''The Australian Ugliness'' is a

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

book by Australian architect Robin Boyd. Boyd investigates

visual pollution Visual pollution is the study of secondary impacts of manmade interventions or visible deterioration and negative aesthetic quality of the natural and human-made landscapes around people. It refers to the impacts pollution has in impairing the q ...

in Australian aesthetic, in relation to

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

and the suburbs. In the text he coins the doctrine " featurism" to describe the state of Australian architectural design. Whilst not entirely a tragedy for the Australian community, Boyd proposes that education in design, landscaping and architecture can be a means to resolve the ugliness he observed.

Summary

The book can be seen as an "attack", or criticism, on Australia's built landscape. Boyd's three main criticisms stem from three ideas: the Australian obsession with "featurism"–a fixation on parts rather than the whole, the use of building materials and styles that are unsympathetic to the country's landscape/

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

, and the culling of trees in order to "divert" drains, prevent leaf clogging and other immaterial issues. Boyd's belief that trees are not a feature, or a byproduct of design, but rather a fundamental landscaping necessity, something unrecognised by Australian homeowners and city planners who opt for low maintenance. It also channeled the "

cultural cringe Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex that causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. It is closely related to the concept ...

", as well as drawing comparisons to the man-made post modernist landscapes of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and to a lesser extent

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Boyd's belief was that because Australia was in its infancy at the time of his critique, it had not developed a strong historic character like Europe, and thus its architectural landscape was a bombardment of confused style and mixed ideas.

Reception and influence

''The Australian Ugliness'' was first published by F. W. Cheshire, Melbourne. That firm's publishing director, Andrew Fabinyi, approved the book for publication in defiance of the "lugubrious advice of sundry experts" who claimed the book "had an impossible title and would not have public anyway". The book sold over 10,000 copies by early 1963. After the book's first publication, Boyd was criticised for being " unpatriotic" by the Australian mainstream press. The book’s Afterword acknowledges that it reads as a ‘rage’ and ‘diatribe’, and a 'satirical portrait'. As the years passed, the book became somewhat of a legacy and is now regarded as an important book regarding Australian design, culture and architecture. The book opened up debate about design, architecture and urban planning in the country. It has received various reprints and adjustments over the years. In the following years, Boyd's book inspired derivative and reactionary works, ranging from Donald Gazzard's more visual ''Australian Outrage'' (1966) and ''Look Here! Considering the Australian Environment'' (1968).

Summary

Reception and influence

References

Further reading