The Rocks, Rocks Square, Vivid Sydney

This lighting design artwork is hanging above Rocks Square, just off Playfair Street at the Rocks, as part of the Vivid Sydney festival. "Illuminate", created by Daniel Mercer and Richard Neville, with highly efficient light sources using less power than the existing lights normally in the square. The 140 hanging tubes filled with individually controllable LEDs produce 9000 pixels of light, lighting the space with continuously changing colours and patterns.

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Darlinghurst, Camp Stonewall

Camp Stonewall is an art installation at Taylor Square, off Oxford Street, in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst. The artwork is part of the Taylor Square Plinth Project, which has had three temporary art projects installed from 2009 to 2011 to enliven the square and make people think about art. Camp Stonewall, by Annie Kennedy, celebrates the achievements of the gay rights movement and people who campaigned for change. The name refers to the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan, where the gay riots on  28th June, 1969 sparked an international response, including protests in Sydney’s Oxford Street. The lamp post on the plinth in the staircase of a disused underground gentlemen's convenience, reinterprets the original post from the early 1900s, which carried street signage and illuminated the square. The tiles on the wall feature messages and stories written by the contemporary gay and lesbian community of Sydney. This artwork is on the route of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras which is on tonight.

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Sydney Square, Sydney Living Colour

Sydney Square, between Sydney Town Hall and St Andrews Cathedral, features this floral display which is part of 'Sydney Living Colour'. The theme for these displays throughout the city for Summer 2011 is ‘Live Green’ which focuses on how our lifestyle choices affect the future of our planet. Each display around the city encourages people to adopt sustainable practices. 'Worm Farming' at the front here includes Marigolds, Lavender, Mint, Lettuce and Parsley. 'Community Gardens' seen behind it includes Eggplants, Capsicums, Tomatoes, Silverbeet, Corn, Sunflowers, Chillis, Snowpeas, Pyrethrum, Thyme and Sage. 'Saving Water' further back features a variety of flowers: Dichondra Silver Falls, Celosia Yellow, Salvia Farninacea Blue, Lavender Spanish Eyes and Furcraea Medio-Picta.

Woolloomooloo, mall

This view of the inner city suburb of Woolloomooloo is from Cowper Wharf Road, close to the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf. Forbes Street has been blocked to traffic and converted into a mall. An old warheouse on the left is now the Artspace Visual Arts Centre. A recent development of flats, restaurants and shops with a clock tower has been built on the right, in a style to match the historic buildings in this area. The tall building in the distance is Horizon Apartments at Darlinghurst.

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Chifley Square, sculpture

This enourmous sculpture of Ben Chifley, Labor Prime Minister from 1945 to 1949, was created by Simeon Nelson and installed in 1997. It stands in Chifley Square beside Chifley Tower, which were named after this prime minister. This artwork which stands over 9 metres is a cartoon line drawing cut from two flat sheets of stainless steel, narrowly separated by a truss, creating a two dimensional pop art sculpture. It was derived from a small grainy photo of Ben Chifley posing for a group portrait with members of British Prime Minister Atlee’s cabinet in 1947. The wall of glass in the background which is an extension of the outdoor cafe's rear wall is called Lightwall Crucimatrilux.

Millers Point, Towns Place Square

This small square (above) located at Towns Place in the inner city suburb of Millers Point sits between two new apartment developments. Towns Place at Walsh Bay was once the site of Robert Towns’s whaling and trading empire. The sandstone wall of the original bond store c.1860 was rebuilt in 2006 using stone salvaged from the cellar level wall uncovered during excavations for these new blocks of flats. Stone blocks from the old warehouse have also been formed into benches in the square, along the length of the wall (below).

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Cook and Phillip Park, zorbing

Thrillseekers were recently able to walk on water in one of the fountains, in the square beside Cook and Phillip Park. The 3.2m clear plastic inflated orb has double-sectioned balls, with one ball inside the other and an air layer in between. Zorbing usually involves an orb rolling downhill or off a ramp but in this case the rolling was on water. The rope ensured thrillseekers didn't end up rolling down the hill into the park or into the traffic on College Street or William Street. It was one of the attractions here at the recent Australian Winter Festival which also featured an ice rink.

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Darlinghurst, Underworld

 Underworld is an art installation at Taylor Square, in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst. The artwork is part of the Taylor Square Plinth Project, which is having three temporary art projects installed from 2009 to 2011 to enliven the square and make people think about art. Underworld, by Dale Miles, is a set of colourful arachnid legs emerging from the staircase of a disused underground gentlemen's convenience. This work of art gives voice to the lost habitat of the notorious and venemous Sydney Funnel Web Spider.

Customs House Square, Chinese New Year

These 'Giant Digital Origami Tigers' celebrate Chinese New Year in Customs House Square, in front of Customs House at Circular Quay. This art installation was commissioned to raise awareness about the endangered status of tigers, in the Year of the Tiger. The installation is inspired by traditional Chinese lantern-making methods and zhezhi, the art of paper folding, more popularly known by the Japanese name origami. They are made from an aluminium wire frame with a stretched barrisol membrane and are illuminated at night by pulsating lights. The tigers were designed by LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture) an international design firm that also designed 'Void' during the Vivid Sydney festival last year. The designers also added some humour with the tigers playing soccer, to kick off the FIFA world cup starting later this year.

Summer Hill, fountain

This fountain and mural on the side of an Italian restaurant give this public plaza a European feel. The small town square is located in the inner west suburb of Summer Hill, on the corner of Lackey Street and Hardie Avenue.
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Cook and Phillip Park, fountain

This fountain sits in the square above the Cook and Phillip Park Aquatic and Fitness Centre. In the distance you can see one of the city's Christmas trees surrounded by one of the Living Colour floral displays, close to the nativity scene that sits outside St Mary's Cathedral.

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Kogarah, Christmas Tree

This Christmas tree is in Kogarah Town Square, outside Kogarah Library. In recent years, many local area councils have begun to decorate their main streets, pedestrian malls or suburban squares at Christmas time.

Darlinghurst, Oxford Square

 This decorative water fountain is located in Oxford Square, in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst.

Darlinghurst

The city hosts one of its biggest events tonight, the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. The parade route runs from the city, beside Hyde Park, along Oxford Street (right), past Taylor Square (left) at Darlinghurst and then down to Moore Park.

Kogarah library

The public library at Kogarah sits behind Kogarah Town Square.

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