Artfully Planned Ambience

Sep. 15 2008
ARCH 3711

Australian aborigines would probably never think that their definition of place could be so provocative to highly modernized, well-educated and presumptuous human beings. They probably do not even know how to spell the word “place�. The simplicity and the sensitivity in their ways of perceiving things are regarded as primitive and brutish based on Western materialistic values. However, by interpreting nature intuitively and mythologically, Australian aborigines teach us the essence to grasp the context of nature and place.

(Picture from "Aborigines And White Settlers: The Breaking Down of Aboriginal Society")

As inborn hunters and gatherers, Australian aborigines are always on the road, moving from one place to another, tearing down one shelter and building up another. This sense of constant movement gives them the opportunity to regard the entire environment as their homeland rather than having explicit boundaries that disconnect them with nature or other people. Their demographic mobility also allows them to create a fair amount of dwellings with various styles applying all kinds of natural materials. Nonetheless, Australian aborigines care the least about the physical and architectural aspect of the dwellings they made. It is the ritual symbolism that is of great significance to them, in terms of positioning the dwellings in a larger architectural concern.

Since symbolism of places is determinant to site and directions of Australian aborigines dwellings, the boundaries are not defined physically but fixed by mythology and ritual meanings. Their faiths, beliefs and inner desires provide an emotional tie with the land per se – they are full of respects, sensations and imaginations towards the land, which claims them “a timeless and inextinguishable relationship to their land�. Whereas, a lot of Europeans cannot understand the symbolic meanings of the land other than see the landscape as plain and vain.

Australian aborigines are enthusiastic about nature. They first approach and study nature respectively; then they create their own spontaneous and mythical explanations and responses to landscape; also they humanize the realm between man-made world and landscape through myths of the Dreamtime; finally they define the conception of “place� through re-enactments that make the unseen world visible. Sacred and ceremonial lifestyle is the central link between their Dreamtime creatures/heroes and land. However, Westerners isolate themselves from nature by building unnecessary barriers and invisible walls. They are losing their abilities to understand the beauty and phenomena of nature.

The Australian aborigines create their own Utopian world, in terms of dwelling and faith. Their worship towards nature and landscape make this ritual symbolism pure, mythical, as well as beautiful. This whole cultural lingo might be too profound for some people to understand nowadays. Ever since materialism and utilitarianism attacked the world, human beings tend to lose interests in learning about nature and their own cultural identity. Then industrialization conquered the world, forcing everyone to be part of the physical revolution. When technology truly becomes boundless, our emotional attachment to the land will eventually extinct. Pessimistically speaking, our planet is going to become a futuristic, mechanical and cold place where is full of robotic non-believers in the near future.

Coming from China, I witness massive construction taking place everyday, repeatedly and constantly. It is like a war of urbanization in our post-industrialization era. Having gained a new glamorous look with all the modernized architecture recently designed by star architects, China is trying to give a sense of power through its architectural revolution. But when I look at these dazzling architecture, I feel nothing but indifference. I begin to question myself “who we are?� We are becoming those “Europeans� who are losing cultural context, and creating a sense of Neo-orientalism in our own country.

Artist Andy Goldsworthy once said, “A stone is ingrained with geological and historical memories.� When he said it, he meant it by dealing with natural materials to produce works of art referring social and cultural meanings. Indeed, the existential purpose of architecture is to make the balance between natural and urban environments, and to uncover the potential meanings of the urban architecture presented in the given natural environment. Only in this way can the spirit of the place be conserved, can the culture be ceaseless, and finally can we overcome the pains of trading the past with the present.

(Picture from www.aboriginalartnews.com.au/2008/)