SYDNEY.- The Barangaroo Delivery Authority in collaboration with the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas (SCCI) has unveiled a major installation designed by award-winning Vietnamese architect, Vo Trong Nghia at Exchange Place, Barangaroo.

Green Ladder by Vo Trong Nghia Architects is a temporary art installation, a peaceful green space for Barangaroo visitors to enjoy until May 2018. The work, a place of reflection, a meeting place and a visual and interactive experience exemplifies sustainable architectural excellence.

Green Ladder, commissioned by the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (2016), is an example of the evolving methodology in sustainable design practice by one of the world’s leading mid-generation architects. Mr Vo Trong Nghia, recipient of seven World Architecture Festival awards, uses natural materials to ‘green’ dense urban areas. Part building, sculpture and installation, the work serves simultaneously as garden, and sanctuary. Vo’s innovative use of ‘green steel’ (bamboo) and a range of natural materials aims to reintegrate nature into dense and denuded urban environments. Viewers and passers-by are encouraged to sit, reflect, relax and enjoy the contrast to their everyday busy lives.

Founder and Executive Director of the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas, Dr Gene Sherman, said: “The work demonstrates Nghia’s innovative use of bamboo, and his passion to green the world’s expanding urban landscapes with plants and vegetation. He pushes the limits of a strong, lightweight and highly sustainable traditional building material. He aims to increase biodiversity and to reconnect city dwellers with the natural environment.”

Green Ladder, on loan from SCCI, introduces a three year Barangaroo Structures annual architectural pavilion programme. This initiative takes its cue from London’s Serpentine Gallery’s Architectural Pavilions and the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation’s Fugitive Structures Series (2013-2016). Following Green Ladder, the inaugural commissioned collaborative project will be a temporary pavilion located in Barangaroo Reserve. The commissioned architect will be announced in October 2018, within the context of SCCI’s inaugural Architecture Hub.

Barangaroo Executive Director of Activation and Precinct Management, Sandra Bender, said: “Our ambition is to deliver a distinct and unique voice within the broader programming and events landscape in Sydney and Australia, animated through creative and engaged partners, such as the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas. Our partnership with SCCI in the delivery of Barangaroo Structures will provide an opportunity for our visitors to explore emerging architectural ideas with innovative sustainable materials while enjoying this spectacular new foreshore location.”

Barangaroo Delivery Authority in partnership with the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas presents Green Ladder designed by award-winning Vietnamese architect, Vo Trong Nghia from 7 March until 2 May 2018 at Exchange Place, Barangaroo.