LAA 143 preview

Landscape Architecture Australia 143, on sale 28 July 2014.

Image: John Gollings

This issue of Landscape Architecture Australia places a critical frame around the work of landscape architects in the creation, ideation and custodianship of public gardens across the country. It’s a companion volume to the previous issue, which explored the exemplary residential projects of Australian landscape architects. For both issues we have worked with guest editor Catherin Bull AM.
At the outset of the collaboration Catherin presented a provocation: to us and to the landscape architects, writers and photographers involved in making these issues. The provocation positions both private and public gardens as works of art and subjects these creative endeavours to previously absent critical review and debate. This theoretical position has a strong popular undercurrent. People love gardens, but the work of landscape architects and the thinking and research that underpin it are not widely understood. Because gardens have a powerful presence in both personal memory and the collective imagination, they can have a profound influence on the individual and on broader society. These issues of LAA present a strong case for the contemporary garden as a significant aspect in both the public and the private domain. Simultaneously, they stake a claim for the professional contribution of landscape architects and the body of knowledge they share.

Projects and articles in this issue:

• The Australia Garden This spectacular garden designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Paul Thompson explores the nature of Australian identity. (Review: Kate Gamble)
• Mt Penang Gardens Just over ten years after its completion, this garden by JMD Design is considered a radical contribution to public garden design in Australia. (Review: SueAnne Ware)
• Rio Tinto Naturescape Plan E has delivered a play area in Perth’s Kings Park with the specific aim of reconnecting children with nature. (Review: Julian Bolleter)
• The Australian PlantBank Garden A new plant conservation laboratory built within the Australian Botanic Garden in Mount Annan. (Review: Scott Hawken)
• Andrew Laidlaw The head landscape architect at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens speaks with LAA.
• Lawrie Smith Revered Queensland landscape architect Lawrie Smith speaks with LAA.

Cameron Bruhn, editorial director, Landscape Architecture Australia

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