and iunncls. But amid the bustle, the Art Gallery is taking on discernible shape. Way down below, a two-storey, 500-car parking area is virtually 1 complete. · . Higher up, the ··grand design is becoming apparent. The theme of the complex, snys Mr Gibson, is to brenk down the burriers between the different activities, to try Ill inveigle the Museum visitors into the Art Gnllcry nnd vicc-vcrsu. For thnt rcn,on, glu,s wnlls will "You sec, people going along a walkway will look down and sec us in the sculpture garden,'' says Mr Gibson. "They'll be intrigued nnd say 'How the hell can I get down there?' "We arc trying to get rid of the labels, break down the barriers." Mr Gibson finds it hard to contain his enthusiasm as he points oul the different features of the complex. . This hall will be for temporary exhibitions. And up there, that corridor will be a print gallery, for photographs or prints. And the sculpture garden will be there, and seen from inside and outside. There's a high-ceilinged room tor the experimentalists in art. Mr Gibson says it can be used for sound and light demonstrations, lasers, holograms, multiple image stuff. E~en for displays of colorcd jets of smoke, if that's their thing. "It's for the avant garde,:• s~ys Mr Gibson. "They always sny no provision is mudc for them. So this gullcry will be for that type of experiment." And sound-proofe d, to avo id disturbing others. Mr Gibson proudly poi 111s r,rnfusinn of huge gurdl!II Uo"<c He points to a helmeted workman scurryinR by. "That fellow. knows that [•1 i:~ I i'I l.'.l [•1 [• 1 [•1 [•1 [•1 i'l [• 1 1•1 1•1 l.rJ I 'J ' L'J , l'J , .. "What an evening that would be." 'l '1 ')'I CJ' I' 1 I '_i ' 1 I ' I