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Source: Canberra
Date: September 3, 2007
Byline: Ken Taylor

Capital critics ignore the virtues of a unique city

EDMUND BACON, one of the most significant city planners of the 20th century, suggests that, "The building of cities is one of man's greatest achievements. The form of his city always has been and always will be a pitiless indicator of the state of his civilisation. This form is determined by the multiplicity of decisions made by the people who live in it."

These words first written in 1967 may now sound somewhat grandiose. But their intent still holds true, although one has the inevitable feeling that the planning of cities, Canberra included, has become too oriented in developer-driven directions. The report in The Canberra Times (August 29) on the National Capital Authority's hopes for inspiring architecture in a proposed new building complex near City Hill, countered by a comment along the lines that this kind of architecture is too expensive in terms of development costs and best revenue for the ACT, leaves a chillingly numb feeling: what price the city?

But to return to Ed Bacon: he was a committed admirer of Canberra back in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1968 he thought Canberra was a statement of world culture which stood "among the greatest creations of man" and that the city "confirms, beyond anything else I know of, the dominant importance of space design. Here is a network of sweeping vistas, vast gulps of fresh air, superbly exciting and dynamic interactions between the peaks of hills and mountains and the movement of people". One can imagine what his reaction would be to the negative carping we have seen against the proposal to spend just $1 million on a sculpture to reflect the spirit of the Canberra community.

There are those who have mindlessly expressed a fear that we could join the tradition of giant things like the Big Pineapple. They do this without appreciating that public art is pluralistic and rightly involves aspects of popular culture. This is not to say in any way that we want a replica big thing on the site in Canberra. But in their place such sculptures (taking the definition of sculpture to be the art of making forms, often representational) reflect aspects of our everyday culture.

The Big Merino, for example, is a magnificent representation of a merino ram; it stands imperiously glaring down at passers-by with the folds of its wool proudly displayed. But think, why it is in Goulburn? Here is one of the world's finest merino wool areas; the sheep is a celebration of that and its importance in the local community. Sculpture is not just about high art/high aesthetics judged by people who assume they have good taste.

Then there's carping criticism of the Canberra project being a waste of money. Such negativism is disappointing. This city with its international reputation as one the great 20th century planned cities is approaching its centenary. We should be only too happy to commemorate this in many ways after community input into the Canberra 100 Celebration of a Century process last year. Creating a special sculpture is one way, among many others, to do this; it arises from the 2006 community input. It has potential to give an enhanced sense of place, and celebrate creativity in a key Canberra location. Local politicians who brand it a waste of money ought readily to follow the example of present and former chief ministers from both major parties who have joined a taskforce to promote the celebrations.

One thing that is apparent in looking at Ed Bacon's book is the pivotal role played by sculpture in the making of city spaces through history. Taking two random examples, can you envisage Piazza della Signoria in Florence without the dark equestrian figure of Cosimo1, or Ammanati's imperious Neptune, or Michelangelo's elegant David; or the Piazza Navona in Rome without the swirling Baroque sculptural groups by Bernini.

But we need look no further than Canberra itself to see and enjoy public art. There is an immense array of works of art in public areas in the city. These range from traditional figures to representational forms such as Norma Redpath's Treasury Fountain or Henry Moore's Hill Arches and Mark di Suvero's huge triangular steel Ik ook. The proposal for a centenary sculptural addition to our rich collection is to applauded. I was fortunate to be asked as one of four Canberra writers to express my sense of the spirit of Canberra as part of the brief for the competition. These are my feelings on the city:

Canberra is a remarkable city. In the true sense of the word it is a unique city, for there is no other city like it in the world. Driving into Canberra from Sydney, Melbourne or Cooma, or flying in over the paddocks and forested hills, is a strikingly different experience than the approach to any other Australian city. The boundary between the city and the bush is abrupt. Paddocks give way to houses, tree-lined roads, and open space with sweeping panoramas of forested hills forming an immense and magnificent landscape backdrop.

In the centre around Lake Burley Griffin are the city's monumental national buildings majestically poised in a sylvan setting, again with the defining backdrop of hills. The spirit of the city its muse is its landscape setting and the way landscape articulates city form.

The sense of space is informed by the brilliant light and the luminosity of pale shadows under a high sun, by the boundless sky against which the low horizontal curve of the hills describes a gigantic amphitheatre, by bush clad hills in colours that are quintessentially Australian with their olive greens: these suffuse and pervade all experiences of the city.

Even as the city changes over time it is important to maintain the vision of the city in the landscape and the opportunities presented for protecting an enduring sense of place and the city's remarkable cultural diversity.

So here is space and genius loci to inspire the artist to create public art that will grace the setting and be graced by the setting.

Ken Taylor is an adjunct professor at the Research School of Humanities, ANU. His book Canberra: City in the Landscape was launched in March.

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