The Australian Ugliness
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 First edition | |
| Author | Robin Boyd |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | F. W. Cheshire, Melbourne |
Publication date | 1960 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 229 pp |
The Australian Ugliness is a 1960 book by Australian architect Robin Boyd. Boyd investigates visual pollution in Australian aesthetic, in relation to architecture and the suburbs. In the text he coins the term "featurism" to describe the state of Australian architectural design. Boyd proposes that education in design, landscaping and architecture can be a means to resolve the ugliness he observed.
The book can be seen as an "attack" on, or criticism of, Australia's built landscape.
Boyd's three main criticisms stem from three ideas: the Australian obsession with "featurism" with a fixation on parts rather than the whole, the use of building materials and styles that are unsympathetic to the country's landscape/climate, 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.[citation needed]
It also channeled the "cultural cringe", as well as drawing comparisons to the man-made landscapes of North America and to a lesser extent Europe.[1] 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.[citation needed]