Сиднейдегі Австралия алаңы: Архитектуралық символ және тарихы

Australia Square Tower is an office and retail complex in the central business district of Sydney. Its main address is 264 George Street, and the Square is bounded on the northern side by Bond Street, eastern side by Pitt Street and southern side by Curtin Place.

The building was first conceived in 1961, and its final design by Harry Seidler & Associates was in 1964 after collaboration with structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. Today, it remains a landmark building in Sydney and is regarded as iconic to Australian architecture. The outstanding feature of the Square is the Tower Building; from its completion in 1967 until 1976 was the tallest building in Sydney. Australia Square is jointly owned by the GPT Group and Dexus. During the mid 1990s the building was completely refurbished. Another $11 million refurbishment program, which included replacing all paving in public areas with Italian porphyry paving stone, new lighting and outdoor tables was conducted in 2003.

Australia Square was constructed shortly after height restrictions were lifted in the city of Sydney and at a time when small sites, including blocks created by laneways, were being consolidated into larger blocks to accommodate high rise office towers. It was the world's tallest lightweight concrete building at the time it was built. With a height of , Australia Square also holds the distinction of being Australia's first modern "skyscraper" (a building which exceeds the height of ) as designated by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

The project was instigated by Dick Dusseldorp, the founder of Lend Lease. Construction, starting with demolition of the old buildings, began in 1961. The finished tower is 50 storeys tall with most of these available for commercial tenants, a total of
The tower is constructed of lightweight concrete, with 20 projecting vertical columns tapering to the summit and supporting a combination of interlocking rib structured reinforcement and radial support beams. The tower is in diameter, with a central core of diameter. The core contains elevator shafts, emergency stairwells and service conduits. Each floor is donut shaped, with a clear span of to the perimeter windows and a total area of each. Construction time for each floor was five working days—a new standard in office tower construction. completed 1964). The Plaza Building was devised to be completed and generate rental income while the round tower was being constructed. Alongside the Tower Building sits a large abstract steel sculpture by Alexander Calder. There is also a sculpture by Seward Johnson Jr, Waiting. The tower ground floor lobby had tapestries by Le Corbusier and Victor Vasarely on display; however, due to fading, those pieces were removed and replaced in 2003 with a mural by Sol LeWitt. The former Lend Lease executive floor in the tower also had many artworks specified by Harry Seidler: the reception area displayed a sculpture by Norman Carlberg and tapestries by John Olsen and Le Corbusier, the executive floor suites also had a tapestry by Miro and artwork by Alexander Calder. Extensive public open space, including fountains, is a feature of the Square. This design feature is an early example of including a public open space on private land.