Sydney Improv Theatre - Jonathan Tong

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P R E S E R VA T I O N BY I M P R OV I S AT I O N

‘Preservation’ should be a constantly changing built fabric from both Creation and Decay; because, simply, True Present is made by constantly creating and decaying at the same time.

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“No work of art lasts forever.”

It couldn’t, and it shouldn’t.

Preservation ≠ Frozen animation.

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Preservation isn’t Frozen Music!

CREATION +

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Preservation at True Present =

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Improvisation

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inherent in Jazz Improvisation • “Controlled Freeplay” mode of Preservation

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Creative Demolition

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Make value judgements and keep those that makes the song the song.

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Interpretative Trasfiguration

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Rearranging the remaining existing fragments within each of its existing chord boundary.

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Egocentric Addition

Adding completely new notes spontaneously created by the musician in the very present moment.

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Original Fabric

New Fabric by Improvisation 9

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Preservation by Improvisation Manifesto

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Precedent • “Museo di Castelvecchio” ~ Carlo Scarpa

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Scarpa shedded light on the significance in clarifying this piece of history by demolishing the exterior 19th century grand staircase and the interior Napoleonic rooms that hid the Morbio gate in Avena’s time.

By repositioning and elevating the Cangrande della Scalla sculpture, Scarpa revitalised this existing piece with natural lighting which markedly transfigured and celebrated the statue with a heightened sense of neutrality, a quality of timelessness.

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Interpretative Transfiguration “Cangrande del l a Scal a ” I. reorchestration on ti i ol em D Creative “Porta del Morbio” discovery

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Egocentric Addition Asymmetry with Glass and Steel On top of Antonia Avena’s pastiche renovation that left the fake, stage-like facade, Scarpa made his own commentary on that by installing a second facade of glass and steel timed at asymmetrical rhythms with that of Avena’s, starkly juxtaposing and making an egocentric mark that represent the Present.

Much like the sequences in Improvisation, a meticulous, creative demolition process, followed by a highly sensible transfiguration of the old pieces, prepared the ground for freeplay additions.

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“Sydney Improv Theatre” ~ Jonathan Tong

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I.

Creative Demolition in celebration of existing Historic Fabric

CREATIVE DEMOLITION I.

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ASN Co. Building

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I.

CREATIVE DEMOLITION

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Improv Timeline

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CREATIVE DEMOLITION I.

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CREATIVE DEMOLITION

Sixth Improv: Sydney Improv Theatre What makes the ASN Co. Building the ASN Co. Building is its very water tower and clock tower which were the only built pieces that were completely untouched and undisturbed throughout its five ‘improvs’ in its historic timeline.

So, in this stage - Creative Demolition - of the Improvisation process of the ASN Co. Building, the single most important objective is to demolish creatively in a way to not just keep the building the building it is, but to enhance its historic value.

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CTloowcker

WTaotweerr

Therefore, the first move, would be to isolate the water tower and the clock tower by demolishing the ‘bits’ around them. This allows the entirety of the two built pieces to be seen now.

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CREATIVE DEMOLITION

What makes the ASN Co. Building the ASN Co. Building ?

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While, Bay 5 was heavily demolished during the period for the Story of Sydney, installing the cinema all through its interior.

Therefore, the bays were ‘clicked apart’ by creating various slits in between the them as to clarify its historic values. The building is entirely itself, only enhacned in its own flavour...

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On continuation, what makes the building the way it is, is its historic uses of the five bays throughout its improv timeline. Bay 1 has been most preserved; Bay 2, 3, and 4 were always stay in tacked togther with its uses of the warehouse and office since the first improv by William Wardell.

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And spontaneously, the two voids around the tower find each other and merge into one big void/courtyard-like space as a ‘ring’ around the two towers. In turn, these two original ‘melody’ are now enhanced and clarified in a never before achieved piece of art.

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Interpretative Transfiguration of the qualified Existing Pieces in response to the Present Context

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The StrangeSEt nd to George ey Heritage Journ

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The End of theHeritage Preservation Journey along George Street northern heritage walk sits the strange little place in the Rocks, where the ASN Co. Building is tucked away on the side, where no one really knows where else to go once you’re there, nor should you due to the absence of any sort of ‘tie’ to conclude or ‘recirculate’ the george street journey.

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End? Or mas?ny potential start

On a closer scale of the location of the building, the ASN Co. Building is sitting in a seeming converging, but uncontacting point of three journeys: George Street, Hickson Road, and Circular Quay Walk.

All three routes seemingly end near the ASN Co. Building, currently just ‘hanging on the side’, don’t know where else to go. In the meantime, the building faces directly across the marked landmark, the Sydney Opera House.

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Freeplay of frarngmeyens ts to City Jou

the present context.

The building’s fragmented form now allows for a freeplay of various manoeuvrings that were never possible to be performed.

k l a W y a u Q r a l u c Cir

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From the stage of Creative Demolition in celebration of the building’s own built history, the subsequent stage would be Interpretative Transfiguration of the building, using the existing fabric, in response to

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ad o R kic son H

George Str eet

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I N T E R P R E TA T I V E T R A N S F I G U R A T I O N

Both the ASN Co. Building and the Sydney Opera House are positioned in the tip of a city journey, and also making a marking of themselves as part of the very front of the Sydney shoreline.

However, the intended Sydney Improv Theatre is intrinsically juxtaposing to the experience the Opera House offers, with the Improv Theatre being a much more public, spontaneous, street-version of an opera house.

So as a means to display a direct commentary of the Syndey Opera House, one of the now-fragmented piece is pushed outwards towards the East, towards the Sydney Opera House, where people experiencing inside may explicitly see the stark justaposition in function and in spacial orchestration by forming a visual connection to the Opera House across the shore.

Three fragments of Bay 2, 3, and 4 were also catelivered outwards to the West to ‘catch’ the incoming current of george street.

In response to the strangely ‘shy’, full-stop of a location of the building bounded by the three city routes, the gesture of ‘catching’ the currents of these three routes are also very gently and delicately conducted; by spliting and remanoeuvring the fragments of Bay 2 west and Bay 4 east, while also splitting and shearing apart the fragment at Bay 5 east and west...

lk Circular Quay Wa

lk Circular Quay Wa

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oad R kson Hic

George Str eet

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George Str eet

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very natural and spontaneous manner, just the opposite to a ‘right-in-your-face’ catching of people.

Following the natural momentum of the city routes, the

paths are subsequently jammed into and converge at the very central piece of the building, the water tower, where the III. improv procedure begins...

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What this creates, is a split in a current. By creating gaps between the split in fragments, this spontaneously lures some of the current flow of the three city routes into the building.

Introducing people in but in a

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III.

Egocentric Addition feeding off Present Context as a juxtaposing commentry to Existing Pieces

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Here, it is time for completely new additions to the building that marks a branding of the present.

This motive informs of what the egocentric additions would be in achieving such objective of recirculating the city journeys.

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With the water tower now as the converging point of all

three routes from the city, it is only all the more meaningful to employ the water tower to extend the supposed ends of the routes and recirculate them to one another.

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ad o R n ki so c H

George Str eet

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EGOCENTRIC ADDITION

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Three Gates + Water Tower as the Luring Entries and Recirculation Point to redirect one city journey’s end to another journey’s start

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Three Luring Gates

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Creates three entry points and make them the three main Gates, in aim to ‘lure’ people into the building, and then converge them at the water tower to be recirculated to another path.

Such gesture ultimately redirects people coming to a supposed full-stop of their journey, to embark on another journey through tvhe city of Sydney.

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EGOCENTRIC ADDITION

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Water Tower as recirculating point J O NAT H A N TO N G • SYDNEY I M P R OV THEATRE

The water tower are extended down to meet the walls coming from the three routes by the new concrete structure, lifted by three supporting walls, where it houses the recirculating area under it.

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EGOCENTRIC ADDITION

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Gate George Street

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EGOCENTRIC ADDITION

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Hickson Portal Gate

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EGOCENTRIC ADDITION

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EGOCENTRIC ADDITION

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Gate Circular Quay

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y a w y e l l A • Stairwasy • Minus Plu

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takes you to the central converging area underneath the water tower where you could choose to improvise and continue your journey through another route.

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Two routes are offered at the Circular Quay gate; one that celebratorily lifts you up first and takes you up to Hickson Road Portal Gate, the other on the right seduces you with the alleyway-like channel that

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EGOCENTRIC ADDITION

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THREE GATES + WATER TOWER

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Loop Journey threading through the three gates, the water tower & the clock tower.

LOOP JOURNEY

the water tower on top of the water pond. The journey travels through each and every single bay of the existing building, allow a visitor to experience the full scope of its historic fabric and the improvised fabric.

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Just like beads and threads, the internal circulation is threaded by a loop journey extended from the George Street route.

The loop journey threads past the three gates and the clock tower, then ending underneath

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Stage 3

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LOOP JOURNEY

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Ga Hickson Road Portal

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Gate George Street TOP JOURNEY PLAN

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Each fragment of the original built fabric is ‘improvised’ uniquely and there is no predictability to the next improvisation ‘move’ as you move onto the next stage in the loop journey.

LOOP JOURNEY

Gate Circular Quay J O NAT H A N TO N G

Stage 5

Lookout Platform

Stage 6

Stage 4

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Gate George Street MID JOURNEY PLAN The eastern ‘facade’, same as the western one, there is no facade, but only layers of improvised fragments painted by the various articulations of shadows it produces.

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LOOP JOURNEY

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Gate Circular Quay

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Public Theatre

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Gate Hickson Road Portal

Stage 7

Gate George Street LOWER JOURNEY PLAN

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The entry hall is filled with the sound coming from below the public theatre, and also when one travels through the stairs during the loop journey. Through the niche entrance to Stage 7 and 8, one may take a sharp turn into the water tower.

LOOP JOURNEY

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Public Lounge

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Gallery

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Ground Hall

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GROUND JOURNEY PLAN As the ‘end’ of the loop journey approaches at the ground water pond level, one may choose two routes; towards gate circular quay or back inside the building where galleries and shops of the original building are remained and left to be improvised in the future.

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STITCHED LOOP JOURNEY

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Stitched Loop Journey

From Gate Circular Quay taking one up all the way to the entry hall on the top floor in Gate George Street, where one travels through multitudinous of improv stages and theatres that all improvise with the original fabric in an one-and-only unique, and spontaneously expressive language.

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Gate Circular Quay

STITCHED LOOP JOURNEY

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Hickson Road Portal Gate

STITCHED LOOP JOURNEY

Gate George Street

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S I X T H I M P R OV :

S Y D N E Y I M P R OV T H E AT R E

S I X T H I M P R OV :

S Y D N E Y I M P R OV T H E AT R E

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REFERENCE

REFERENCE

REFERENCE LIST Page 13

Sailko. (2019) Verona, castelvecchio, museo, installazione esterna della statua di cangrande della scala [Image]. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verona,_castelvecchio,_museo,_installazione_esterna_della_statua_di_cangrande_della_scala,_02.jpg Khoo Guo Jie. (2015) Castelvecchio Museum [Image]. Retrieved from https://photoawards. com/winner/zoom.php?eid=8-107208-15 Page 14

Adam J.W.C. (2009) The rocks new south wales… [Image]. Retrieved from https://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_rocks_new_south_wales...jpg

Mitchell Library, Small Picture File 350. (n.d.)

E. Martin & Assoc. (1981). 5-7 Hickson Rd, Sydney. Management Plan.

Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. (n.d.) Nos. 170742 Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. (n.d.) Nos. 170834, 170826 Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. (n.d.) Nos. 39943 A742 112

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Mitchell Library Small Picture File. (n.d.) Circular Quay

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Robert McCarter. (n.d.) Last Word [Image]. Retrieved from https://architecturetoday.co.uk/ last-word/

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Museo di Castelvecchio. [Image] (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.tripadvisor.com.tr/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g187871-d246506-i65949608-Museo_di_Castelvecchio-Verona_Province_of_Verona_Veneto.html

Sydney From the Skies, RTA. (n.d.)

Mitchell Library Small Picture File. (n.d.) Circular Quay

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