We love Sydney, we really do. But that’s not to say that our beloved city isn’t without her flaws. With so many locals and tourists going in and out of the city every day, a lot of resources get used up. Energy, water and other commodities are becoming increasingly precious, so to keep our city functioning the best it can, none other than Sydney institution the Powerhouse Museum is specially re-opening its doors during Vivid Sydney. Yes – you read that correctly! The legendary Ultimo museum closed in February for an extensive three-year renovation period, however the Powerhouse has granted special permission for folks to be allowed back onto the premesis for this fascinating exhibition, dubbed A New Normal, inside the temporary Vivid hub.
Led by urban leader, former Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney and Time Out Future Shaper Jess Miller, this intriguing exhibition featuring prototypes, light displays and more concepts will be open to visit every night between 6pm and 10pm, for three weeks from May 24 – and it's totally free to visit.
Architects, designers, developers and tech specialists have banded together to produce an exhibition full of sustainable solutions for the city-slicking lifestyle. More than 20 brilliant concepts will be on display, including a beer made from recycled waste-water in partnership with Heaps Normal called ‘The Last Beer on Earth’; a coat hanger-eating robot; a bio-processor being built on Cockatoo Island to transform the massive amounts of bio waste (aka, poop) from Taronga Zoo into fuel for Sydney Harbour’s vessels; a company that turns the engine from your current car into an electric one so you don’t even need to worry about selling your baby to be a part of the sustainable transport movement.
A New Normal is a wonderful mix of art, design, politics and solutions-based design. The exhibition is an extension of A New Normal's beginnings at the Melbourne Design Week in 2021, where eight of the 15 proposed ideas were adopted (and three have since been completed). Theoretically, if 120 billion dollars was invested across each of the 20 interconnecting ideas on display, Sydney would become self-sufficient in producing its own energy and limitless water, and the city would become zero-waste in just ten years(!).
This practical brainstorm is not only a way to showcase a new eco-friendly future for Sydney and instil some hope in the face of a rather bleak looking approach to climate change, but it gives government and councils the access to some ready-to-go solutions. A New Normal is a part of Vivid Ideas Sydney.
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