Visions of a future of sprawling skylines, cyber-steel and glass interfaces are nothing but dystopic. The fetishisation of technology in our postmodern age is a worrying sign of a social landscape characterised by interpersonal dysfunction, isolation and amorality. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has eroded the social contract, replacing the human for the product and the physical for the virtual. Is this the way forward?

The Rustbelt is an invocation of fading memories and collective effort. As an interstitial moment between arrival and departure at the University, ideas are heard, disseminated and developed. Technology becomes not the ends but the means: this is a 21st century agora where narratives meet, intersect and shape. A digital library democraticises access to archival and research material for students and the public alike to use, and a stage ampitheatre serves as the final destination on this journey – where heated conversation and reasoned debate can be witnessed and broadcast everywhere.

Above all, this place honours the workers and blue collar labour – those whose effort is the cause of our prosperity. Trains are no longer made here in the post-industrial age. But just as the former Paint Shop helped forge an industrial, modern Sydney, this project will help build a more interconnected, empathetic and informed civil society. The building opens itself to University members and the community, gathering them and pushing them to explore the physical and intellectual landscape. By facilitating social interaction at every turn, The Rustbelt encourages Sydneysiders to look up from their screens and be present. To listen. To raise their voice. To stay curious. This is an incubator of ideas, and it is for everyone.