QUT Digital Repository: http://eprints.qut.edu.

au/

Raxworthy, Julian R. (2004) Versatility with flatness. Architectural Review Australia, 87. pp. 88-96.

Copyright 2004 Niche Media Pty Ltd

(*

An interestin flatnesscould seem to be as simple and limitedas be understood but could more usefully pavingpatterndevelopment, 'the in terms of US landscapeacademic Beth Meyer's notion ol minimalgarden' This is a concept she articulaledin her artlcle 'Landscapeas Modern Other and Post-N/lodern Ground', in Ihe Culture of Landscape Architecture which arose oul of the 1992 at RMIT.This adicle articulatesa range of Edge TOO conference themesthat she notesarisingin contemporarylandscapearchitectural as a taut surtace' practice The minimalgarden is characterised 01 a to allow the ground the resonance pavingseemingly stretched this surfaceas a garden becauseof the drum Meyercharacterises oblects, such as the urban detritusof way that three-dtmensional seats, bins and poles become llke specimens in the Japanese design as garden(location and extentbecomingthe only variables:

generic,seen in limitlesssuburbanmalls of brick paved grrds' as of the surfacesof EDAW The seriality well as in the sophisticated plazamight at times become sublime That is, the feelingwe get of the urban forecoun in the writingsof MichaelMarkhamabout the City articlein Backlogue. Chicagoplaza,in his Climacteric betweenpatternand the urban This interestin the relationship surfaceis one that has been evidencedin P+P's work since they came (back) to Australia- in their early work in Canberra,in a series of precise courtyards in government buildings Paterson would talk of this project in his technologyclassesas a study In fastidiously allocated with carefuldrainage beingas flat as possible, into the paving grid The work of Americanmodernistlandscape of the plaza. architectPeterWalkerwas importantin any dtscussion In compositional terms, Barnett Park, with ils shrewdlydisplaced

grids,each accommodating types o{ program,was an icon differenl c o m p o s i t i oa nn d d i s t r r b u t l o n ) as it is superficial a notionthat is as important this mode seems to alsodescribe of good composition, Concurentlvbut accrdentally context, Peter 1980s tower, calling 10 in work P+P In the the of oosl-modern modern corporate plaza the outslde srtuatton the with Martha Schwartz began to take this mrnd the paved forecouns ol the Seagram Building,as well as Walker'scollaborations contexl, with gross mass forms ol others throughoul every cty In the world lt sets the surfaceinto a more expressive coLrnlless juxtaposed Centre now given a podium fine material againsteach other,such as in thear nature of the etdettcfield for an architecture ls the Keyvarlable for lnnovatrveTechnology These two prolects are Important speak Pattern fromwhtchit mrghtunselfconsclously tn artlculatingsuch sudaces, both ln pragmatlc anO lOeologrcalprecedentsbecausethey represenlthe lension between restraint terms Such sudacesare inev(ablythrn, bu1 how they engage an and exuberance Patersonand Pettus were directlyinfluencedby and educatorswho were al Harvardat the as they etch out the ground can be both these two practitioners rmmedrate tetrrtorialty,
an expanse'pregnant 2-4 University square with its diamond motil stFtched tight as a drum acrcss 5 Smoke stack gabion walls at each corner demarcate th teritotial boundary ot the square wrth programme'

091

aaa aaa .aa aaa

t O

aaa

: : : ;;

3 tl '5.,

,,
r r I ' , 1 : ,I t , l i . l t " t I , r I r L , ' n r , i : : l ' : ,r[[ !,rl t , t r , , r t! 1
l ! t ! r l ' l r i

r ', lailt!:r (l()r,rl

, t s u E a l e s l l o r l a r T: l r r i : l s : l ,, lltt-l t r O ; e ti Tlrt;

l.r[ ,],1r1T|r'ltil 'f

I'teIte

,r,, .]' L i

,f11 ,i,

irfiritrir'' I !f.ll11l Sg{rrll :lrlll llr S f)(r:jlllrrLl

i ! , , r , 1

t , ' r { : l r t . t L }

r . , . 1 , 1 r . j , i r i r ( t e l l t e r ! , / l l l . : .d l t w r l Y J ; i r l lr l l f f - { r I

", r'rl
rtts l.rt I l ' '
: I i

d. I i,',^ll!rll

r , r - , ,
l ' i I ] r i -

i ' : r i
l . l r F

--t,'.. ''r l'{

,'

,:[] r{-i,

iiiIIIjl]ii

r l l ( 1 1 1 : ,s l l a l f l t l l ( i l l l e r1/l(alfld.r:lfl

ilrts tliilr)ofiils

x:,' r r lr4!r: ' ir .t.| r '.t ,t 1', rl:r'

,it tir ,-i-.),i I', " | r i r ii (r,i I, | | i I l'tr, ' I ,' 1' ,r .:dl .r'

I'rr

rlfil(i|lrl I 1 llle llla.'ii .lrrrl lllt

, - ' , a ( l ' r . r l l , ! l I ( l l r l r t e : i : L t r S u r f a l ! - t ,r l i i r l \ , l l l, , ' i]f'(t :l|, i r , r . r i 1: . i r r | i , j l r : ) r t i 1 ! - [ ) r a ) a l r a r J r'i ;ile.]: 'l)' r - t l r e t .i . l l f i l t i i t l i l I ) e ( t o t t , e

t. r, j irr,|!l :teiil Slef):l leilll,lall lI flil t'/ lf

,1 1,

"."1\

(r':,liiL K:.

ff le -orl(ll:r qeerrr

re!leaJalle

fr,;rt'.(.r:ll! I .!,, '1.-'lr. ,, ,

il|e:1fra\,'L:lllvllllrlql(lsi1! :,1)a(.ar nte;|,trtll.rllv lrroLe|]:, i,l : i L , 1 1 . i (e nrt(l lite d:.

' 't ,1

rti, (:i' tldu{r:, ' 'frtsisr

llttititJr eOOe:,

,!_f_r rreSS,te:,: I r,

I I t'

r ,. ' i

:t,irt ||f

A.i:rf.1r;lr: I ( 1 1 ' i r r: i r r l r !

l'lel):il.r:,r]l\{il!:l (l:

:rrlrflslril:]l(xl arl(l

'
j l ' , , - . i r : , I r ' , ' 1 , 1 '

:1.1\ .ll rr!rrlt r:rrt

e ( l l r T t l l l ) l , ' i \ a 1 ,t 1

I'et l

, 1 1 ' r t -l r i t ' k s e e l t : t r r t L t ( . f

rrlr 'i lsaill r i L f l r ( r , , e re l,r rftl ir P,PtlrA\r!' "r|Lrtl' :

'

F-lli/. I l,

r't.r

lAf L t l:oe |ttti

,n/^f UV

af Z

gardef ol crazy pavlng strewrr wrth lrees and seatlnq b B, , Hrli s n,rnrrrrdl t ! Stagqered zrqzalls Inlerlace across the coudyard at Gordon IAFE

'demonstration' perhaps also the simplest project. lt comprises a courtyard for a building that houses building trades, the surface a staggered and slighily splayed pattern of zigzags, like lightning bolts. Into these are substituted difierent paving bonds and materials,as well as planter beds and some larger timber sections. The relationshipwith the archilecture is a critical one, with what seems an enrudd timber sectionof the interiorbecoming a canopy, with a deep address, its edges becoming seats as the ceilingcurves down. This area accommodates smokers, despite non-smoking signs, and on one side is a BBQ. Somehow, while not exactly engaging,the space recognisesthat it is lor movement, where one edge will get heavier usage between classes. While very finely executed, it sems minimal,even as it is complex and differentiated: it is a perfect handtingof the buildingcomplex. lt understandsits role and executes it with sophisticated humbleness. lt seems that p+p/EDAW thrive best when working with architects with whom it can have a design dialogue, even as it accepts itself as a secondclass citizen. lt is the best kind of servant. While not paving projects, many of P+P/EDAW'Sother prqects use a compositional language that derives from this Jlat approach with and this makes one question their abilrtyto work meaningtully three-dimensional form In its early Aurora Apartments project, a senes ot flat projects were developed. This time in a residential context, both viewed trom above, one a simple contrastrng map/Burle Marx motif, the other a planting treatment for the front

garden of the tower to St Kilda Road. This garden is made up of staggered strips, otfset from the building line, carefullyproportioned masses of grasses. These strips use textural change rather than colour and, as such, take this so-called plaza language into an exciting compositional language, with strips themselves bing another tangential typology in the geometries of P+P/EDAW. ln what might be the nd of this priod of its history the firm is just unveiling a series of roof-top gardens lor the Yarra Edge Apartments, which are spectacular in their pattern - a radial grid into which diverse plant material has ben placed. Like the Garden Noalles by Gabriel Guevrekian in France in th 1920s' these gardens recognise and work with a singular viewing position, and suggest a desire to work with the optical plane and, in doing so, recognise the singularity of this approach. Somehow these projects are empirical in their fascination with a singular sens, the visual. The absence oJ a meaningful thr-dimnsional and experiential dimension is an area of development that the current incarnation of the practice regards as its nelt area of dsign innovatton However, as a body of work relatedto a cuftureof both education and practice, it defines a period that will later b regarded as the llowering of landscape architectur in Australia' Following in the footsteps of renouned Amorican modernist landscape architect, Garrett Eckbo (the E o{ Edaw), the work of P+P/EDAW sets a strong precedent for the young staff of EDAW Gillespieto maintain and continue.

Apattmsnb' tor a rcl-top gardenat tho Yam Edg 9. A radialplanot divom plmts c6ato a dynmic opticaltty

093

ir

l" f. I I
I

10 & 1 1 Bold composition

dominates the lront garden at Aurora Towgr