Reviews
Sue Holliday
Former Director of Planning NSW
"The future of Canberra, as our capital, needs a set of ideals that will hold the Griffin principles as a foundation but will set a new modern vision ... The future of Civic is a good example. Ever since 2000, the ACT government has been talking about how to densify and improve Civic. How to make it a desirable place to work, to live and then to party. It needs people. Lots of them. And people there 24/7…The winning design by Kringas Architects of a competition in 2002 brings life into civic – a daring glass box inserted into the space between the London and Melbourne buildings with cafes, bars and life – is exactly the kind of bold initiative needed”. 'A Capital Future', Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture, 2011.
Carol Guida
Former Course Director of Architecture, University of Canberra
"First glimpses of the Jenkins' Farmhouse, near Albury, intrigued those attending the recent RAIA awards ceremony in Canberra. The view of a simple, finely detailed glass pavilion of living space offering beautiful panoramic vistas of the rural landscape provoked natural enchantment. The silver jewel of a kitchen fascinated all and an end profile showing a sliver of roof projecting from a curved brick enclosure suggested the wing of a local wedge-tailed eagle. Finally, there appeared in a distant view against the blue sky the most curious aspect of all - a procession of variously configured deep red solid upright forms across the windswept field of grass. Not unlike archaeological remains of ancient human endeavours, these mysterious markings in the landscape had a particularly magical lure. Such images provoke us to ask what is this about? Why is it like this? How did it come to be? Similarly, on site, first impressions of what might be simply described as a long steel and glass living pavilion supported by a masonry spine of services could evoke bewilderment in the layman and architect alike. Choices in the form and materials might confront the conventional notions of 'house'. Combinations of two different approaches to building (the modern openness of steel and glass versus the ancient enclosure of masonry) might seem disconcerting. The same questions arise - of what, why and how. Often for architects and clients, reaching the successful design solution can represent a laborious process of questioning and examining preconceptions in order to create what becomes an exceptionally wonderful place to be. Similarly, those drawn to such places go through a process of raising questions, setting aside initial emotive images and previous associations before coming to understand them as attentive, ingenious and diligently wrought responses to strongly felt needs by a group of people in a particular set of circumstances. Occasionally, we come to appreciate them as expressions enriching our experience. Such might be the case in examining the Jenkins' farmhouse. The Jenkins are clients with busy working lives as well as being graziers with a strong commitment to their land. They required a three-bedroom house with an office. The performance demands for the house were practical and direct. It had to work economically, efficiently and effectively for their life and work. Durability, low maintenance, and thermal comfort were high priorities. The chosen site on the property near Albury is a ruggedly magnificent lookout point: a gentle rise in the valley from which to survey the pastoral land below and behold a 180 degree view of the surrounding ridge line as it meets the sky in the distance. As with many captivating outdoor places, it can become inhospitable very quickly, whether by the heat of the sun, the chill of the wind or the bite of the insects. The nature of shelter on such a site soon becomes a question of how does one make this place habitable without changing it into something else? A simple way to visualise the central organising concept of this project, from which all other design decisions will begin to emerge, is to think of the building as a linear path along the rise of the hill running east to west. The path becomes a threshold, separating two landscapes. To the north is the expansive rushbed valley rising to the natural cliffs and horizon; to the south, the more domestic and ordered fruit and vegetable garden. The northern and southern edges of the path become the living (steel and glass) and service (masonry) areas respectively, each strongly differentiated according to function and conditions. The significance of the linear arrangement of masonry forms on the southern edge is suggested to the visitor immediately upon arrival. A water tank fed by a beautifully crafted gutter spout from above, is embraced by an extension of the brick wall, which moves through the building to re-emerge in the landscape at the other end of the path. Previous associations and classical constructions of another place (Louis Kahn's service towers also come to mind), soon give way to impressions more comfortable with this place as the formation echoes in colour and form the red clay of the soil and the cliffs. The mysteriously evocative arrangement of masonry forms we saw in the field of grass will be seen to be what makes habitation of the exposed look-out possible in a number of ways. It provides thermal mass for optimising temperature and fundamental shelter to the site by turning its back on the cold southerly winds. It brings the water to the site, providing efficient layout for its collection, storage, solar heating and distribution, bathing and laundry areas. The spaces between the forms allow for movement in the reactive soil and light openings that draw cool air through the living spaces in summer. As the masonry forms buttress the steel pavilion, the placement of solid and void begin to suggest its patterns and the placement of structural elements , openings, finishes and fixtures . It defines the area for the garden on the south, leaving the northern view uncluttered by domestic implements. By carrying so much of the workload for the dwelling, the masonry construction gives the steel and glass pavilion the freedom to accommodate living spaces in a most advantageous and pleasurable way, according to function, size, light and outlook. The carefully detailed pavilion gives optimum solar exposure; the roof angled to allow the warmth of sun in winter and shade in summer, temperature quickly adjustable by ample cross-flow ventilation. Concerns about upkeep are met with materials that prove durable and maintenance-free in a dry climate, overhangs protecting it from the weather, and flush-detailing to avoid the accumulation of debris and pests. Views of the changing landscape are offered to all points. However intellectually controlled the design, the experience in it is emotionally exhilarating. A guest bedroom becomes a campsite from which to watch the stars at night. A study becomes the station office from which the grazier surveys the rush paddocks below. The master bedroom is filled with the song of birds at dawn. From the family gathering area one looks out on the changing light and colours of the full horizon.What might have appeared as a modernist import gives way to the feeling of an open rural shed more comfortable with the locale. As one steps in from the land under the shelter of its corrugated roof, the high-tech kitchen one expected becomes simply a billy on the fire. It also remains the lookout first chosen. As carefully disciplined in every aspect of the demands of function and place as this is, the nature of the experience it generates is quite liberating. One soon forgets about the house as an object or something to be managed. It allows and encourages the inhabitants to focus on what they have chosen: work on the land, life together and the joy of being in this place. In doing so, it begins to demonstrate a special capacity important to becoming architecture - to enlighten the perspectives from which we view the world, our place in it and how we conduct our lives. One must give tribute to both the designer and the client for the degree of commitment and courage, which would have been required to achieve it". 'Ridgelines', Architecture Review, Spring 2000.
Australian Institute of Architects
"The exposed elevated site is visible from many vantages in the valley, and the silhouetted building is carefully assimilated with the landscape. The access road to the site rises from the northwest along a spur creating a ceremonial arrival. Once at the house one is distinctly aware of the sense of place, and of the views to really far horizons. The building responds to a rural landscape with a practical and simple form, ease of access between internal and external spaces, and a verandah which lays the world out for viewing. The award is as much for the design concept as the impeccable construction and finishing details. This project shows the connection between rigorous details and the realization of a dream. The passionate attention to finished construction has taken the design further through a team effort for completion. The contrast of an industrial building in a country setting gave the feeling of full awareness of the surroundings and yet as an efficient machine for living. The smooth surfaces of construction contrasted with the wind across the paddocks. We were aware of clouds and sunshine and cattle, while being cossetted in crisp modern interiors. The owners love it and so did we". RAIA Jury Report, ACT Awards, 1999.
Quentin Stevens
Associate Professor, School of Architecture & Urban Design, RMIT
“Reconciliation Place presents a unique solution … demonstrating a long-term planning strategy for commemoration that admits the complexity, contradiction and continuity of memory. lts masterplan consists of a large number of fragmentary art work "slivers" by various designers … The artworks range from patches of landscape to primeval carved megaliths to sleek, angular assemblages of photo etched steel and glass. Visitors can take various paths among the art works, which allows for different readings. The masterplan intends that new works will continue to be added as the process of reconciliation unfolds. lndeed, the precinct's fragmentary form helps communicate the idea of an incomplete and unresolved narrative … lts form and its meanings provide an alternative to the physical, conceptual and thematic traditions and rigidities of stale commemoration”. Memorials as Spaces of Engagement – Design, Use, Meaning, Routledge NY, 2016. “Reconciliation Place forms a new cross-axis between old Parliament House and the lakeshore, and is composed of numerous fragmentary ‘slivers’ by various designers with different forms and themes. The master plan intends for new works to be added as the reconciliation process unfolds. Both the layout and themes of this precinct contest the State's hegemony in defining the past...Reconciliation Place all establish[es] completely new and different commemorative settings, both geographically and formally. Such projects seek to maintain visual and circulatory links to existing foci, for example, as extensions of existing axes, new cross-axes or newly defined perimeters to existing precincts...Canberra's Reconciliation Place is unique in its attempt to place the struggles and successes of indigenous peoples outdoors on the national stage”. Masterplanning public memorials: an historical comparison of Washington, Ottawa and Canberra in Planning Perspectives, Volume 30, 2015 - Issue 1, Taylor & Francis Online, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2013.874956. "Reconciliation Place (2001) by Kringas Architecture: A promenade connecting the National Library of Australia with the National Gallery of Australia, its 'slivers' display images and text on various themes of reconciliation. “It’s one of the world’s most significant public memorials to indigenous history'". Sydney Morning Herald, 16 October 2020. "Reconciliation Place in Canberra incorporates Indigenous perspectives, including experiences of marginalisation and victimisation, into Australia's national narrative, by countering the Australian capital's key representational land axis. A raised, grass mound interrupts the view between Parliament House and the Australian War Memorial with its monument-lined avenue, and marks a new, transverse axis. Reconciliation Place's scattered, fragmentary forms, with varied media, themes and didacticism, encourage divergent routes through the site and alternative interpretations of the events, themes and people represented. Space has been reserved for addition future artworks. Strakosch situates Reconciliation Place within contemporary counter monumental practice that 'confronts the nation-state with its own crimes and exclusions' while troubling the nation-building agenda of conventional State memorials". 'Counter-monuments: the anti-monumental and the dialogic', The Journal of Architecture, 10 Dec 2012.
Elizabeth Strakosch
Senior Lecturer, Political Science & International Studies, University of Queensland
"Counter-monuments aim to challenge and invert the nation-building agenda of traditional state memorials. Instead of presenting a simple story of triumph or martyrdom, they confront the nation-state with its own crimes and exclusions ... Reconciliation Place, a major memorial complex that was built in 2002 in the national capital, Canberra ... uses highly abstract counter-monumental forms in an attempt to embrace and integrate indigenous perspectives into the national narrative. It asserts an honest confrontation with history and an attempt to establish a new, more inclusive and 'reconciled' understanding of political identity". 'Counter-monuments and nation-building in Australia'. Peace Review – A Journal of Social Justice, 22 (3)
Christopher Vernon
Senior Lecturer, Landscape Architecture, University of Western Australia
"Commonwealth and Reconciliation Places are located on the Land Axis, poised near the edge of Lake Burley Griffin. Collectively, they amplify and enhance the Griffins’ cross-axial geometry as a source of Canberra’s unity ... Reconciliation Place is a cross-axial pedestrian way connecting the National Library of Australia (NLA) with the National Gallery of Australia (NGA). A composition of sculptural “slivers” of varying heights, each representing in word and image episodes in the reconciliation process, is positioned within this corridor. There are multiple possible routes through this grove of slivers, each offering a different reading. The distribution and concentration of the slivers, however, is not random. At strategic points the slivers are positioned in response to views of nearby buildings. Perhaps most remarkably, Reconciliation Place provides a seldom-experienced direct approach to the NLA. Like its vegetal counterparts, the sliver grove is to be dynamic. The promenade and slivers are already in-place as a skeletal framework, and it is intended that the ongoing unfolding of “reconciliation” will be marked by the accretion of new slivers ... The promenade’s open centre ... is marked by a dome of turf. Functioning as a viewing platform, this convex earthwork was inspired by the Aboriginal middens and the mounds produced by wind action that Kringas encountered on treks to the plains of western New South Wales. In this environment, not unlike the level circumstance of Griffin’s own American prairies, even the subtlest of elevations become lodestones for human congregation, providing welcome opportunity for prospect of the wider landscape. The dome is notched in two places; the first is occupied by a bench for contemplation with attendant plantings of indigenous vegetation, and the second provides a speaker’s podium ... This vantage point is a nexus from which both axes can be simultaneously – and almost ethereally – experienced ... An object-lesson as an at once a respectful and poetic interpretation of the spatial implications and possibilities of the ever potent “Griffin Plan”. Reconciliation Place [and Commonwealth Place] are design achievements of which the nation can be proud". 'Axial Occupation', Architecture Australia, 1 September 2002.