Richard Weller is the Meyerson Chair of Urbanism and Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture at the Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania. Image by Gordon Stillman.
TA B L E O F CON T EN T S FOREWORD by Jillian Walliss
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LANDSCAPE AS ART
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Landscape Painting
23 image, 114 text
The Ghost House
26 image, 119 text
Australian Garden
28 image, 120 text
No-man’s land
32 image, 122 text
The Berlin Room
34 image, 123 text
Potsdamer Platz Park
38 image, 123 text
Paris-Moscow Songline
44 image, 124 text
The Herbal and the Bestiary
46 image, 124 text
The Women’s Rooms
48 image, 124 text
Decomposition
54 image, 125 text
Île des Machines
58 image, 125 text
Deutsches Institut für Normung
60 image, 126 text
Animale Ignoble: Cockatoo Island
62 image, 126 text
National Museum of Australia
66 image, 127 text
The Uluru Axis
66 image, 128 text
Garden of Australian Dreams
70 image, 128 text
Future Generations University
84 image, 131 text
The Pentagon 9/11 Memorial
86 image, 131 text
The Tsunami Memorial
90 image, 132 text
The Course of Empire Circuit
96 image, 133 text
Garden of the Anthropos
100 image, 134 text
Weather Balloon
104 image, 134 text
ESSAY by Richard Weller
106
LANDSCAPE AS INSTRUMENT
156
The new suburb of Wungong
160 image, 138 text
Boomtown 2050
162 image, 139 text
GOD: Green Oriented Development
170 image, 142 text
Made in Australia
172 image, 142 text
East and West Coast Megaregions
174 image, 143 text
Roma 20-25: Lifecycles of the Metropolis
178 image, 144 text
The Atlas for End of the World
182 image, 145 text
The Problem of the Two Worlds
184 image, 145 text
Biodiversity Hotspots
190 image, 145 text
The Hotspot Cities Project
202 image, 149 text
Bogotá 2050
212 image, 149 text
The World Park Project
216 image, 150 text
Mega-Eco Projects
228 image, 151 text
The Butterfly and the Locust
232 image, 153 text
Not the Blue Marble
236 image, 153 text
AFTERWORD by Dirk Sijmons
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AUTHOR BIOS
252
PROJECT CREDITS
254
FURTHER READING
256
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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FOREWORD BY JILLIAN WALLISS
A WIDE OPEN ROAD1
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os t c e l e b r a te d d e s ig n e r s a n d a c a d e m ic s h ave a g ood o r ig i n s to r y : g r a d u a t i n g f ro m a n e s te e m e d d e s ig n sc h oo l o r sc o r i n g a b re a k t h ro u g h m o m e n t wo r k i n g i n a m a jo r d e s ig n e r ’s of f ic e . R ic h a rd ’s c a re e r h a s n o s u c h s to r y — a r a r i t y i n t h e d e s ig n d i sci p l i n e s , w h e re n e t wo r k s a n d a f f i l i a t io n s u n d e r p i n m u c h i n d i v i d u a l s u c c e s s . S h a pe d by a d e e p i n te re s t i n d e s ig n a n d a d ose of se re n d i p i t y, h i s c a re e r h a s t a ke n h i m f ro m S yd n ey to B e r l i n , to Pe r t h , a n d to Ph i l a d e l p h i a , w i t h m a ny s i d e t r i p s a l o n g t h e w ay.
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A u s t r a l i a n s h a ve a s t ro n g s e n s e o f t h e p e r i p h e r y a n d t h e c e n t e r. O c c u py i n g t h e c e n t e r d o e s n o t c o m e n a t u r a l l y t o a n t i p o d e a n s , a n d r i s k s t h e d a m p e n i n g o f o r i g i n a l i n s i g h t s g a i n e d f ro m b e i n g o n t h e f e r t i l e e d g e . R i c h a r d ’s i n f l u e n t i a l i c o n o c l a s t i c v i e w s o f l a n d s c a p e a rc h i t e c t u re i n t h e 19 9 0 s a n d 2 0 0 0 s c o n s t r u c t e d f ro m Pe r t h — t h e m o s t i s o l a t e d c a p i t a l c i t y i n t h e w o r l d — re f l e c t t h e s e a d v a n t a g e s . F o r t y ye a r s s i n c e h i s f i r s t ex p o s u re t o l a n d s c a p e a rc h i t e c t u re d u r i n g h i s s t u d i e s a t t h e U n i ve r s i t y o f N e w S o u t h Wa l e s , 2 h e i s n o w i n h i s f i n a l t e r m a s C h a i r o f t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f L a n d s c a p e A rc h i t e c t u r e a t t h e U n i ve r s i t y o f Pe n n s y l v a n i a , p a r t of an esteemed lineup spanning Ian McHarg, Anne Whiston Spirn, J o h n D i xo n H u n t , a n d J a m e s C o r n e r. I n t h i s ro l e , R i c h a r d h a s m a n a g e d t o m a i n t a i n h i s i n d e p e n d e n c e , w o r k e t h i c , c r i t i c a l i t y, a n d A u s t r a l i a n a c c e n t . T h ro u g h p ro j e c t s h e c o n t i n u e s t o s p e c u l a t e a n d p rovo ke , c a p i t a l i z i n g o n h i s p ro m i n e n t p o s i t i o n t o l o b by f o r a
g l o b a l l y d r i ve n l a n d s c a p e c o n s c i o u s n e s s : a M c H a r g i a n - i n f l u e n c e d v i s i o n a r y w i t h a B o b G e l d o f p re s e n c e . 3
Competitions are the “Arte Povera” of the Periphery 4
Good design competitions are a mirror to t he issues of our times a n d p l ay a c r i t ic a l ro l e i n ex te n d i n g a n d c h a l l e n g i n g a c a d e m i a a n d p r a c t ic e . I n m a ny w ay s , d e s ig n c o m pe t i t io n s , r a t h e r t h a n fo r m a l d e s ig n e d u c a t io n , h ave s h a pe d R ic h a rd ’s c a re e r a n d c r a f t . Wr i t i n g i n 20 0 5 , h e c o m m e n te d t h a t “ by v i r t u e of a n o ny m i t y,” d e s ig n c o m pe t i t io n s “a l l ow o n e to t r a n sc e n d r a n k .” 5 C o m pet i t io n s h e l pe d R ic h a rd , a “ b l ow- i n” f ro m Au s t r a l i a , to g e t a foot i n t h e d oo r of B e r l i n d e s ig n f i r m M ü l l e r K n i p p sc h i l d We h be rg (n ow L ü t zow 7 ). B u t eve n m o re i m po r t a n t l y, t h e c o m pe t i t io n fo r m a t h a s h o n e d R ic h a rd ’s p r a c t ic e, of fe r i n g c o n ci se p rovoc a t io n s to ex p l o re v i a t h e o re t ic a l a n d c re a t i ve s pe cu l a t io n . T h ro u g h t h e s t r ic t l i m i t a t io n s of t h e c o m pe t i t io n , R ic h a rd h a s d eve l o pe d h i s s ig n a t u re a p p ro a c h — a m a n i fe s to - l i ke p ro pos i t io n c o m m u n ic a te d t h ro u g h a c o m pe l l i n g g r a p h ic a n d n a r r a t i ve . Competition briefs prov ided Richard w it h an oppor tunit y to directl y engage w it h t he impossibilities of absence in post war Berlin (ex plored over a four-year period); t he event s of 9/11 (w hich many claim as t he end of post modernism); t he ex periential potentials of Sydney ’s postindust rial harbor sites; t he enormit y of loss inf licted by t sunami; and t he culture wars of Aust ralia. He has t aken student s on t his journey using competitions in studio teaching and more recentl y concei v ing competitions for L A+ Journal. In t his later inc arnation, Richard has become t he aut hor of angst , challenging ac ademics and practice to grapple w it h t he (im)possibilities of t he A nt hropocene.
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B ut it is in t he stor y of The G arden of Australian Dreams (GOAD) in t he National Museum of Aust ralia t hat t he double - edged sword of design competition success becomes ev ident—t he initial accolade is tempered by t he challenges and tensions of manifesting speculation into t he physic al. In t his c ase, const ruction collided w it h t he heated culture wars of late t wentiet h- centur y Aust ralia. Not for t he faint hear ted, t he debates over GOAD crossed national politics, ac ademia, t he profession, and t he public. W ho would have t hought representing t he “luck y count r y ” could be so fraught ? As Aust ralia moved past t he limp celebrations of t he 198 8 Bicentennial to const ruct a postcolonial identit y of multiculturalism and pluralism, it failed to ack now ledge it s t reat y-less foundation . Charged w it h const ructing a new postcolonial national museum in t he hear t of t he
nation’s c apit al, Canberra, t his collaboration bet ween architect s ARM and Room 4.1. 3 (Richard ’s design practice w it h V ladimir Sit t a), pulled of f t he many band-aids patching up Aust ralia’s national identit y. T h e i r d e s ig n re s po n se w a s n ot t h e c e l e b r a t io n t h a t c o n se r va t i ve po l i t ici a n s a n d a c a d e m ic s h a d h o pe d fo r. H i d d e n a m o n g s t t h e sy m bo l i s m e m p l oye d i n t h e G OA D we re h ig h a n d l ow cu l t u r a l re fe re n c e s , b a r b s , a n d p rovoc a t io n s . T h e i n c o r po r a t io n of t h e wo rd “so r r y ” ex p re s se d i n b r a i l l e o n t h e f a ç a d e of t h e m u se u m p u s h e d m a ny ove r t h e e d g e, l e a d i n g to c a l l s fo r t h e re d e s ig n of G OA D. T h i s m o r p h e d i n to d e b a te s ove r t h e m o r a l r ig h t s of d e s ig n e r s — t h e f i r s t t i m e t h a t Au s t r a l i a n l a n d sc a pe a rc h i te c t u re h a d e n te re d t h i s a re n a . 6 T h e g a rd e n re m a i n s i n t a c t , a l t h o u g h a l i t t l e wo r se fo r we a r a s i t s c o l o re d - c o n c re te g ro u n d s u r f a c e f a d e s ( h o pe f u l l y ) a l o n g s i d e t h e c o n se r va t i ve r a ci a l po l i t ic s of Au s t r a l i a . Twe n t y ye a r s o n , t h e re i s a n ew c o m pe t i t io n fo r t h e h e a r t of C a n be r r a’s Pa r l i a m e n t a r y Zo n e, to be k n ow n a s t h e N g u r r a p re ci n c t . 7 C o n c e i ve d a g a i n s t t h e po l i t ic a l b a c kd ro p of Re c o n ci l i a t io n , t h e e m e rg e n c e of s t a te - b a se d t re a t ie s a n d r u m b l i n g s of a n I n d ig e n o u s voic e to p a r l i a m e n t , t h i s c o m pe t i t io n re p re se n t s a n a t io n a l m a t u r i n g w h e re d i re c t I n d ig e n o u s re p re se n t a t io n a n d i n p u t (r a t h e r t h a n p a s s i ve sy m bo l i s m) w i l l s h a pe t h e o u tc o m e . At t h e t i m e of w r i t i n g , t h e w i n n e r i s ye t to be a n n o u n c e d , b u t g i ve n a n ew l y e l e c te d L a bo r g ove r n m e n t , t h e p roc e s s s h o u l d be so m ew h a t s m oot h e r t h a n t h e c o n t rove r sy s u r ro u n d i n g t h e N a t io n a l M u se u m of Au s t r a l i a . A s t h e s ay i n g g oe s , “ yo u c a n’ t m a ke a n o m e l e t w i t h o u t b re a k i n g so m e e g g s ,” a n d G OA D of fe re d a t i m e l y p rovoc a t io n d u r i n g t h e u n c o m fo r t a b l e p roc e s s of re c o n ci l i n g Au s t r a l i a n n a t io n a l i d e n t i t y with unfinished business.
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At a m o re pe r so n a l l eve l , R ic h a rd a c k n ow l e d g e s t h a t s u c h a cl ose c o l l a bo r a t io n w i t h a rc h i te c t H ow a rd R a g g a t t ( A R M ) i s a r a re ex pe r ie n c e a n d se r ve d to a m p l i f y i d e a s . T h e p roje c t a l so g a r n e re d i n te r n a t io n a l a t te n t io n , a n d w a s a c a t a l y s t fo r t h e p u b l ic a t io n of t h e Roo m 4.1. 3 . m o n og r a p h by Pe n n Pre s s i n 20 0 5 . T h e va l u e of G OA D — a n d t h e N a t io n a l M u se u m of Au s t r a l i a m o re g e n e r a l l y — i s f a r g re a te r t h a n i t s p hy s ic a l fo r m , i n s p i r i n g ex te n s i ve p rofe s s io n a l , a c a d e m ic , a n d p u b l ic d i sc o u r se c ros s i n g Au s t r a l i a n h i s to r y, cu l t u r a l s t u d ie s , m u se u m s t u d ie s , a rc h i te c t u re, u r b a n d e s ig n , a n d pos tc o l o n i a l t h e o r y. A rg u a b l y, G OA D m ig h t be t h e m os t d i scu s se d l a n d sc a pe a rc h i te c t u re p roje c t i n Au s t r a l i a i n t h e p a s t f i f t y ye a r s , i f n ot s i n c e Wa l te r B u r l ey G r i f f i n’s p l a n fo r C a n be r r a .
A Designer in Wolf’s Clothing
The relationship bet ween planning and design continues to be a source of tension in landscape architecture, splintering landscape praxis into the t wo camps of repeat able analy tical methods and more-creative design speculation. In my conversations with American academics, Richard is of ten described as a planner. From an Australian perspective this is surprising, given that he is strongly identif ied as a designer and driven by an equally strong conceptual ar t practice. 8 This disputed identit y is par tly driven by the Australian underst anding of the term “planning,” which conjures up images of impor ted British town planning ideals guiding the development of our cities and suburbs through green belts, subdivisions, and rational road systems. But when considered against the Nor th American landscape planning tradition, Richard ’s speculations on urbanism make the description of planner somewhat less design averse. In 20 05, Richard ’s new role as director of t he Aust ralian Urban Design Research Cent re ( AUDRC) at t he Uni versit y of Western Aust ralia, reoriented his focus toward t he slipper y challenges of an Aust ralian urbanism. He identif ies as par t of t he earl y t went y-f irst- centur y push toward concei v ing a landsc ape - dri ven urbanism (alt hough aligned w it h t he Nor t h A meric an landsc ape fraternit y rat her t han t he A A paramet ric f lavor). Work ing w it hin t he research contex t of Aust ralia, w here money is tight , and grant s are highl y competiti ve, he began w it h t he potentials of Per t h’s suburban housing. Suppor ted by a modest team of PhD c andidates and researchers, Richard spent eight years interrogating Aust ralian urbanism across t he sc ales of t he suburb, t he cit y, and t he megaregion . Mapping is critic al to t his practice, and unquestionabl y Richard loves a map. Historic al maps of fer a host of cultural and politic al references, w hile landsc ape architecture’s beloved G IS prov ides a comprehensi ve inventor y of spatialized physic al and social dat a. W hen applied critic all y and creati vel y, mapping of fers a generati ve technique for merging planning and design, w hich Richard and his team used to great ef fect in t heir foray into urbanism.
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Over time, he managed to wrangle the world of Australian competitive research grants into his preferred mode of design speculation. Boomtown 2050: Scenarios for a Rapidly Growing Cit y, funded by a three-year Australian Research Council grant , presents alternative design scenarios for Per th’s urban development. Published in 20 09, the research aimed to graphically present densit y speculations with
a det ached neutralit y, hoping to prompt a wider debate engaging politicians, the public, built environment professions, and the media. Boomtown morphed into a major communications exercise with Richard delivering up to four lectures a week outlining future scenarios for Per th’s urbanism. Here the graphic images count— of fering a far more accessible stor y than conventional planning documents. However, this urban development stor y inevitably must include economic grow th in its plot. And therein lies the failure of landscape urbanism: its agendas are most easily realized in the excess space of the shrinking cit y, or alternatively in China, where technically no one owns land, and the government operates as developer and authorit y. In an Australian urban grow th model, where the economy is underpinned by the construction industr y, it is ex tremely challenging to bring questions of biodiversit y and ecology into the urbanism equation. No ar t of instrumentalit y here —just the blunt instrument of shor t-term economic grow th. Richard’s 2008 essay “L andscape (Sub)Urbanism in Theor y and Practice” oozes with this frustration, drawing at tention to landscape urbanism’s lack of engagement with the suburb, including the economic realities “where developers, ser vice providers, and ultimately consumers all operate within narrow f inancial margins.” 9 As Richard reflects, “large-scale urbanism is a fool’s game”—as you move away from discrete design projects to the larger scale you inevitably lose control.10 There is a vast gap bet ween landscape urbanism as a theoretical concept and a constructed realit y.
Building Penn’s Landscape Legacy
In t he world of landsc ape architecture ac ademia, t he chair at t he Uni versit y of Pennsy l vania (Penn) is t he hol y grail. Past chairs have demonst rated Penn’s openness to non – Nor t h A meric an c andidates, as ev idenced by Scot sman Ian McHarg and Englishman James Corner. Or have t hey ? This claim is onl y par tiall y t rue, gi ven t hat bot h McHarg and Corner studied landsc ape architecture at Har vard and Penn respecti vel y.11 The appoint ment of Richard in 2013 was far more of an unk now n, gained w it hout t he ad vant ages of an E ast Coast landsc ape pedigree. His new role c ame as a surprise in Aust ralia. Af ter dec ades of impor ting Nor t h A meric an ac ademics and practitioners (w it h mixed result s), t his was a major shif t in for tunes . In his essay for t his book , t he signif ic ance of t his c areer move barel y rates a mention . I pressed him on it .
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Richard did not aim to go to Nor th America. He was successful and comfor t able in Per th with an of f-campus cit y-based studio, good
resources, and access to policy makers and politicians, including the premier of Western Australia. His collaboration with Vladimir Sit t a had allowed him to build a practice, continue to operate as an academic, and have ample oppor tunities to travel and lecture internationally. However, af ter Boomtown he felt that his urban planning project was done, and he was ready to move on. Whereas some might have chosen the path of comfor t , shoring up their exper tise and reput ation, Richard by his own admission gets bored once a project has played out. Penn presented the lure of an international plat form along with its historical legacy of critical thought and leadership in landscape architecture. Moving countries meant a new academic culture —the public Australian universit y system, heavily inf luenced by the United Kingdom, is ver y dif ferent from a private Iv y League universit y such as Penn.12 In this new contex t , the pressure to “ t alk up” the program and the discipline more generally did not come naturally to Richard, who prefers to have inf luence through projects rather than rhetoric. Penn of fered resources to seed project s, and over time Richard has become more comfor t able ask ing donors for funds to suppor t initiati ves to ex tend Penn’s inf luence and facilit ate his ow n project s . In his f irst year he edited Transects: 10 0 Years of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the School of Design of the Universit y of Pennsylvania, and in anot her nod to legacy, in 2016 he curated t he International Festi val of L andsc ape A rchitecture “ Not in My B ack yard ” in Canberra, celebrating t he f if tiet h year of t he Aust ralian Institute of L andsc ape A rchitect s . At t he same time he led t he process of w riting t he New L andsc ape Declaration, a st atement of t he profession’s core values by t he L andsc ape A rchitecture Foundation (L AF ) in Washington DC. Re c og n i z i n g t h e a b se n c e of t h e o re t ic a l l y d r i ve n l a n d sc a pe jo u r n a l s a n d l a n d sc a pe c r i t i q u e m o re g e n e r a l l y, i n 2015 h e e s t a b l i s h e d t h e L A+ I nte rd i sc i p l i n a r y J o u rn a l of L a n d sc a p e A rc h i te ctu re w i t h h i s p a r t n e r, Ta t u m H a n d s . A t r a i n e d l aw ye r a n d p rofe s s io n a l e d i to r, Ta t u m i s t h e Ed i to r i n Ch ie f of L A+ a n d wo r k s cl ose l y w i t h R ic h a rd o n m a ny of h i s p u b l ic a t io n s . I n s p i re d by D a i d a los , w h ic h R ic h a rd re a d a s s t u d e n t , ove r t h e p a s t n i n e ye a r s , L A+ h a s ex p l o re d t h e m e s a s d i ve r se a s W i l d , Pl e a s u re, Cre a t u re, Ty r a n ny, S i m u l a t io n , R i s k , a n d I n te r r u pt io n , a n d i t i s n ow c o n s i d e re d c e n t r a l to d i s se m i n a t i n g l a n d sc a pe d i sc o u r se i n te r n a t io n a l l y.
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Relocating to Penn also meant engaging with the Nor th American landscape agendas dominated by issues of resilience, climate change,
and now decarbonization. The establishment of the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology as a multidisciplinar y research center has provided a major mechanism for Penn’s landscape program to focus their work. Marking the fif tieth anniversar y of the publication of McHarg’s seminal work Design with Nature, the center was launched in 2019 with an international symposium, the publication Design with Nature Now, and a suppor ting exhibition. And in a final homage to Penn as his tenure as chair concludes, The Landscape Project (2022), coedited by Richard and Tatum, draws together the writings of his colleagues to of fer a record of ideas which influence the contemporar y project of landscape architecture. Developed in collaboration with many, these highlighted projects are vehicles for documenting and disseminating other people’s voices and ideas. Instigating, editing, organizing, framing, hosting, curating —this is work that is t aken for granted in the hierarchical academic model that rewards individual success. Richard has done plent y of it in his career. Many students, academics, researchers, and practitioners in Australia, Nor th America, and from wider geographies have been provided oppor tunities by Richard, me included. Thank you.
A Question of Scale
The climate crisis has reinv igorated landsc ape architecture internationall y. It has, t hough, been accompanied by t wo problematic tendencies: f irst , for t he profession to spend considerable energ y describing t he crisis (as if it has gone unnoticed); and second, t he declaration of landsc ape architecture’s unique position to address t hese issues . For example, t he recent 2022 IFL A world congress in Korea featured a “moti vating” f ilm clip on a loop depicting landsc ape architecture w it h almost superhero characteristics . Stewardship on steroids .
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Critic al of landsc ape architecture climatic dogma, Richard entered t he era of t he A nt hropocene t hrough his preferred mode of t he project . His intentions were not to f ind a solution but to work w it h design speculation to test landsc ape met hods at t he sc ale of t he global and planet ar y. As he comment s, w hile ever y discipline is concerned w it h climate change, “design is t he one t hing t he landsc ape architect c an bring to t he t able t hat ot hers c annot .” 13 His f irst project in t his arena, t he “Atlas for t he End of t he World,” used mapping, suppor ted by st atistics, to highlight t he conf lict bet ween global urban development and biodi versit y. The sc ale t hen shif t s to ground t he project in t he cultural, ecologic al, and politic al specif ics
of t he world ’s “biodi versit y hot spot ” cities w here t he surrounding unique biodi versit y is critic all y t hreatened by urbaniz ation . The “ World Park ” project builds on t he Atlas . G lobal-sc ale mappings document t hree walk ing t rails, w hich t ransect nations and connect biodi versit y hot spot s and habit at s along t he way. Through t he cultural practice of walk ing, t hese t rails aim to encourage humans to par ticipate in t he restoration of landsc ape connecti v it y, along w it h reversing t he historic al role of national parks, w hich separated culture from a pristine w ilderness . To address t he challenges of climate change, Richard st ates, “requires t he rationalit y of t he planner, t he cunning of t he politician, and t he imagination of t he ar tist .” 14 The World Park project ref lect s t hese at t ributes, work ing bet ween t he t wo poles of t he allegoric al and t he inst rument al. It is a simpl y communic ated yet complex idea w hich of fers a focus to mobilize funds (hopefull y obt ained from a Musk , Bezos, G ates, or a W infrey), and it has c aught t he at tention of UNESCO, w hich is currentl y ex ploring it s possibilities . Richard warns that some people might view this approach as an example of a “neo-colonial megalomania,” explaining in his writings how mega-eco projects dif fer from megaprojects.15 Coming back to his intent to explore the global and planet ar y scales, I suggest that it is not at the geographic or landscape scale that the World Park project is vulnerable, but at the scale of economic, cultural, and political disparit y. Like Richard, I want to believe in the power of a big idea to address climatic issues. He clearly sees the potential of the mega-eco project underpinned by landscape architectural thinking as a major way for the discipline to address the loss of biodiversit y and global warming. Here is where my earlier reference to “a Bob Geldof presence” kicks in — par tly in recognition of Richard ’s charismatic sensibilit y 16 but mainly for their shared ambition to mobilize at scale for a greater social and ecological outcome.17 But for me, there are just too many assumptions of commonalit y underpinning the World Park project. Most of the examples used to suppor t a mega-eco approach involve one nation, or at most eleven, in the case of the Great Green Wall.18 Scaling a project to encompass f if t y-f ive nations is where the fun really begins.
17
This highlight s t he dif f icult y of landsc ape architecture in comparison to architecture. Our work of ten fails to materialize bec ause forces out side of our cont rol must align . The more ambitious t he project , t he more alignment required. I am w riting t his essay from Malaysia, w here I have been able to w it ness how designer Ng Sek San has
ex ploited t he cracks of an imper fect politic al system to achieve t he Kebun Kebun B angsar project— an ex t raordinar y linear communit y garden w it hin a power line easement in t he hear t of Kuala Lumpur. Met w it h considerable resist ance, Sek San has persisted and aims for t he project to grow into a t wo -k ilometer corridor link ing t he bot anic gardens w it h t he inner cit y. This is not an argument about “bot tom-up” versus “ top- dow n” practice, but rat her recognition of t he complexit y of sc ale w hen it comes to negotiating change. Richard and Sek San share a commit ment to using project s rat her t han platitudes to address social, climatic, and economic issues . May be onl y par t of t he World Park w ill be realized. Would t hat be a terrible outcome?
Work, Work, Work
B y his own admission, landscape architecture frustrates Richard. A creative and intellectual indif ference permeates the discipline —from an uncritical accept ance of genius loci (the site) as the source of all ideas, to the moral righteousness currently shaping the response to the climate crisis. In a par ticularly bruising obser vation, he comments that “by shif ting the problems of culture onto the innocence of nature, works of landscape architecture ef fectively inoculate themselves from the sor t of critique that would apply to any other aesthetic practice.” 19 Like the achievements of his great mate Peter England in theater set design, Richard could have lef t landscape architecture and had success in any number of creative f ields. But he elected to st ay within. Through projects, exhibitions, writing, and lectures, alongside running landscape architecture programs, research centers, journals, and competitions, Richard has challenged landscape architecture to deepen its engagement as a design discipline.
18
Frust ration is a great moti vator. Throughout his c areer, Richard has been t actic al in ex ploiting oppor tunities and mak ing t hem for ot hers . His power of communic ation and charisma has cer t ainl y played a par t . As t his book document s, he has amassed an ex t raordinar y bod y of work— some built , many remaining speculati ve, some acclaimed, ot hers challenged. The idea of t he project— w hich he considers t he fundament al way to make sense of and engage w it h t he world — dri ves t his producti v it y. However, not t he project as def ined by a site or a brief, but a project as a focus to ex plore ideas about somet hing — national identit y, t rauma, loss, t he suburb, or t he A nt hropocene, to name just a few. It is a record of work t hat challenges t he discipline to be braver and smar ter, to be ex periment al and creati ve, and at times to fail. This is w hat it means to work bet ween ar t and inst rument alit y.
END NOTES
1. The title references an iconic song by The Triffids, who emerged from Perth in the late 1970s. Lead singer David McComb is acknowledged as one of the rare songwriters to capture the sense of isolation and expansiveness of the Australian landscape. It’s also a bit of an anthem for expatriate Australians of a certain generation. Have a listen. 2. Don’t for a minute think that Richard’s reflections herein on his studies at UNSW are exaggerated. Studying a few years later than Richard, I can confirm, among other things, that data punch coding was soul destroying. 3. Hold this thought—this reference becomes more evident towards the end of this essay. 4. Richard Weller, “Inside Room 4.1.3,” Room 4.1.3: Innovations in Landscape Architecture (Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), 3. 5. Ibid. 6. See Matthew Rimmer, “The Garden of Australian Dreams: The Moral Rights of Landscape Architects,” in Fiona Macmillan & Kathy Bowery (eds), New Directions in Copyright Law: Vol. 3 (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2006), 134–70. 7. https://aiatsis.gov.au/ngurra 8. In 1998, Richard’s work was recognized as such as a finalist in the Seppelt Contemporary Art Award, see https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/exhibitions/seppelt-contemporary-artaward-1998/. 9. Richard Weller, “Landscape (Sub)Urbanism in Theory and Practice,” Landscape Journal 27, no. 2 (2008): 262. 10. Interview with Richard Weller (September 26, 2022). 11. Corner completed a master’s degree in landscape architecture and an urban design certificate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986, while McHarg earned a B.L.A. in 1949, an M.L.A. in 1950, and a master’s degree in city planning in 1951 from Harvard University. 12. Contemporary academic leadership requires a challenging set of skills and a tolerance for bureaucracy. The ability to balance budgets and attract funding, maintain a career trajectory without being an absent leader, remain an active and engaged teacher, liaise with other disciplines, operate beyond self-interest, manage academic staff, support a new generation of academics, and respond to an increasingly demanding and anxious student body are just some of the demands. And most people are not up to the task. While always chasing big ideas, Richard seems also able to keep the day-to-day demands ticking over. This is a rare skill. 13. Richard Weller, “Afterword,” in The Landscape Project, eds. Richard J. Weller & Tatum L. Hands, (AR+D Publishing, 2022). 14. See Richard Weller’s essay herein. 15. Rob Levinthal & Richard Weller, “The Age of the Mega-Eco Project,” Landscape Architecture Magazine (in press). 16. In 2009 Richard was featured on the cover of the Sunday Times Magazine. He was photographed with bare feet wearing a white suit and holding a Rubik’s cube superimposed with urban scenes. Without question this was a design rock star moment. 17. Lead singer of the Irish band the Boomtown Rats, Geldof is also recognized for his activism in advocating for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. 18. The problematic top-down approach initially applied in the Great Green Wall project is well documented.
19
19. Richard Weller, “The Innocent Landscape,” The Architecture Symposium: A Broader Landscape, National Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (November 18, 2022).
26
“The Ghost House” (Central Australia, 1986). Unbuilt concept to construct the frame of a typical Australian suburban home in a remote location in the Australian desert and leave it to decompose [119].
34
“The Berlin Room” (Berlin, 1995). Cutaway view of a proposal for a walled water garden in the redeveloped
Potsdamer Platz. The garden’s concrete wall attracts graffiti and the interior is lined with mirrors reflecting a grove of birch trees planted in the water [123].
52
View inside the labyrinth of “The Women’s Rooms,” where rooms are serviced by a costumery to encourage visitors to use the park for masquerade and live-action roleplay [124].
70
Concept design for the Garden of Australian Dreams at the National Museum of Australia (1996). Diagrams
showing Aboriginal cartography (left) and European cartography (middle) of Australia, which are combined to make the garden’s primary surface pattern (right) [128].
74
The Garden of Australian Dreams at the National Museum of Australia [128]. Image courtesy of National Museum of Australia (2001).
92
View of unbuilt design for the Memorial to Victims of the Tsunami from Khao Lak headland to the memorial’s floating grid of solar-powered lights [132].
104
“Weather Balloon” (Paris, 2022). Proposal to float a hot-air balloon over the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris based on the cartoon of a thought bubble with a carbon molecule serving as the gondola [134].
167
“Sky City” (left), “River City” and “Surf City” (right) (Perth, 2008). Scenarios from Boomtown 2050 for highdensity infill development in areas of high cultural amenity and public transportation so as to accommodate 2050 population projections [141].
Mapping from “The Hotspots Cities Project” showing the fastest-growing cities in the world’s biodiversity hotspots. These maps show (in red) areas of imminent conflict between urban growth projected to 2050 and endangered species [149].
205
Combined master plan concept for the 2050 urban growth of Bogotá, Colombia, from the “Bogotá – La Sabana
2050” studio (2018). At the heart of the new city is a biodiversity research park and wetland system eight times as large as Central Park. [149].
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Until now I have never stopped work to reall y ack now ledge t he impor t ance of t he friends, famil y, and colleagues w ho have variousl y enabled and cont ributed to my c areer. I ’m grateful to my parent s, Robin and Sam, for a childhood full of freedom and imagination . Cont rar y to t he negati ve stereot y pe, suburbia for me was full of eccent ric characters conducting back yard ex periment s . I was also for tunate to have al ways had w ildl y intelligent and creati ve friends . Chris and Steve Packer, Jay B albi, Peter Beasley, and t he Bossell famil y loom large in my memor y. Ac ademic all y, I was luck y to stud y under t wo inspirational design professors, Helen A rmst rong and Craig B ur ton, and philosophy professor G raham Pont . L ater, ac ademic colleagues such as Simon A nderson, Geof frey London, Pat rick Beale, Clarissa B all, Leon van Schaik , John Dixon Hunt , L aurie Olin, Maril y n Jordan Tay lor, and Frit z Steiner have all been suppor ti ve and generous at dif ferent times . Professionall y, I was for tunate to have been gi ven signif ic ant oppor tunities by Luqman Keale, Jan Wehburg and Cornelia Müller, and architect s Ashton Raggat t McDougall. Thank you also to t he L andsc ape A rchitecture Foundation and t he Aust ralian Institute of L andsc ape A rchitect s for invol v ing me in t he curation of legacy event s . O ver t he years I have had t alented research assist ant s and collaborators such as Liz zie B ur t , Daniel Firns, Karl Kullmann, Julian Bolleter, Tom G rif f it hs, Mike Row lands, Donna B roun, Claire Hoch, Shuo Yan, Chieh Huang, Tone Chu, Zuz anna Drozdz , Nan xi Dong, Oli ver At wood, Madeleine G hillany- Lehar, A lice Bell, Shannon Raf fer t y, Elliot B ullen, Emil y B unker, Jiacheng Chen, and Rob Lev int hal. O f t his group I especiall y want to ack now ledge Donna B roun w hose research underpinned t he Boomtow n 2050 project and Julian Bolleter w ho par t nered w it h me on t he Made in Aust ralia project . I want to also t hank Jiachen Sun, A ndreina Sojo, Y ining Zhu, and Elliot B ullen for helping me pull toget her t he manuscript and ref ine t he images and layout for t his book . I am also par ticularl y t hank ful t hat Jillian Walliss and Dirk Sijmons —t wo landsc ape architect s w hom I admire — agreed to cont ribute essays .
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Finall y, I would especiall y like to single out four people. First , V ladimir Sit t a, a master craf t sman and relentless ex periment alist from B rno in Czech, w ho has ser ved as a co - conspirator pret t y much from t he beginning. On all t he project s we did toget her over many years, w hile I could t hink a project to life, it was V ladimir w ho could ref ine it and build it . Second, I raise a ver y big glass to my best mate, t he landsc ape architect and set designer Peter England w it h w hom I ’ve shared many sleepless night s arguing about ar t and ear t h spirit s . Third, James Corner, w hose w ritings in t he earl y 1990 s conf irmed my ow n ramblings and w ho ent rusted me to succeed him as Chair of L andsc ape A rchitecture at Penn . Finall y, and above all, I t hank my par t ner Tatum Hands w ho has not onl y put up w it h my const ant over-indulgence in all t his work , but cont ributed to it in my riad ways .