Land Art on show at Tin Sheds

A new exhibition at the University of Sydney's Tin Sheds Gallery showcases the international, award-winning work of Denton Corker Marshall - the architecture practice behind landmark buildings including the Melbourne Museum, Sydney's Governor Phillip Tower and the UK's new Stonehenge Visitor Centre.

Land Art: Nine Small Buildings feature Denton Corker Marshall's smaller design projects, which signify its long interest in compositions that unify architecture and the Australian landscape. Through models, photographs and drawings of nine small buildings, the exhibition reveals a fascinating story about the creative challenge and approach of Denton Corker Marshall.

John Denton, Founding Partner, Denton Corker Marshall said: "As Europeans, we took over the countryside and intervened to make our mark. Our interest is in exploiting this contrast through our architecture and its place in Australian landscape - sculptures in the landscape - land art."

Founded in 1972, Denton Corker Marshall's approach to architecture can be linked to the influence of the 1970s art movement 'Land Art', characterised by earthworks and monumental landscape sculptures.

Professor Peter Rowe, Harvard Graduate School of Design, said: "The one external source Denton Corker Marshall appears to allow into their architecture is modern art and, in particular, abstract, minimalist and even conceptual art."

Seven of the buildings featured in Land Art are residential houses set within diverse Victorian landscapes. From Phillip Island, Cape Schanck and the Yarra Valley, to the Melbourne suburb of Carlton, each project has a unique story, set within a contrasting landscape and environment.

The other two buildings are current international projects: the Stonehenge Visitor Centre in the UK (2014) and the new Australian Pavilion in Venice's Giardini della Biennale (2015).

The design for the Stonehenge Visitor Centre is simple, yet distinctive and sensitive to the historical significance of the monument and its surroundings. Two, single-storey pods containing exhibition, education and other visitor facilities will cater for the one million people who visit each year. It is due to officially open in April 2014.

The two-level Australian Pavilion is architecturally described as a white box contained within a black box. It is seen as an object or a container rather than a building, in which ideas can be explored. It will exhibit Australian visual arts and architecture at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2015.

Land Art: Nine Small Buildings is the first exhibition representing Tin Sheds' renewed focus on attracting works by leading architects and designers locally and internationally. It opens at Tin Sheds on 13 February and runs until 4 April 2014. Tin Sheds is located within the Faculty of Architecture Design and Planning at the University of Sydney. Entry is via the Wilkinson Building on City Road, Camperdown.

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Land Art on show at Tin Sheds