Seymour Centre
The Seymour Centre is a multi-purpose performing arts centre within the University of Sydney in the Australian city of Sydney. It is located on the corner of City Rd and Cleveland St in Chippendale, just south-west of the city centre; the building was designed by architectural firm Allen Jack+Cottier and was opened in 1975. Internal refurbishments were carried out in 2000, designed by Lahz Nimmo Architects; as well as the public performance areas, the building provides accommodation for the Department of Music at the University of Sydney. Sydney businessman, Everest York Seymour, died in 1966 and left a significant bequest for ‘...the construction of a building to serve as a centre for the cultivation and performance of musical and dramatic arts...'. The University of Sydney became the trustee of this bequest, Allen Jack+Cottier were commissioned to design a performing arts centre to be known as The Seymour Centre; the York is the largest theatre in the centre, with seating for 780 patrons. It has a Thrust stage configuration, with seats in a semi-circular, amphitheatre-style arrangement and is used for drama and musical performances, spoken-word events.
The Everest theatre is an end-stage theatre, seating up depending on configuration. It was designed for musical performances and includes a variety of acoustic features to manipulate and control sound quality, but is used for theatrical and dance performances; the Reginald Theatre known as the Downstairs Theatre is a smaller, informal Studio theatre, seating up to 200, with a wide variety of uses. An intimate cabaret style venue for up to 120, which serves light refreshments. Refreshments are available on each level, including a coffee cart in the main foyer. A BBQ operates in the front courtyard opposite the main entrance, from one and a half hours prior to selected shows; each year the Centre presents a wide range of performing arts events. The Seymour enjoys a high public profile within Sydney, with a good central city location and parking facilities. Festivals which program events at the Seymour centre include the Sydney Festival, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the Sydney Children's Festival, the Sydney Fringe Festival and the Sydney Comedy Festival.
The program is an eclectic mix of self-produced work, co-productions and hires of the venue, includes theatre, dance pieces and showcases. The University of Sydney student revues are held at the Seymour each year, as well as many end-of-year dance school concerts; the centre hosts family and kids' shows each school holiday, has commenced a comprehensive primary and secondary education program, featuring workshops and Q&As to augment the students' experience of the theatre. The Wiggles performed in this Centre during their December 1996 concerts shown on their first concert video: "Wiggledance!". Seymour Centre Official Website Allen Jack+Cottier Official Website Lahz Nimno Architects Official Website Sydney Festival 2011
Nicholson Museum
The Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney is home to the largest collection of antiquities in both Australia and the southern Hemisphere. Founded in 1860, the collection spans the ancient world with primary collection areas including ancient Egypt, Italy and the Near East; the Museum gallery is located in the main quadrangle of the University and is open to the public Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm as well as the first Saturday of every month from 12 to 4 pm. Admission is free; the Nicholson Museum is named after Sir Charles Nicholson. In 1856-57, Nicholson traveled throughout Egypt and Italy where he acquired the first thousand or so ancient Egyptian, South Italian and Etruscan artefacts; these he donated to the University in 1860. The museum's collection has grown exponentially since this founding donation. Individual benefaction, sponsored archaeological projects and curatorial acquisition have all contributed to the wealth of material now housed by the Nicholson Museum; the museum has a mixture of permanent and temporary exhibition areas within its gallery.
Permanent or ongoing exhibitions include: Egyptians and Mummies: Travels with Herodotus, Aphrodite's Island: Australian Archaeologists in Cyprus. Temporary exhibitions include: LEGO Pompeii, featuring a large scale model of the site of Pompeii in LEGO and 50 Objects, 50 Stories – scheduled to close July 2015; the Nicholson Museum, along with its sister institutions, the Macleay Museum and the University Art Gallery, were united under a single director, David Ellis, in 2003 to form Sydney University Museums. In 2005, Michael Turner was appointed Senior Curator; the collections of the Nicholson Museum span the ancient world with primary collection areas including the Classical world of Greece and Italy, Cyprus, the Near East and Northern Europe from the Neolithic to Medieval periods. The Museum possesses a significant historic photograph collection of over 1350 glass negatives taken by former curator William J Woodhouse. Egyptian Collection - The ancient Egyptian collection of the Nicholson Museum includes artefacts from a variety of ancient sites including Abydos, Bubastis, Heliopolis, Memphis and Thebes.
Egyptian material formed a large part of Sir Charles Nicholson's founding donation. He traveled throughout Egypt between 1856 and 1857 purchasing artefacts from dealers in Cairo and Luxor as well as collecting artefacts straight from sites, including Karnak where he collected a fragment of a red granite thought to be from Hatshepsut's obelisk. Cypriot Collection Beginning in 1860 with a single artefact from the original donation by Sir Charles Nicholson, the collection grew exponentially under the curatorial direction of firstly William Woodhouse and James Stewart. Many of the artefacts within the collection were sourced directly from Stewart's own excavations conducted at Bellapais Vounous, Karmi Palealona, Karmi Lapasta, Nicosia Ayia Paraskevi and Vasilia Kafkallia as well as from the excavations of at the sites of Myrtou Stephania and Myrtou Sphagion, conducted by Stewart's former student Basil Hennessy who became Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Sydney; as a result of these acquisitions, the Museum holds many complete tomb groups of archaeological importance.
Greek Collection The Nicholson Museum's Greek collections contains artefacts representative of the material culture of the Greek mainland and surrounding regions, from the Bronze Age through to the Late Hellenistic period. During Sir Charles Nicholson's travels to Egypt and Europe between 1856 and 1858 he acquired in Rome, a range of Classical and Hellenistic Greek ceramics as well as terracotta figurines. In total over seventy significant Greek artefacts were included in the founding donation of the Nicholson Museum. Further material, representative of the Greek mainland and islands, was bought during the curatorship of A. D. Trendall, his proactive acquisition program involved purchasing a wide range of ceramic types of Greek origin as well as significant contributions of sherd material for teaching purposes sought from prominent museums and individual collectors and scholars, including Sir John Beazley. The collection was expanded following a donation of hundreds of pottery fragments and small votive objects by the family of former curator William J Woodhouse in 1948.
The majority of this material is thought to have been collected during Woodhouse's 1890s and 1930s trips to Greece, documented in the Woodhouse photographic collection. Italian Collection The Nicholson Museum's Italian collection is representative of the diversity of the ancient Italian world with significant cultural material from Etruria, South Italy and the Roman World. From the museum's foundation the cultures of ancient Italy have been represented in the collection. Sir Charles Nicholson spent considerable time in Rome collecting Latin inscriptions, Etruscan funerary urns and bronzes, South Italian vases and Roman lamps and ceramics. Additional large sculptural works were acquired by Sir Charles including two life-sized togatus statues along with several fragmentary figures; the Italian collection was further developed with the acquisition of a significant corpus of South Italian vases by A. D. Trendall during his curatorial tenure. Many of the significant pieces from the South Italian collection have been comprehensively published in the first Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum of an Australian collection.
Near Eastern Collection The Nicholson Museum's co
Sydney University Boat Club
Sydney University Boat Club is the rowing club in Sydney, Australia with the oldest charter having been formed in 1860 by the founders of the University of Sydney. It has had a boatshed presence in various locations on Sydney Harbour since 1886, excepting between 1941 and 1966. A varsity and recreational club during most of its history, the Boat Club has since the 1990s had a focus on its high performance and elite rowing programs. Supported by the University's Sports Union the Club has developed an increasing number of Olympic representative oarsmen and women in the new millennium with club members taking eleven seats in the Australian Olympic crews who represented between Athens 2004 and London 2012; the Sherington/Georgakis reference quotes research that University archives record a meeting of officers of the SUBC and election of officeholders at point prior to 1861 and 1860. The University's first Chancellor Sir Charles Nicholson was named as the club's first president; this reference is the basis of the club's 1860 heritage claim.
The first inter-university boat race was rowed in Melbourne in December, 1870. The Sydney University crew were all members of the newly formed Sydney Rowing Club, being E. A. Iceton, Edmund Barton, Dick Teece and Allan Yeomans. In 1885 the Sydney University Boat Club's first annual general meeting was held with Barton elected chairman at that inaugural meeting. A site was obtained in Woolloomooloo near that of the Woolloomooloo Bay Rowing Club and the Sydney Rowing Club's first shed and a clubhouse was built and opened in June, 1886; the Sydney Morning Herald announced the club's fifth annual general meeting in 1891, giving credence to a true 1885 start date. The club's contemporary rise to success in producing consistent national representative elite oarsmen and women has been driven by club president, Chris Noel from 1987. Noel is a boatshed alumnus from the 1960s and 1970s and was elected President of the SUBC in 1987, he became a personal financial benefactor the club. Noel was conferred a Honorary Fellowship of the University in 2007.
The Sydney University Boat Club's first boatshed was opened in June, 1886 on Woolloomooloo Bay on Sydney Harbour. By 1902 the club became dissatisfied with the Woolloomooloo location, being too far from the University and the harbour water too rough. In 1902, the old shed was re-erected at Glebe Point and a new shed was completed in 1907 to accommodate the club's 150 odd members. In 1940, the University's Sports Union recommended demolition of the Blackwattle Bay clubhouse, carried out in 1941. After the end of the war, efforts to find an alternative site commenced and were not successful until 1966. In 1957 the University was bequeathed a property in Drummoyne, New South Wales and its suitability for a boat shed site was considered and disputed between 1957 and 1961. Work had started by 1960 but ceased by 1963. In 1964 the club shifted its attention to finding suitable land at Linley Point on Burns Bay and a lease was obtained from the Maritime Services Board. A shed and pontoon were completed in 1966 at a cost of $71,500.
The SUBC’s Linley Point boatshed was destroyed by fire in 2006. It became evident from 2009 that the club was looking to build another much larger shed at Cunningham's Reach Park in Lane Cove on Crown land; this proposal was unpopular with some local residents resulting in protests and actions in 2010 & 2011. The objections were successful. In 2012 Lane Cove Council voted to submitted a rezoning request for the SUBC's prior Linley Point site to allow for development to include recreation facilities and a cafe. Since the fire and during the redevelopment planning and dispute period the SUBC borrowed facilities at the University of New South Wales' old boatshed at Tarban Creek on Sydney's Parramatta River. In 2017 after an eleven year consultation and construction period a new shed was opened at the Linley Point location on Burns Bay. Consultation was led by former lightweight world champion Michael Wiseman; the Sydney University Women's Rowing Club row out of a boathouse located at the foot of Ferry Road, Glebe at Blackwattle Bay.
This shed. Intercollegiate rowing in fours was introduced in 1892 between the colleges of University of Sydney and at that same time University representative crews began competing in the club competition run by the New South Wales Rowing Association. In 1896, the SUBC supplied the coach of the intercolonial eight. Sydney won six of the intervarsity races of the 1890s with Melbourne winning Adelaide one. From 1893, the race was rowed for the Oxford and Cambridge Cup presented by old Oxford and Cambridge boat race oarsmen. In the first twenty-five years of intervarsity competition to 1913 the SUBC won the Cup on 14 occasions; until 1907 both alumni and undergraduates were able to compete in the varsity competitions. The SUBC had the intervarsity contests of the 1910s. With the competition suspended from 1915 to 1918, Melbourne University Boat Club won five of the six intervarsity races held and Adelaide won the other. Sydney trailed the field in 1920 when Queensland University competed for the first time and fared poorly throughout the 1920s winning only in 1926.
During the 1930s the SUBC was seen only in open club races but made its mark in intervarsity competitions for the Oxford and Cambridge Cup with six wins and four seconds in the ten-year period. By the end of the 1930s decade, Sydney had scored a total of 20 wins in the competition to date against Melbourne's 17
University of Sydney Quadrangle
The Quadrangle is a prominent building of Sydney sandstone located within the University of Sydney Camperdown Campus. Taking over 100 years to complete, the Quadrangle was designed and developed by numerous contributors including Edmund Blacket, James Barnet, Leslie Wilkinson; the original building included the Great Hall and was constructed between 1855 and 1862. Construction on the quadrangle began in 1854, it had four sides by 1926, was completed in the 1960s after several stages of development, it comprises MacLaurin Hall, Faculty of Arts office and the Nicholson Museum. MacLaurin Hall was designed by Walter Liberty Vernon; the architectural style of the Quadrangle is gothic revival. The building is constructed of Sydney sandstone and is unique in the Australian architectural landscape. At the time of its completion, the Quadrangle was ‘the largest public building in the colony.’ The Traditional Indigenous owners of the land on which the Quadrangle was built are the Cadigal and Wangal tribes of the Eora people.
The main entrance - constructed first along with the Great Hall - is underneath the clock tower, which holds one of only two carillons in Australia. Robert Strachan Wallace, the university's vice chancellor from 1928 to 1947, upon taking up his position found the quadrangle to be "overgrown, the grounds beyond...in much worse repair". He embarked on a restoration program, for which he became known as the "building vice chancellor"; the Quadrangle design is based on those of Cambridge. It contains one of only three carillons in Australia, the others being located on Aspen Island in Canberra and in Bathurst; the Quadrangle is categorised under Sandstone Universities which are informally known as Australia's oldest universities. Known as the first building for Australia's first university, the Quadrangle itself is built in an anachronistic style, outdated by the time it was built. Edmund Blacket, one of the architects responsible for the design of the Quadrangle, was known for other works in Sydney such as St. Andrew's Cathedral.
Blacket focused on Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, which influenced James Barnet's design of Sydney University's Andersen Stuart Building. In 1924, the Quadrangle comprised four walls, in which are included bronze pipes which state the year they were placed; the final completion of the Quadrangle's exterior display was during the 1960s, which included work on the West Tower. There are a variety of gargoyles located across the walls of its towers; some serve the functional purpose of waterspouts and draining water from buildings, but many are decorative gargoyles known as'grotesque'. The abundance of a variety of gargoyles featured in the Quadrangle’s architecture relates to gargoyles being characteristic of Neo-Gothic medieval architecture, as they have a symbolic role of warding off evil spirits in the Catholic tradition. Traditionally, gargoyles depicted fantastical and mythical creatures, but in the turn of the 12th century stonemasons started incorporating real animals; such medieval influenced architecture, although appropriated to a local context, directly mimic designs of esteemed Cambridge and Oxford universities in England.
In the 1850s, under the direction of Blacket, three stonemasons worked on the clock tower gargoyles: Joseph Popplewell, Edwin Colley, James Barnett. The infusion of Australian flora and fauna with traditional medieval Neo-Gothic influences is evident in some of the Quadrangle’s distinctive gargoyles. There is a kangaroo gargoyle on the clocktower and a crocodile gargoyle on the inside of the clock tower, that are different from the traditional gargoyles on the Quadrangle. In addition there are kookaburras above the entrance to the northern foyer; the Quadrangle contains the Great Hall, which holds an organ designed by Rudolf von Beckerath of Hamburg. A jacaranda tree was planted in the main quadrangle in 1928 by Professor E. G. Waterhouse, a keen horticulturalist and dedicated contributor to the landscape design of the university; the tree was a well-loved specimen that served as the background to many graduations and private events before its death in 2016. Its flowering at examination time was believed to be a clear sign that students should start studying.
The Philosophy Room located within the quadrangle is home to two murals which are placed at the back of the room. On the 14 November 1921, these two mural decorations were unveiled in the Philosophy Room within the quadrangle at the University of Sydney, they were painted by Mr. Norman Carter and were commissioned to celebrate the 30 years of work of Professor Francis Anderson. One mural depicts Socrates and Plato together whilst the other depicts Descartes and Spinoza. Both murals were unveiled by Professor Anderson's wife; the University of Sydney established a Conservation of Grounds Plan in October 2002. Being the most photographed area in the university, having a one-hour heritage tour, the Main Quadrangle must keep up its appearances. Of the many, three policies are stated in order to maintain and conserve the vegetation and foliage of the university's grounds including the Main Quadrangle; these three are: Policy Seven: When significant trees such as the Jacaranda tree in the Main Quadrangle age or decease, they should be replaced with an identical tree.
Policy Eight: Trees and vegetation that are important to the image of the heritage buildings such as the infamous purple tree in the Main Quadrangle and the manicured green grass must be preserved. This is evident in how ropes and bollards are put up in order to prevent studen
Sydney Uni Flames
The Sydney Uni Flames are a Women's National Basketball League team aligned with the University of Sydney. They have won four titles, in 1993, 1997, 2001 & 2017, they have finished as runners-up a further ten times. Official WNBL website Sydney Uni Flames official website
Great Hall of the University of Sydney
The Great Hall of the University of Sydney, Australia, is one of the principal structures of the university, with a public interior used for formal ceremonies, conferences and dinners. The Hall, located in the Main Quadrangle on the Camperdown campus, is a symbol of the university's stately history and an excellent example of Victorian Gothic revival architecture. Completed in 1859, the university soon became a tourist attraction. Designed by Sir Edmund Thomas Blacket, the Great Hall lies at the most northeastern point of the university Quadrangle - dominating the sweeping lawns of University Place, as well as University Avenue, which overlooks Victoria Park. Blacket, appointed Colonial Architect of New South Wales from 1849–1854, resigned from his position in 1855 to pursue the design of new buildings for the University - supervising both their development, construction, until their completion in 1862. Blacket's other notable achievements include the design of St. Paul's College and the alteration of the original construction of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney, from architect James Hume's original design.
The Great Hall was completed in 1859, represents one of Blacket's finest accomplishments. On July 18, 1859, degrees were first conferred upon graduates by the University in a formal ceremony in the Hall. During 1881–1882, a Forster & Andrews pipe organ was installed to be replaced in 1971-72 by the present organ, manufactured by German builder Rudolf von Beckerath of Hamburg; the Great Hall is recognised as one of the finest examples of the Victorian Gothic revival style of architecture in Australia, in a design that reflects, harmoniously complements the University Quadrangle of which it forms part. Westminster Hall, the oldest existing interior of the Palace of Westminster in London, served as Blacket's model for the Great Hall's design. Westminster Hall, erected during the reign of William II in 1097, was altered during the reign of Richard II between 1394 and 1399; the King commissioned architects Henry Yevele and Hugh Herland to replace the original roof, supported by two pillars, with a more sophisticated hammerbeam roof.
Westminster Hall survived a fire on October 16 1834, which destroyed much of the remaining palace. Like its English counterpart, a wooden, hammerbeam roof is adorned by ten carved angels; the arched design of the roof is supported by six collar beams, is architecturally reminiscent of such British interiors as those of Stirling Castle, Hampton Court and Etham Castle, all typical of Gothic constructions. The marble floor, elevated upon the western side of the hall, mirrors the dais found in Westminster Hall, upon which the throne of King Richard II stood; the armorial bearings upon the southern side of the Hall, as well as the frame of the Oriel window, have been carved of Caen stone. The walls are otherwise constructed with a floor of marble; the great beams of the roof are of cedar wood. The Great Hall Organ
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters and motto. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to an individual person, state, organization or corporation; the Roll of Arms is a collection of many coats of arms, since the early Modern Age centuries it has been a source of information for public showing and tracing the membership of a noble family, therefore its genealogy across time. The ancient Greek hoplites used individual insignia on their shields; the ancient Romans used similar insignia on their shields. Heraldic designs came into general use among western nobility in the 12th century. Systematic, heritable heraldry had developed by the beginning of the 13th century. Who had a right to use arms, by law or social convention, varied to some degree between countries. Early heraldic designs were personal. Arms become hereditary by the end of the 12th century, in England by King Richard I during the Third Crusade.
Burgher arms are used in Northern Italy in the second half of the 13th century, in the Holy Roman Empire by the mid 14th century. In the late medieval period, use of arms spread to the clergy, to towns as civic identifiers, to royally chartered organizations such as universities and trading companies; the arts of vexillology and heraldry are related. The term coat of arms itself in origin refers to the surcoat with heraldic designs worn by combattants in the knightly tournament, in Old French cote a armer; the sense is transferred to the heraldic design itself in the mid-14th century. Despite no widespread regulation, heraldry has remained consistent across Europe, where tradition alone has governed the design and use of arms; some nations, like England and Scotland, still maintain the same heraldic authorities which have traditionally granted and regulated arms for centuries and continue to do so in the present day. In England, for example, the granting of arms has been controlled by the College of Arms.
Unlike seals and other general emblems, heraldic "achievements" have a formal description called a blazon, which uses vocabulary that allows for consistency in heraldic depictions. In the present day, coats of arms are still in use by a variety of institutions and individuals: for example, many European cities and universities have guidelines on how their coats of arms may be used, protect their use as trademarks. Many societies exist that aid in the design and registration of personal arms. Heraldry has been compared to modern corporate logos; the French system of heraldry influenced the British and Western European systems. Much of the terminology and classifications are taken from it. However, with the fall of the French monarchy there is not a Fons Honorum to enforce heraldic law; the French Republics that followed have either affirmed pre-existing titles and honors or vigorously opposed noble privilege. Coats of arms are considered an intellectual property of municipal body. Assumed arms are considered valid unless they can be proved in court to copy that of an earlier holder.
In the heraldic traditions of England and Scotland, an individual, rather than a family, had a coat of arms. In those traditions coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to son. Undifferenced arms are used only by one person at any given time. Other descendants of the original bearer could bear the ancestral arms only with some difference: a colour change or the addition of a distinguishing charge. One such charge is the label, which in British usage is now always the mark of an heir apparent or an heir presumptive; because of their importance in identification in seals on legal documents, the use of arms was regulated. This has been carried out by heralds and the study of coats of arms is therefore called "heraldry". In time, the use of arms spread from military entities to educational institutes, other establishments. In Scotland, the Lord Lyon King of Arms has criminal jurisdiction to control the use of arms. In England, Northern Ireland and Wales the use of arms is a matter of civil law and regulated by the College of Arms and the High Court of Chivalry.
In reference to a dispute over the exercise of authority over the Officers of Arms in England, Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, Lord Privy Seal, declared on 16 June 1673 that the powers of the Earl Marshal were "to order and determine all matters touching arms, ensigns of nobility and chivalry. It was further declared that no patents of arms or any ensigns of nobility should be granted and no augmentation, alteration, or addition should be made to arms without the consent of the Earl Marshal. In Ireland the usage and granting of coats of arms was regulated by the Ulster King of Arms from the office's creation in 1552. After Irish independence in 1922 the office was still working out of Dublin Castle; the last Ulster King of Arm
