THREE FOLLIES

Traditional Custodians - Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung
Location – City of Darebin
Client – Ray Bramham Gardens, Preston, VIC
Status – Completed 2014

Forming spaces for social gathering, informal play and public performance, Three Follies is a public artwork commission located within a botanical civic parklands.

The project brief was to develop a landmark that would be visible from the street, enhancing the park’s street presence and strengthening connections with the residential context. Working closely with the local community and Council, Bush projects created an artwork that sought to reconnect residents with the existing parkland through a series of interactive structures located at three key points within the gardens.

Extending an invitation for participation and use, the series of works offer provision of amenity for rest, passive recreation, social gathering, and informal play, creating spaces for the local community to spend extended time in the landscape of the gardens.

Constructed from recycled brick - including bricks made at this site of a previous quarry - the forms are designed to be multi-functional, incorporating flat plains that can be utilised as a stage or picnic space or sitting area, as well as low forms that can be used for seating, balancing, or climbing.

The structures are designed to create a visual link through the gardens, leading people in from the street and encouraging exploration of the botanical oasis within.

Photo credit: Abigail Varney