Cool Burn
An immersive installation by a small architecture practice, a writer and a scent designer. Cool Burn imagines the scorched aftermath of a bushfire.
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A series of blackened telegraph poles represent a forest of charred tree trunks.
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A bleached timber floor laid radially slopes from all directions to a circular clearing, which offers a counterpoint to the rectangular plan of the whole. Here, an integrated seat at the periphery on one side of the cleared space forms a meeting space and grass underfoot leads to the garden beyond.
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The installation is designed to change over time to reflect the revitalisation of the bush after a fire.
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The name “Cool Burn” refers to the Indigenous Australian practice of burning small areas of land when the weather is cool and still. This vital land management skill has been practiced by Indigenous Australians for millennia.