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November 23, 2003
I came across this quote about William Morris courtesy of Schwarz over at Digital Media Tree.
"At the core of Morris' philosophy which was heavily influenced by his friend and mentor, John Ruskin, is the belief that old buildings should look old, and that historic fabrics should be respected and preserved, even where it survives in a weak or damaged state. For Ruskin and Morris, the essence of historic fabric lay in the wear and tear displayed by its antiquity and the spirit of the craftsman who created it, and not in its original perfection."
It is another world to the modernist one of concrete and glass that negates the past as tradition. Yet that old (nineteenth century) world is Adelaide.
The old nineteenth century buildings are what people who work in the visual culture notice as they drive into the city from the airport. Suzanne's sister, Barbara Heath, (on the left of this photo)
remarked as much when I picked her up early on Friday afternoon from her flight from Sydney.
Unlike Barbara, there are still many people in Adelaide who do not want their old buildings to look old; do not care about respecting and preserving their historic fabrics; nor do they appreciate the fine craftsmanship of these buildings.
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