New England National Park
Australia has some beautiful bushland that simply
astonishes, but there still lingers a doubt and distaste, a fear and hatred,
for these native places. Their awe seems to generate much the same response as
mountains did in Victorian times. It took Ruskin’s writing and enthusiasm to
transform perceptions. Does Australia need a Ruskin?
There remains a distinct aggression displayed towards
bushland, an attitude that sees the solution in cutting and clearing. There is
little love here. Is this a relic of our colonial past? Does this dislike of
natural wonder that sees only threat come from our convict past? – see http://voussoirs.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/conviction.html
The sign at Ulmarra in New South Wales tells the story. The
path the public toilet is signed with a warning that trees are dangerous.
Appropriately, the trees nearby have been trimmed. This attitude towards nature
envisages only risk. Perhaps it is this same attitude that has shaped this
public building too?
We
need to learn from nature, not disregard it or treat it
so brutally. It can change our thinking, and our architecture too. There
is little doubt that this small Ulmarra dunny might have benefitted
form leaving the trees to disguise its bland presence.
New England National Park
