An impressive walkway for Cockatoo Island

摘要

Sydney Harbour is home to numerous islands, which have played a major role in the development of the city. Some were used as prison islands, and Cockatoo Island was developed from 1836 for this purpose. Essentially a large chunk of sandstone, its soil formed from the easily eroded parent material, Cockatoo Island is an iconic island in the harbour as a whole. Convicts were made to excavate vertical holes in the island, and then incarcerated in them for solitary confinement. Conditions must have been excruciating, given the humidity, mosquitoes and disease. The holes and the fort/gaol still exist and mark the first of numerous additions to the island, which have treated Cockatoo Island as a malleable object. Each intervention has shaped the island exclusively for its own purposes, only to be appropriated and modified by the following user.