Environment
The Good Earth Will Abide Forever
We were part of an infinite world.
Atmospheric cycles cleansed our air; Fresh water was limitlessly abundant; Forests and coral reefs always grew back; Ocean algae bloomed and sank into the abyss in a continuous cycle to replenish all our oil.
Habitats were indestructible. The climate has always changed. There have been countless warm (and cold) periods in the past. Even dinosaurs flourished for millions of years in a world devoid of frost or snow or ice.
Generations come and generations go. We humans are spirits trapped in bodies which are merely vehicles. What we did or didn't do to the Earth during our custodianship really doesn't matter, for the big question is: Where Will We Spend Eternity?…
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Troglodyte world
Going underground to evade the consequences
Underground escalators at Macquarie University railway station, Sydney [Feb-2016 306kb]
Stack trace
International trade agreements led to enormous economic benefits
The concrete base of the demolished Port Kembla copper stack [Sep-2014 349kb]
Remarks…
The problem with problems
Owing to the proliferation of psychology graduates, everyone was constantly reminded about how dependent/ fragile/ isolated/ confused/ powerless/ helpless/ humiliated/ depressed/ anxious/ anguished/ harassed/ stalked/ victimised/ violated/ dehumanised/ traumatised/ wild-eyed panic-stricken they were
Domain car parking station [Jul-2018 271kb]
Unknown knowns
The systematic destruction of the environment was an event so terrible that even mentioning it became a taboo
Hornby Lighthouse gun emplacement, South Head Sydney [Dec-2014 203kb]
Remarks…
Snafu City
A patchwork of failed-states, ruled over by unaccountable leaders, where distrust, stagnation, corruption and absence of social cohesion were systematically ignored
Apartment towers surrounding Chatswood railway station [Feb-2016 254kb]
Dam the Franklin
Environmental activism to prevent the construction of dams in one of the most remote and inaccessible parts of the planet
Protesting the building of dams on the Franklin River in Tasmania [Feb-1983 476kb]
User funnelling
To paraphrase Lewis Mumford: the apotheosis of cities was to channel people from one checkout to the next
The M4 Western Distributor at Darling Harbour in Sydney [Jul-2012 99kb]
Memories of what's to come
The last thing we wanted was to extirpate all the large vertebrates (WWF, 2018)
Deceased sulfur-crested cockatoo, Warrimoo [Dec-2017 149kb]
Remarks…
Apogee of despair
A tide of opiates and synthetic analogues washed through our suburbs
Kent Street pyramid and A4 overpass, Millers Point [Jan-2014 158kb]
Rising above
Endless views to match our ambition
Eureka sky-deck, Melbourne [Apr-2019 329kb]
Multilevel regression with post-stratification
Cityscapes were continually redesigned to uplift the soul
Liberty Place, Castlereagh Street Sydney [Jan-2019 288kb]
Multinational style
Curtain walls of glass and steel as far as equities would allow
6th Avenue office buildings, NYC [Oct-2017 530kb]
Black bird
… singing in the dead of night
Freshly harvested pine logs awaiting export, Dunedin NZ [Dec-2017 386kb]
Black poles
Our cities were filled with reminders of people we lost
Old Canterbury road, Lewisham [Sep-2015 475kb]
A wound that would not heal
Meanwhile, up in the stratosphere…
O2 + (UV) → 2 O•
O2 + O• → O3
O3 + (UV) → O2 + O•
CCl2F2 + (UV) → CClF2• + Cl•
Cl• + O3 → ClO• + O2
ClO• + O• → O2 + Cl•
2 ClO• + (UV) → O2 + 2 Cl•
Sunburst above the Wollongong Sewage Works [Feb-2011 113kb]
Right by conquest
Our rules-based social order continued to function very effectively
Poisoned trees at Larkin Street, Waverton [Jul-2017 309kb]
Markers of social progress
Signs were erected to reinforce things we already knew
Abandoned used-car dealership sign, Church Str Parramatta [Jul-2017 127kb]
Outwardness within
The world was only as small as you wanted it to be
Sightseeing at The Balconies, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2019 638kb]
Remarks…
Outlier Nation
Founded on penal servitude, maintained by the dispossessed, for the benefit of the super-rich
Sugar cane digester spheres in Waterfront Park, at Jacksons Landing [Jan-2013 485kb]
Inside the tiger
Every rabbit was chased down every hole
Coal Loader tunnel, Waverton [Jul-2017 489kb]
Shoulder season
Work commenced to identify and implement the next wave of positive reforms
Backyard firewood at Blackheath NSW [Aug-2019 523kb]
Volunteer sacrifice
According to former fire chiefs, relying on large numbers of volunteers to fight bushfires was not necessarily a sign of inadequate funding, but possibly the best way to do it
(SBS, 2019)
Waterfall Bushfire Volunteers Memorial, commemorating the death of five volunteers in Nov 1980 [Sep-2020 748kb]
My variegated village
Machines of extraction between funds and their intended recipients
UTS construction site, Broadway [Jul-2018 336kb]
Foundations of a globalist millennium
Ceaseless construction activity underpinned our economic vigour and internationalism
Parammatta Square construction site [Jul-2018 165kb]
Where even the windows wept
Our villages were filled with community and a common sense of purpose
Factory windows at Chester Lane, Zetland [Sep-2014 414kb]
From lives to livelihoods
Consumption for symbolic, signalling and cultural reasons
New apartments from old flour mills, Lewisham [Sep-2015 163kb]
After Nature
An all-new Pliocene, with polybutadiene gastropods in a reinforced concrete sea
The front yard of an abandoned spare-parts dealer at Tempe in Sydney [Sep-2012 209kb]
Reinforced bulwark
The oceans were an ideal place to dump all our unwanted stuff
Concrete erosion blocks, South Wollongong beach [Sep-2014 397kb]
From the plateau the shore
Our every step drove us further apart
Garie North Head, Royal National Park [Jul-2019 481kb]
Cars with grunt
Politicians fought hard to ensure tradies could keep upgrading their utes (SMH, 2019)
Penrith Station car park [Oct-2019 344kb]
Frame your reference
An existence punctuated by cranes & crosses
Elm tree memorial at Lewisham building site [Sep-2015 123kb]
Rocks & Crops
Diggers and drillers drew heartfelt inspiration from the island paradise of Naru
The Port Kembla coal terminal (PKCT) [Sep-2014 251kb]
Game the system
Those with the best view won
Friday night on Sydney Harbour [Jan-2019 190kb]
Under the waning gibbous moon
The goal was to squeeze as much as possible out of the status quo before it collapsed
Re-enacting Quartermass and the Pit at Parramatta [Nov-2017 890kb]
Wildfulness everywhere
Sometimes the bush was so wild that even the signposts wore out
Illawarra Escarpment Track, above Coalcliff NSW [Oct-2020 584kb]
Infinity pool
Unlimited growth was questioned many times, but it never let us down
Figure 8 Pool, Royal National Park [Oct-2019 428kb]
Untapped potential
Sustainable development opportunities could be found in every direction
Florabella Pass walking track, Blue Mountains [May-2019 797kb]
Force majeure
For years politicians were elected on a platform of denying climate change. Then they were amazed when they were thrown out of office
Post-election garbage bins at Copeland Ave, Macdonaldtown [May-2022 553kb]
Appeasing demand
Sawtooth factories rapidly made way for empty apartments
Zetland redevelopment [Nov-2018 279kb]
For the rest of my life
Reschedule everything to make retirement a success
Brisbane Str vehicle tarpaulin covers, Bondi Junction [Dec-2018 366kb]
A two-speed world
The landscape was altered to better reflect our social order
The remains of Lawrence Hargrave Drive beside the Sea Cliff bridge, near Coalcliff [Dec-2016 779kb]
Remarks…
Hidden externalities
A vivid pile of inclusive spaces to facilitate social cohesion
Centre Place lane-way, Melbourne [Apr-2019 475kb]
Sunset industry
The party had to end some time
Tower cranes at Barangaroo, Sydney [Jan-2020 135kb]
The hikikomori archipelago
An intricate superstructure of domestic ideology to increase the rate of self-incarceration
“Sirius” public housing at The Rocks, which in 2022 was redeveloped into multimillion dollar condos for offshore investors [Sep-2016 173kb]
Magnificent isolation
Many embraced the rolling lockdowns because it finally gave them enough time to do all the things they always wanted
Waruda Street apartment stairwell, Kirribilli [Nov-2020 42kb]
Disregarding our descendants
The town did get a bit dangerous after dark
Hickson Road, Dawes Point Sydney Cove [Jan-2020 934kb]
The moral precedence of humanity
We peered through the bay-windows of our tastefully renovated homes, yet could not see the yachts for the trees
Vandalised Moreton Bay fig tree roots on Wunulla Road, Point Piper [Sep-2012 612kb]
Charting success
A million schemes for the world we were going to make
Parramatta Square construction site [Jan-2018 124kb]
Down from the trees and into the meat
It was as if we knew the plague was coming…
82nd street apartment entrance, NYC [Oct-2017 361kb]
It was fun while it lasted
82 256 493 barrels a day — the greatest achievement of our generation was to make the deserts bloom
Nike Savvas installation at the Art Gallery of NSW [Apr-2014 364kb]
Ready to enjoy your renovating touches
Deceased Estate — First Time Offered in 37 Years. Lifestyle studio apartments with iconic Oprah House, Bridge and Harbour views
Misspelled blurb on a real-estate hoarding, Waruda Street Kirribilli [Nov-2020 242kb]
The big smoke
Bushfire smoke pushed Sydney's air quality index rating to 2,552. That's 11 times higher than the level considered hazardous. And it's well below air quality index readings in cities in China, India, and other places known as hotbeds of air pollution.
(Gizmodo, 2019)
Weeks of bushfire smoke in Sydney [Jan-2020 213kb]
We were the memories we created
How and why will people remember us?
Tree growing in the old Fosters brewery wall (since demolished), at Broadway in Sydney [Apr-2014 552kb]
Remarks…
Aquatic dysphoria
The hydrosphere was loaded with enough micro-plastics and heavy-metals to make our marine-life indestructible
Storm-water grating at McCauley Lane in Alexandria [Mar-2018 434kb]
Well-hidden symmetries
What to nearly everyone was hopeless chaos, was to INTJs a landscape filled with intricate patterns and connections
Southbank lighting store, Melbourne [Apr-2019 611kb]
Potential harbour views
Uninterrupted vistas for our tax-shelter investment properties
Harbourside Serviced Apartments, McMahons Point [Sep-2018 305kb]
Epic ruin porn
Jack & Jackie died a long time ago, and Camelot became an abandoned car-yard
Leo Cushieri Quality Used Cars in Blacktown [Dec-2012 192kb]
Ready-made solutions
Our “developers” were given a blank cheque to do whatever they want
Sandbridge pedestrian crossing, Melbourne [Apr-2019 272kb]
Neptune's Navy
Broadsides for peace on the wide ocean blue
Sea Shepherd cruiser, Australian National Maritime Museum [Apr-2014 204kb]
Terra nullius
I direct council to amend its draft planning-scheme to remove any assumption about a theoretical projected sea level rise due to climate change
(Seeney, 2014)
Rock ledge at The Waterrun, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2019 645kb]
This fatal shore
A remote and hostile continent where the unwanted were sent to be forgotten
The boulder-strewn shoreline on the way to Figure 8 Pool, Royal National Park [Oct-2019 390kb]
Boom without end
Sprawl was right, sprawl worked. Sprawl clarified, cut through, and captured the essence of the evolutionary spirit
Diamond Bay cliffs at Dover Heights, in Sydney [Feb-2014 508kb]
Situation normal
Everything was fine, until it wasn't
Lawsons Auctions car-park, Moore Street Annandale [Sep-2015 302kb]
Remarks…
More days at the beach
Personally, I love drumming with a samba band if there is some environmental action going on. Everyone loves the band. One year, even the police got into trouble for dancing. So don't do nothing. Just find activism that you enjoy.
(The Guardian, 2022)
Miniature snowman at Blackheath Oval [Aug-2019 546kb]
Home! Sweat Home!
An exile from home splendour dazzles in vain
(J.H. Payne, 1823)
Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again
The birds singing gaily that came at my call
And gave me the peace of mind dearer than all
Egan Street red-brick flats, Newtown [Nov-2022 898kb]
Controlled flight into terrain
There was never quite enough time for the Eagle to land
Looking south from Garie Head North, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2020 437kb]
Permissive Occupancy
We, the legatees of adverse possession, hereupon swear to lobby and plead and flatter and appeal and threaten and randomly proclaim “significant heritage values” in order to enjoy our rightful seaside retreats deep inside a public national park
RNP shack at Little Garie, NSW [Jul-2019 511kb]
The signs were all there
The pressure kept increasing, but everything appeared to be still within limits
Steam relief chimney, Dey Street NYC [Oct-2017 173kb]
Wish the sun to stand still
For a short while it remained possible to spend all day outside
Sunbathing on the steps at Nielsen Park, Vaucluse [Dec-1990 310kb]
Captive audience
Cruise ships, nursing homes, schools and daycare centres provided an ideal way to disseminate contagious disease (Sepkowitz, 2014)
Green Thunder waterslide on the Carnival Spirit cruise ship, berthed at Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal [Dec-2014 207kb]
This tun of treasure
We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives
(Criswell, 1959)
The Green Square Waste garbage facility (since demolished) at O'Riordan Street (Daily Telegraph, 2014) [Aug-2014 343kb]
Made by We
The four seasons of positive climate reform
Blue mountains seasons [Dec-2019 467kb]
Intelligent design
Architects don't merely design – they create environments, inside and out, and spaces that function well, to mediate the dialogue between the boundaries of architecture and design, exterior and interior realms, structure and psyche
The remains of the Jonley Australia plastics factory in Meadowbank [Jan-2014 587kb]
Crosswalk puzzle
Waiting for the white man with the upraised orange palm
Pedestrian crossing at 37th and 5th, NYC [Oct-2017 264kb]
What mean these stones?
We were at the beginning of a mass extinction, and all we could talk about was money and fairytales of eternal economic growth
(Thundberg, 2019)
Iron slag at the Blast Furnace Park in Lithgow [Aug-2012 331kb]
Remarks…
The albatross beneath our feet
Rows of apartment blocks where agent-orange once bloomed
The decontaminated site of the Union Carbide plant, at Rhodes [Jul-2013 284kb]
Liens Den
The potential for redevelopment was endless
View from beneath the Western Distributor, at Darling Harbour [Jul-2017 72kb]
This brown and angry land
City dwellers still had a lot of trouble adjusting to the chaos of the Bush
Scribbly gum moth trails, Illawarra Escarpment track [Oct-2020 371kb]
Travel in stylllleeee
And what I hate about traditional carbon offset programmes is so many companies are using them, and they are a fig leaf for a CEO to write a cheque, tick a box, or pretend that they've done the right thing for sustainability when they haven't made one wit of difference in the real world
(Kirby, 2021)
Primary school mosaic in Sydenham Green, near Sydney Airport [Sep-2012 397kb]
We were here
Passing paths that climb halfway into the void
(Yes, 1972)
Royal Coastal Track, near Wattamolla [Aug-2020 911kb]
Remarks…
The wealth of future generations
Natural capital was limitlessly abundant, so we were prepared to make any sacrifice to ensure a better future
Olympian Rock walkway after a deliberately lit bushfire in Leura [Oct-2011 351kb]
Golden sunlit uplands
Import alien species to remind you of home, then watch helplessly as they spread throughout the environment
The invasive plant species Common Gorse spreads along the Taieri Gorge, NZ [Dec-2017 818kb]
Remarks…
Siri versus wild
Here's one of me tweeting that I uploaded an Instagram of myself taking a selfie while on holidays somewhere
The viewing platform of the Scenic Railway at Katoomba [Nov-2011 561kb]
The men in the high castle
The benefits of fifty years of neoliberalism were there for all to see
BP Site bund wall, Waverton [Jul-2017 425kb]
Less is more
A rectangular lattice to corral our inoffensive and risk-adverse lives
Housing demolition on Gray Street, at Kogarah [Apr-2011 161kb]
Build a better rookery
It was amazing how well organisms could adapt to living on the sixteenth floor
Rainbow lorikeets at the kitchen window, Harbourside Apartments [Jan-2019 172kb]
A machine to make the land pay
Flinders Road Industry lookout, Port Kembla BlueScope steelworks [Sep-2013 241kb]
Out in the open
A few growing pains were a small price to pay to ensure our city remained a true global city
Brocks lane construction appraisal, Macdonaldtown [Dec-2022 263kb]
Bright shining billions
The Great Architect stood with his hands on his hips and proclaimed: You too shall have a bone-yard
The Westfield World Trade Center atrium, NYC [Oct-2017 248kb]
Surf's up
Sandy beaches became problematic in a world of rising sea levels
Fairy Bower rocks, Manly [Jan-2021 765kb]
Hedge city
O beautiful for spacious skies, to park our excess wealth
Central Park apartments, Broadway [Jul-2018 350kb]
The curated home
Redesign your nest with hygge cosiness
Sutherland Crescent, Darling point [Jan-2017 184kb]
Across the roaring forties
Just one summer in western Sydney: 43.5°C (2017-12-14), 44.1°C (2017-12-19), 43.6°C (2017-12-20), 42.1°C (2017-12-24), 40.4°C (2017-12-29), 42.3°C (2018-01-06), 47.3°C (2018-01-07), 42.5°C (2018-01-08), 40.5°C (2018-01-19), 40.2°C (2018-01-20), 40.3°C (2018-01-21), 43.2°C (2018-01-22), 40.0°C (2018-02-14), 40.0°C (2018-02-24) (Aust BOM, 2018)
117°F in the shade, the hottest Sydney temperature since 1939 (ABC News, 2018). The following summer on 2019-01-04 there was a new record of 48.9°C [Jan-2018 85kb]
Tranquillity Bantustan
The charred tree-trunks, the ferns and weeds, the track which went on forever
Forest Trail, Illawarra Escarpment near Wollongong [Oct-2020 921kb]
Through an augmented sky
All the atmospheric particulates ensured a golden hour for everyone
Sunrise over Bourke Street, Melbourne [Apr-2019 57kb]
Remarks…
Late for the sky
The air was eaten, promise crammed
The final blast-furnace at BlueScope Steel, in Port Kembla [Sep-2014 97kb]
Remarks…
PETM reloaded
Nine-month summers, super El Niños, category-five hurricanes, wildfires, methane fumaroles, acidified oceans, cubic-kilometres of eutrophication and rivers awash with millions of dead fish. Years of drought followed by months of flooding rain. 1000-year events every five years. Every decade and season among the hottest on record. The sixth mass extinction. Aim low for +1.5°C and overshoot by at least 100%
Truck exhaust pipes at Woolloomooloo, in Sydney's east [Oct-2012 115kb]
Remarks…
Neo-Monogorod
To encourage immediate relaxation, new apartments promoted a sense of calm and well-being among their residents
Melbourne Docklands [Apr-2019 446kb]
Buckley's chance
Going nowhere was better than going backwards
Coastal track upgrading works at the Royal National Park, NSW [Jul-2019 641kb]
Scenes from Planet B
More than fifty years later, we were still just a warm dot in the cold dark void
North Era camp-site before dawn, Royal National Park NSW [Jul-2019 204kb]
Day-tripping
The greater our impact on nature, the more we wanted to see it
The Waterrun, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2019 411kb]
Remarks…
111 false dawns
Waiting for the pandemic to recede for long enough to celebrate another birthday
Sunrise over the Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne [Apr-2019 91kb]
Re-imagine urban life
Traffic and cranes were used to measure our prosperity
Tower cranes at Australian Technology Park [Mar-2018 371kb]
A domain of wreaths
Ideally, we should live as free people. Sensibly, we must live under guard
(Daily Telegraph, 2018)
Papered-over window display in Henry Str Lewisham [Sep-2015 169kb]