Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 169 February 2021 i Landscape Architecture Australia

The Western Sydney Aerotropolis is a multi-billion-dollar development that aspires to be the third-largest economic centre in Australia by 2036, ten years after the airport it’s centred on is set to open. A range of high-powered global Fortune 500 companies have already signed up as Foundation Partners with the New South Wales state government to contribute to and be part of the development. Defence, manufacturing and tech companies such as Northrop Grumman, Samsung, Mitsubishi, Siemens and Hitachi are vying to build centres and facilities developing data analytics, advanced manufacturing, intensive agriculture, artificial intelligence and other technologies that will underpin the aerotropolis’s smart city and sustainability credentials. Likewise, public institutions such as the CSIRO, the Australian Space Agency and a consortium of Australian universities aim to make this a “knowledge” or…

Colma Creek Connector, South City, San Francisco, California, USA The land of the Ramaytush Ohlone Hassell A key but neglected urban waterway that runs from the northern ranges of San Bruno Mountain all the way to the San Francisco Bay, Colma Creek has occupied a central place in the area’s history. Building upon earlier work from the Bay Area: Resilient by Design competition, Hassell has been exploring future possibilities for the creek and the city to reduce flooding impacts, strengthen resilience to sea level rise and reverse the area’s real and symbolic separation from the water by restoring public access, returning native species to the area and expanding the number of parks and open spaces. The work has included the recent release of the Colma Creek Adaptation Planning report, a…

Peri-urban territories are defined by the intersection of urban and rural lands located at the fringes of an urban centre. They are dynamic territories undergoing constant transformation due to the multi-scalar processes brought about by urbanization. Peri-urban territories are framed by their local context and are specific to both place and time.1 Almost always becoming urban through a transformation of the rural, the process of peri-urbanization is often perceived as an improving process, as part of an urban-rural continuum of rural and urban zoned land. However, in many cases, this conversion can occur without a proper investigation of the collective and cumulative social and ecological value of these lands. Peri-urban areas have a diverse array of functions. These functions are either a requisite of urban development, while being at the…

Recipient Pohan Chu Program Master of Landscape Architecture, The University of Melbourne Project Statement Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Melbourne, citizens were forced to dramatically shift their daily living patterns, being limited to the scale of their neighbourhoods in their activities. Many services, entertainment and social venues were no longer accessible, with social distancing requirements even rendering shopping on suburban high streets difficult. What if these changes became long-term or permanent? Focusing on the inner suburb of Richmond, this project explores a new future for a neighbourhood unit that encourages people to adapt and embrace new living and working patterns and spaces. A strategic insertion of a new mix-used development forms the basis for a socio-resilient hub that provides diverse work and cultural experiences and contributes a new multi-dimensional…

Recipient Tom Flugge Program Master of Landscape Architecture, RMIT University Project Statement This proposal deploys the notion of the enclave as a protective tool in the collaborative mapping of key water moments and key cultural moments. Both moments, “Reading Landscape” and “Reading Country,” require an identification and expansion of enclaves that renegotiate boundaries to provide a range of adaptive programs. “Reading Landscape” proposes that an understanding of hydrological systems, as read through landform, can lead to the identification of optimal water harvesting locations. “Reading Country” proposes that an identification of enclaves can assist in framing and protecting Aboriginal cultural sites, while inviting visitors to experience their stories and relationships. By iteratively mapping and reworking the site through the three lenses of Aboriginal culture, agricultural technique and conservation values, the project…

Recipient Julia McCann Program Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Landscape Architecture Queensland University of Technology Project Statement Global food practices are a long way departed from the bucolic romance of the family farm. Agriculture today is an enormous, industrialized and competitive machine. Humans have already cultivated most of earth’s arable terrain, degraded masses of critical ecosystems and are pushing the upper limits of freshwater consumption. As global populations swell and dietary standards improve, current industrial agricultural practices are no longer a viable option. Food 4.0 combines the globalized efficiency of modern food technology with the vernacular wisdom of Indigenous agriculture to offer an answer to the question, “how will we feed 10 billion people? An economically struggling rural Queensland town has been selected as the nucleus for a food revolution.…

HASSELL TO LEAD MASTERPLAN FOR ABBOTSFORD CONVENT Hassell will lead a masterplan for the protection and enhancement of the historic Abbotsford Convent precinct on the Birrarung (Yarra River) in Melbourne’s north-east. The site subject to the masterplan was occupied by one of Victoria’s largest convents during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and today it functions as an arts, education and cultural hub. Work on the project commenced in November 2020 and is due to be completed by October 2021. hassellstudio.com OCULUS TO MASTERPLAN HOBART RIVERSIDE SPORTING PRECINCT Fender Katsalidis with Oculus and Ireneinc will create a $200 million masterplan to transform an underutilized ex-industrial site on Hobart’s Derwent River into a sports and recreation centre. The project will be located on a 15-hectare site at Wilkinsons Point in Glenorchy, home…

In 2020, the annual AIH awards night, planned to be held in Sydney to celebrate the institute’s 60th year, had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions – a decision not made lightly by the AIH council. Once restrictions were lifted, the council presented all awards to their winners individually and highlighted the wonderful works of these companies, groups and individuals through our various media channels. In 2021, the council hopes that this year’s winners will have the opportunity to come together at an awards night in Sydney to further showcase these horticultural accomplishments. Green Space Urban Award Frasers Property for Burwood Brickworks (Vic) Green Space Urban Award Aspect Studios for Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Project (Vic) Landscape architect – Aspect Studios Green Space Urban Award Altum…

Emma Washington — What’s your role? Malcolm Snow — I’m CEO of City Renewal Authority (CRA), a statutory authority of the ACT government responsible for managing the renewal of central Canberra. EW — How has your career developed? MS — I’ve always had a strong interest in design, sociology and the environment. My first degree was in regional and town planning and I worked as a planner for six years before completing a master of landscape architecture at the University of Melbourne in 1982. I decided to focus on urban revitalization, which I saw as an increasingly important challenge. I worked in Scotland for the Scottish Development Agency (now Scottish Enterprise) and returned to be the head of design with the City of Melbourne, working for nearly a decade on…

Tyrrell Studio has emerged as a visionary practice over the relatively short period of ten years. The office occupies a much-needed space in current landscape architecture practice with a body of work ranging from catalytic built public works to extended, open urban visions. Italian architect Carlo Ratti has said that increasingly, the modus operandi for architects and designers is to create projects “with as much visibility and cultural importance as possible, rather than to address the questions at the root of human habitation”1. Tyrrell Studio’s work eschews this trend and seeks to get at the big urban challenges of our time – biodiversity loss, human health, and collaboration across disciplines. Despite these lofty goals, a lightness of touch in the practice’s work tempers false notions such as control and definition.…

Recipient Rudan Fan Program Master of Landscape Architecture, Deakin University Project Statement In Australia, around 85 percent of residents live within 50 kilometres of the coastline. In considering the effects of climate change, rising sea levels present one of the most significant challenges for human and non-human ecosystems. The project site lies within the Barwon River Estuary, in the Greater Geelong region. As a coastal case study, Barwon Estuary Design Framework presents a vision of how a resilient living environment in a coastal region might be created that responds to climate change. The project proposes a three-stage process of long-term planning, “accept-transform-adapt,” to develop an amphibious coastal living environment, while introducing sustainable and dynamic landscape interventions that increase awareness of climate change impacts. Barwon Estuary Design Framework demonstrates how nature-based…

Recipient Brooke Toovey Program Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (Honours), The University of Canberra Project Statement Located within the National Triangle, the Australian Capital Territory’s symbolic heart, this project reimagines the entryway to Canberra’s Commonwealth Park as a series of experiences that create emotional and physical connections with the landscape. A healthy landscape benefits not only a site’s ecology and long-term plant health but promotes the health and wellbeing of those who visit. Exposure to natural elements can reduce stress, enhance immunity, boost productivity and foster healing, leading to a happier and more resilient community that is better able to experience the park’s qualities. The design reimagines and celebrates the Griffins’ original plans for an ideal city. The proposal accentuates vistas, engages and links cultural institutions and creates active public spaces.…

Recipient Yu Lin Program Master of Landscape Architecture, The University of Adelaide Project Statement Globally, sea level rise is leading to the degradation of human and non-human habitats and will be catastrophic without immediate action. Since European settlement, Adelaide’s Port River and its estuary have undergone significant changes, with human activities leading to ecosystem decline. The area is low-lying and vulnerable to sea level rise and flooding. The Shape of Flow generates new landforms by simulating the natural flow processes within modified and natural tidal river flats. Digital and physical geomorphological models were built to gain insight into potential forms. The project proposes micro-topographic interventions to increase the stormwater storage area on land, reduce the impact of pollutants in the runoff and to develop a buffer zone to guard against…

How can we continue to plant trees successfully through the summer months? Summer tree planting is possible if simple planting principles are followed. An essential point to remember is that trees are far more susceptible to stress during the warmer months, when they are actively growing. With a little attention to detail and some extra care, however, summer planting can be achieved with great success. 1. Preparing holes First and foremost, ensure that your excavated holes are well ameliorated, so that the soil is friable and soft. The cavity and surrounding ground should be well soaked prior to installation of the tree. 2. Planting To plant, gently lower the tree into the hole so that the trunk flare is at, or slightly higher than, the final landscape finish level (see…

Discussion of green infrastructure has become increasingly common at the level of the street, suburb and city. The concept of green infrastructure has been gaining ground in Australia over the past few years, with its recognized benefits including a key role in biodiversity protection through the safeguarding and re-establishment of ecological connectivity, the mitigating of air pollution and the urban heat island effect, the provision of recreational opportunities, the augmentation of active transport networks and the elevation of visual amenity. Add to this ever-growing list the boosting of property values and the potential for carbon sequestration, and green infrastructure’s value as a dynamic mix of residential gardens, local parks and housing estates, streetscapes and highway verges, services and communications corridors, waterways and regional recreation areas1 that provides a life-support system…

Darwin Civic and State Square Masterplan, Darwin, Northern Territory The land of the Larrakia people TCL with Troppo The redevelopment of Darwin’s Civic and State Square, located between the city’s waterfront and the CBD, forms part of a series of projects agreed to under the Darwin City Deal, which includes plans to revitalize and transform Darwin’s public spaces in an effort to cool the city. TCL and Troppo’s scheme for the precinct builds on the Darwin City Centre Masterplan and the Northern Territory government’s ongoing heat-mitigation studies to propose a diverse series of spaces that aims to draw locals and tourists by day and night, and through the area’s dramatic wet and dry seasons. The scheme expands upon the site’s existing green character to envision a flexible and activated “central…

Contemporary landscape architectural practice encompasses more than designing parks and specifying plants. The profession has dramatically diversified from its inception. The skills required for contemporary practice would be unimaginable to our nineteenth century counterparts, but are we losing agency over planting design and specification? Has a de-emphasis on planting knowledge in Australian landscape architecture education resulted in many practitioners lacking the skills and knowledge base to effectively design with plants? Or is our dwindling agency the result of ideologically driven plant specification methods, such as the application of EVCs to urban environs? It is a common occurrence when designing for the public realm for plant selection to be specified to practitioners as a strictly non-negotiable list. An associate’s recent experience highlights this issue remarkably well. They were engaged to design…

Recipient Patrick Fitz-Hayes Program Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (Honours), University of Technology Sydney Project Statement The expansiveness of the Sydney Basin means that as a geomorphological entity it can lack legibility. Plagued by development and a population boom pushing west, we, the site’s inhabitants, have been losing our connections to the place and land on which we live. How can we highlight the multi-scalar ebbs and flows of such an immense landscape? The portal, on the fringe of the basin, exists in counterpoint to the vastness of the plain and renders its systems and rhythms tangible. The huge cliffs of Glenbrook Gorge are a byproduct of a unique fracturing pattern that allows rock to easily fall away. Here, the patterns of the broader landscape are rendered explicit, at a scale…

Recipient Sasha Spasic Program Master of Landscape Architecture, The University of Western Australia Project Statement Traditionally, waterfront redevelopments have tended to clear the history of their sites or work with post-industrial areas – Fremantle is unique in that it continues to be a working port. The area’s bustling atmosphere, replete with cranes, trucks and the movement of cargo, is a distinctive element of the site’s character. Fremantle Waterfront sees an opportunity to maintain working port operations while allowing visitors and the community to become a part of the site’s narrative. The project opens up much-needed public space and envisions a place where the active and dynamic port setting is embraced and engaged, rather than erased. The design reveals the city’s many narratives and layers, celebrating it as a place of…