MCA's $53 MILLON REDEVELOPMENT

The Museum of Contemporary Art is one of Sydney's most iconic buildings, nestled around our famous beautiful harbour and hugged by the Harbour Bridge on one side and the Sydney Opera House directly opposite. It was built in 1939 and has just received the green light for a $53 million redevelopment. This is BIG news for Sydney.


Above are the plans for the redevelopment transforming the building into Sydney's major art and education hub. The plans have been designed by award winning Architect Sam Marshall http://www.marshall.net.au/ in close collaboration with the MCA.



The plans include the creation of a National Centre for Creative Learning, along with revamped and extended gallery spaces and a new public entrance. Previous schemes to redevelop the MCA - including a proposed design concept by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa in 1997 and a controversial design by Sauerbruch and Hutton in 2000 - have failed to progress to planning consent stage but obviously Sam Marshall's designs have made the cut.


Education is the central focus of the redesign and with more than 500,000 people visiting the MCA each year, the design is key to accommodating everyone's needs. It will house a space with workshop for schools and after-school youth programs and will be the new facility for the Museum's renowned Bella program for young people with special needs. Plus a digital classroom, multi-media room, library and extensive resource room - the redevelopment will add so many benefits to the community as well as the visiting tourists.

The MCA has secured more than half of the $50m needed for the redevelopment, with already $27m already raised. Construction will commence once 90% of the funding has been achieved. There is a $10m grand from the State Government and a further $1m pledged by the City of Sydney.

MCA Foundation Chair Simon Mordant and CEO of Greenhill, is a passionate collector of contemporary art who has personally pledged $5m to the project.

Environmentally sustainable design (ESD) and the reduction of the MCA’s carbon footprint are also key elements of the redevelopment. The plans incorporate a seawater heat exchange with a fully integrated air-conditioning system offering energy savings of up to 30%. Other initiatives include ESD compliant lighting, energy monitoring throughout the building, insulation of gallery spaces, as well as water and materials recycling.

The MCA is the only institution in Australia dedicated to both collecting and exhibiting contemporary art, from this nation and around the world. For more information visit http://www.mca.com.au/

JONAS PETERSON

Seriously! Anyone thinking about getting married or capturing a moment in life should be contacting this guy... Jonas Peterson. http://jonaspeterson.com/ Possibly THE best photographer I've ever seen. His eye for amazing detail is out of this world. He captures moments that the normal eye can't see - what the heart feels he puts on film... Visit his website for more information.... I visit his site for daily inspiration!

PONY RIDER

I came across this very cool company called Pony Rider recently, I love their unique prints/fabrics. They have an online store http://www.ponyrider.com.au/ as well as a cool blog http://pony-rider.blogspot.com/

The wall dots above are a fresh take on the vinyl wall art that's really popular at the moment. These wall dots create a little portal into another world, there are various creative options but my favourites are above :)

MEET YOU AT THE BEACH - IN PARIS?

http://pretavoyager.blogspot.com/ has to be one of my top 5 sites I visit every day. It's my little piece of daily virtual-travel, you should definately check out her blog. We've been to Paris twice now, and in Summer and I had no idea that the Paris Plage (Paris Beach) initiative is now in it's 9th year??? Starting in 2002 Paris Plage is a free summer event that transforms several areas in Paris into beach area each with a distinct theme. How clever!! It was the brainchild of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, originally criticized as being extravagant and now celebrated as iconic and innovative.

The different scenes include sun baking sand arena, swimming in pools suspended over the Seine, kayaking the Seine and the free concerts about town. As I've found out it's normally run from mid July to mid August 8am to midnight every day!!! Apparently several European cities have now copied the idea, to think they have to re-create a beach when in Sydney, Australia we are so very lucky to have it surround us. Nice to dream about Paris - great to live in Sydney :)

GLUTEN FREE ANYONE?

Healthy Feast is located at 157 Norton Street Leichhardt. It's open Sun - Tues 8am-4pm and Wed - Sat 8am - 7pm. One of their goals is to cater for those with food intolerances or special dietary needs in inspiring ways. If you have any type of intolerance then you are aware of the limited options available for you, I know we all enjoy eating cardboard... NOT. Healthy Feasts has everything from Lamingtons, Lemon Meringue Pies, Apple Crumbles, Orange Blossom Cakes and more - ALL GLUTEN FREE. Visit their website for more information http://www.healthyfeast.com.au/

CRUELTY FREE FESTIVAL

The Cruelty Free Festival returns to Sydney's Belmore Park on Sunday 7 November from 10am - 7pm. If you care about animals or want to learn how you can make a difference you should definately attend this great day out. There's over 60 food & wine stalls, inspiring cooking demonstrations, entertainment / live performers, meditation and yoga workshops and more. You don't have to be vegetarian to attend the festival - there are so many things you can learn from this festival including avoiding key products that are still tested cruelly on animals. Make a day of it - why not? Visit http://crueltyfreefestival.org.au/ for more information

THE GAFFA

Did you know that there is an awesome artists space on Clarence Street in Sydney CBD? Either did I. I have walked past this building several times and only just walked into it today. GAFFA is located at 281 Clarence St, Sydney CBD or visit www.gaffa.com.au for more information. It is a three level artist space. Ground floor includes the cafe KLINK plus a couple of Keeper Gallery displays and the Gaffa Gallery Shop which stocks all local/Australian upcoming designers. The first, second and third floor contains the gallery spaces which are available for hire. What a fantastic space in the heart of the Sydney.

VINTAGE VENUS

Vintage Venus is an online poster store which has digitally restored some amazing vintage art. There is far too many to mention here, just a small selection above. Recommend to visit their website http://www.vintagevenus.com.au/vintage/intro.htm for more information and inspiration!

THIRD DRAWER DOWN

Third Drawer Down, a fabulous Melbourne store is setting up shop in Surry Hills YAY!!! They have some really unique quirky gift & homewares. Apparently open for 3 weeks only from July 24 - August 13 as part of Sydney Design Week located at Space, 374 Crown Street, Surry Hills. If you can't get down to Surry Hills in time visit them at http://thirddrawerdown.com/

The above 'Winged Blanket' is so very cool! So cosy!!!

There are some really unique finds on the website including the 'RUOK' candle above and a range of postcards that convert into mini city gardens, the idea is you plant your seeds and watch the grass grow around the postcard - there are three to choose from "City Hall", "Botanical Garden" and "Allotment" .

Then there is the freaky hand soap range (below) - weird.

And my favourite - the crayon pebbles :)

Oh and if you feel like getting in touch with nature, the below (expensive) bird calling tools will surely make you feel part of the wild again :)

Farmer Joe

This is a little Farmer-Joe of me, but I love weathervanes, can't wait for hubby to build the ultimate garden shed so one of these glorious weathervanes can adorn the top :) Found through http://www.glenviewproducts.com.au/catalog/index.php

The same company also lists a bunch of very strange letter boxes, still unsure if they make these or whether they just like the look of them - this one was priced at $999,999???

GEORGIE LOVE

How beautiful is this company. Georgie Love is named after the owners much loved ginger mix-mutt super dog. He is a rescue dog and the inspiration behind the website http://georgielove.com/home.php. The design and feel of this site really meets the company motto "handmade pleasures". I found some beautiful items that are so unique - compliments guaranteed. Everything from T-shirts, necklaces, rings, toys, kids items and a very cool funky cape!!!

COLOUR CREATIONS

The Divine Miss M spoke of a great website called http://www.designboom.com/. Designboom.com currently has 4 million readers monthly from 190 countries covering topics from art, architecture and design to unique competitions and product mentions to specifically create dialogue between creative professionals.




In addition to the design forums they have a great online shop. A small but creative range of products including the above Cat Cabin made from corrugated cardboard in 2 different sizes and the liquid bookmark which comes in a set of 3 (white, red & grey) handmade in Japan a more Pulp Fiction way to keep track of your favourite pages. Plus many more items, check them out!

Another story featured on http://www.designboom.com/ is about The Felissimo's 500 coloured pencil set - OMG! This is definately a designers dream set. There are 20 units but you can't buy the complete set at once, you can receive them over a course of 20 months. The wall mounted brackets help keep your beautiful pencils perfectly in order and at handy reach. For more information visit DesignBoom.