On the weekend I was fortunate enough to visit the National Museum in Canberra. Didn’t get to see any of the exhibits, I was too busy being bowled over by the building. It was a delight. Playful, imaginative, energetic. Downright funky. Melbourne’s ARM architects (the guys behind Storey Hall and the Shrine extension) have done us proud again. If you are in Canberra it’s well worth visiting.
One of the many features is the Garden of Australian Dreams – a central interpretative courtyard representing our multi-facited history and aspirations.
You can see in the picture the wading pool. The edge is actually the top end of Australia. Yep, layers of symbolism. And I’m sure the designers were really proud of how much they layered into this area.
But then this happens:
The design is built and launched and then sometime later someone either loses their nerve in the face of litigious fear or little Caleb falls into the water and a complaint is made. The result is this awful sign that detracts from the overall design, sticking out like a sore thumb.
It’s sad, but being realistic and pragmatic, we have to expect this sort of thing as designers. And design for it up-front. And sometimes that means compromising the integrity of the “design vision” to ensure it survives real life wear and tear. They could have just moved some of the “islands” a little closer to the mainland so they were within stepping distance. No need for a sign then. Sure, it wouldn’t have been technically correct. But it probably doesn’t matter. And it would certainly be less noticeable than the over-protective signs.
What’s are our over-spaced islands? We face them all the time. Great design will anticipate them and design the compromises rather than letting compromises just happen to the design once we step away.
