Paddington Reservoir (Sydney, Australia), Sketch
Title: A Journey Through Time (Paddington Reservoir Gardens)
Project: Graphics 3, UNSW
Timeline: 10 Weeks (June - August 2022)
Design Brief:
Develop a graphical design narrative which situates a series of graphic design
interventions that use typography and/or image making into locations within
a site of your choice. Ensure you employ important graphic design practices of
placemaking, interpretation, and wayfinding that assist in telling your chosen narrative.
interventions that use typography and/or image making into locations within
a site of your choice. Ensure you employ important graphic design practices of
placemaking, interpretation, and wayfinding that assist in telling your chosen narrative.
Concept:
As you enter the sunken garden of Paddington, you embark on a journey through time. This journey will shine a light on and convey the importance and history of the Paddington Reservoir located in Sydney, Australia, to its visitors.
Site Background:
The site was originally designed by architect Edward Bell and was an integral part of Sydney, providing Paddington’s water supply and being part of the original water supply system for the city. The site was de-watered and used for various things before closing completely in July 1990. There would then be a commission to restore the site in 1999, resulting in what is now a hidden historic oasis with a sunken garden.
Narrative - A Journey Through Time:
This narrative aims to bring to light how different a location the garden is, and how it almost appears to be anachronistic. Seeming out of place, surrounded by all the modern and contemporary architecture of the city.
Wayfinding System:
These graphical interventions will help visitors travel to the Paddington Reservoir Garden from Taylor Square. The use of blue represents water which decreases as visitors get closer and closer to the site. The rough sketch of the garden found on these interventions convey how visitors do not yet know the garden's history and thus, cannot form a proper image of the site in their minds.
Upon reaching the site, the narrative truly starts. Through the use of short graphical text placed throughout the site, visitors begin to understand the garden's history. Located in the underground area of the site are mirror panels with longer pieces of text, going more in depth on the sites history. These panels along with those placed on the outside staircase and footpaths also represent water and how the reservoir used to be filled with it.
Mirror Panel Installations:
Paddington Reservoir History on Mirror Panels (Installation Mock-up)
