HARNESSING A WILD AESTHETIC
Hassett Park Campbell, Australian Capital Territory
Built on the land of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people
Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture
When Hassett Park opened in 2015 it was championed for meeting the ACT government’s environmental, social and spatial objectives. Designed by Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture (JILA) as a public park within the larger prestige estate development of Campbell 5, it is the physical manifestation of public open space policy that has evolved in the ACT over more than a century. However, in the context of the COVID-19 lockdowns and their impacts on public life and social interactions, how can the design of the park be understood within this evolution?
Parks and gardens are embedded in the fabric of Canberra. They were listed as requirements in the 1911 Public open space was at the forefront of the Griffin plan. It would be a city in a landscape.
