Vivid Sydney and what to expect this 2024

This week marks the launch of “A New Normal,” an exhibition that will bring together more than fifty of Sydney’s most ambitious designers, architects, developers, technologists, brands, and architects to present innovative solutions to some of the city’s most persistent challenges.

Find out which restaurants and bars have special offers this Vivid Sydney 2024!

Presented in partnership with Vivid Ideas Sydney, Zen Energy, and Landcom, this exhibition aims to showcase practical approaches that collectively represent a $120 billion investment opportunity, promising profitable initiatives that will pay for themselves within seven years.

Hosted at the Powerhouse Museum’s Harwood Building from 24 May to 15 June, and free to the public, “A New Normal” is part-gallery, part-pavilion, and part-community meeting place. The exhibition will feature future prototypes and more than twenty concepts aimed at transforming Sydney into a self-sufficient city. These concepts include sustainable solutions such as a beer made from recycled wastewater in partnership with Heaps Normal, the rehabilitation of the Cooks River, a reimagined community gardening model, and a coat hanger-eating robot. Other highlights include a 1,000-megawatt pumped hydro power project capable of powering 500,000 homes for eight continuous hours and a classic 1973 VW Squareback converted into an electric vehicle.

Led by Jess Miller, former Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, this exhibition results from a massive collaboration between some of Australia’s most forward-thinking and practical minds. It aims to serve as a blueprint for a more sustainable decade by assembling real-world solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems.

Following its initial success at Melbourne Design Week in 2021, where it presented 15 prototypes, eight of which were adopted and three completed, “A New Normal” is now making its debut in Sydney. “We’re thrilled to be adapting and presenting this ‘do tank’ to Sydneysiders and the nation,” says Miller. “This project offers a blueprint for cities aiming to save water, reduce emissions, and minimize climate impact while creating jobs and supporting the local economy.”

Landcom CEO Alex Wendler echoes this sentiment, highlighting the importance of showcasing urban agriculture and organic waste-to-energy exhibitions inspired by Landcom’s Bomaderry and Glenfield projects. Lisa Havilah, Chief Executive of Powerhouse, also emphasizes the exhibition’s significance, noting that “The Powerhouse offers the ideal playground for these groundbreaking ideas.”

ZEN Energy CEO Anthony Garnaut underscores the urgency of the exhibition. “This is the critical decade for climate action, and Sydney can and should be able to keep its own lights on. Big challenges need bold solutions.”

Visitors at the Vivid Sydney hub can explore concepts like circularity, zero waste, renewable energy, low-emission transport, and unlimited water, all translated into practical projects that could soon be part of their local communities. Backed by empirical evidence, case studies, and scientific research, “A New Normal Sydney” is an integral part of Vivid Ideas, expressing this year’s Vivid theme of Humanity — exploring what makes us human and how we can create a better world together.

A New Normal is one of the many highlights of Vivid Sydney 2024, fusing art, innovation, and technology to celebrate creativity and forward-thinking solutions in one of the world’s most liveable cities.

Full list of twenty projects on display at A New Normal include: 

  1. Renewable Energy Generation & Storage in apartments, by award-winning architect Lucy Humphrey, Solar Citizens & GHD.  This team has come up with structure that generates stores and distributes energy to people living within a high density, mixed use apartment block precinct in Wolli Creek.The concept explores how technology can be better integrated into strata and community energy models to allow low-cost renewable energy to be accessed by people who don’t have the option to buy solar panels and batteries because they rent.
  2. No Waste Fit Out – Circular Shop by Heleana Genaus, Second Edition, Scentre Group and Mud Australia. This team is providing retailers and shopping centres with a solution that avoids unnecessary landfill created during new shop fitouts. Integrating advanced algorithmic architecture robots, this is an interactive circular economy shop front providing a glimpse into low-impact retail products and design. 
  3. My ‘forever car’, love a classic car but hate the idea of it breaking down all the time? Come and check out some examples of forever cars and motorbikes developed by architect Rachel Neesom, KPMG, RoEV & Ausgrid.. Electro Gusto are bringing along their lovingly restored 1973 VW Squareback and showing you what’s under the hood – a brand new EV engine. 
  4. The night garden, teams from Mulpha, Landcom, Ethos Urban. Richard Unsworth, have been exploring how to reintroduce care for Country and rewilding in our cities to improve biodiversity, reduce urban heat and create a unique urban aesthetic. Come and feel and hear the sounds of a pop-up native garden that has been created by Roman Deguchi and his brilliant local First Nations team from Wildflower Gardens. 
  5. The New Normal Sydney exhibition, a 1000 megawatt pumped hydro power project that will keep the lights on in 500,000 homes for 8-continuous hours, a ‘Taronga Poo’ waste to energy solution, to a flower-inspired bus stop designed to protect commuters from the elements; there are more than 20 concept on display for visitors to consider as part of their new normal at home, at work and in their neighbourhoods.

Vivid Ideas runs from 24 May to 14 June 2024. Explore the full program online at vividsydney.com.