Humans lack the capacity to comprehend geo-logical time, a breadth unfathomable from our biological perspective. Our callous extraction of resources negates the patience of geomorphology. The Burren’s karst landscape instinctively rejects the notion of deep time. Its proximity to the visible surface belies its layered creation over millennia. It is a unique terrain where natural processes can be appreciated rather than exploited. A landscape that can be interpreted in the tension between depth and shallowness, mass and volume. 

Tom Cookson is an architect, writer and educator. He is interested in the intersection between architecture and environment in the context of the Anthropocene. Shallow Time. The Burren is supported by the dpr-barcelona and Irish Architecture Foundation LINA Writing Award 2022.