Red Sand Garden
The Australian Garden’s central feature is the Red Sand Garden. It is made up of vibrant red sand and circles of saltbush, with crescent-shaped mounds that echo the shapes and colours of Central Australia. It is intended to display seasonal wildflower flushes as seen in Central Australia’s deserts.
That sand garden. The ubiquitous red sand. Are we going to continue to replicate the colours of the arid north in Cranbourne, or the Kimberley stones of Federation Square? Is it even appropriate, or desirable, to represent the red desert of Melbourne? You’ve probably all thought it or something similar. It was mine. This was certainly a common thread of conversation among landscape architects students after stage 1. Concerns over the provenance and origin of the materials that were used in Federation Square (where the stone is from another country) were mitigated by the fact that the sand was locally sourced. It is still questionable that such a representation could be made in Melbourne, where the landscape is more commonly depicted in advertising or imagination.
When we think about the Australian Garden, it is impossible to forget the red sand and the image of the red sandy. It’s striking, a remarkable logo for the project, and a direct route to the public’s affections. It is also popularized by the profession and used for awards coverage and articles. This is regrettable. Although the sand garden is a striking image, it can reduce the design to one photo.
That’s the core of it. My unease is not a result of some cultural angst or residual issues over our position in Australia’s arid landscape. It is not the frustration at being physically excluded from a crucial part of the site. It’s the feeling of unease when you see a place designed with the eyes and camera in mind. It is difficult to design for spectacle and not create a stunning outcome. In a fantastically reproducible image, which is a marketer’s nightmare, it is easy to see the need for stability and spectacle. You can’t allow growth or senescence to go unchecked. You don’t even need to go into the garden to take the shot. Instead, you can enjoy the view from the cafe while you eat lunch. The viewer is also elevated and centred, allowing for the ideal angle to view the colonizing gaze as it surveys its conquered territory. It doesn’t matter if you are intent or not. People make of our work whatever they like.
Although I don’t intend to suggest that this is the only thing about the red sand gardens, it is the source of my discomfort. Images are a large part of our knowledge. This image of the red-sand garden is one of the most popular in the Australian Garden. Stasis is the condition it’s built into. This is the dilemma that the iconic image shows.
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