Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 177 February 2023 i Landscape Architecture Australia

Janet McGaw Janet McGaw is an associate professor of architectural design at the University of Melbourne. Her work explores the relationship between place and identity. Stanislav Roudavski Stanislav Roudavski is a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, where he researches design for animals, plants, rivers, and rocks, as well as for humans. Jock Gilbert Jock Gilbert is a registered landscape architect and a lecturer at RMIT University’s School of Architecture and Urban Design. Alexander Holland Alexander Holland is a researcher at the University of Melbourne. His work investigates the digital and physical characteristics and design opportunities of past and future environments. Sophia Pearce Sophia Pearce is a Barkandji scholar, Indigenous knowledge holder and Culpra Milli Aboriginal Corporation project officer. Jillian Walliss Jillian Walliss is an associate professor of landscape…

“An excellent design is where you can’t tell where the landscape architect has been.” Some version of this statement is often used to describe the spirit of landscape architecture. While it captures aspects of our design practice, this position leads to complications when it comes to questions of authorship, particularly in an increasingly competitive professional environment where designers must demonstrate a range of expertise. Issues of authorship become even more fraught in the contemporary multidisciplinary project. Historically, it has been relatively straightforward to trace the authors of single spatial typologies, such as the garden or the park. But in the multidisciplinary project, which is shaped by ideas, politics and power, questions of design authorship become murky. In this context, landscape architecture’s other much-cited framing as “the art of time” leaves…

Christie manufactures the original, iconic Australian barbecue designed explicitly for cooking in shared public spaces. Its fixed electric and gas grills offer a safe, sustainable alternative to open fires and disposable barbecue options. The experience of cooking and sharing food brings communities together and promotes healthy outdoor living. Since 1965, more than 50,000 of Christie’s durable, energy-efficient grills have been installed worldwide in parks and urban environments. Christie is a leader in barbecue technology and design innovation. Their ICON cabinet’s DDA-compliant design provides universal access, enabling seated and standing users to use the cooktop. The ICON meets high standards for sustainability, inclusivity and occupational health and safety and is made of 100 percent recyclable materials. Christie cooktops are natively intelligent. A built-in controller constantly monitors performance and produces error notifications…

In February 2021, Alice Gorman (space archaeologist), Ceridwen Dovey (space writer), Michelle Maloney and Mari Margil (earth lawyers) and I (landscape architect) came together to write the Declaration of the Rights of the Moon.1 To give the Moon rights may seem a radical suggestion, but it was clear, when talking with Michelle and Mari, that the Zeitgeist was changing in regard to the rights of nature. In 2008, Ecuador declared a new constitution to give rights to nature, and there are now 409 rights of nature initiatives globally.2 It is clear that the Western legal system has been largely set up to regulate the destruction of nature. This challenge to the status quo moves the conversation toward nature having its own seat at the table, as a collaborator in the…

Digital technologies and media influence almost every moment of our daily lives. Together with increasingly agile management systems, technological advancements – including computers, the internet, algorithms, artificial intelligence and the cloud – have reinvented nearly every business.1 Practising landscape architecture in this environment raises two questions regarding authorship: first, how data, information and designs are shared; and second, how ideas and outcomes are produced. Open-source resources offer unprecedented access to collaborative communities in which to exchange ideas. In 2015, Italian architect Carlo Ratti and designer Matthew Claudel from MIT’s Senseable City Lab expanded the notion of collaborative community in their manifesto Open Source Architecture, exploring how the public can be involved in the creation of architecture.2 The authors envision an alternative future for the profession, arguing for a paradigm shift…

The first issue of Landscape Architecture Australia for 2023 has landed – and we’re excited for you to read it. In February of last year, Jillian Walliss and Heike Rahmann contacted us to discuss the possibility of a themed issue of Landscape Architecture Australia that unpacked the challenges and opportunities of authorship in relation to landscape architecture. Jillian is an associate professor at the University of Melbourne and Heike is a senior lecturer at RMIT University. Together, they guest-edited the February 2018 issue of the magazine, which examined the exchange of ideas between Australia and Asia. When they pitched this proposal to us, we were enthusiastic. Working in design publishing as the editor of a landscape architecture magazine, I often feel the pressure of trying to obtain greater recognition for…

The lineage of landscape and the lineage of authorship overlap at a curious point, which is around the notion of property: land was first transformed into property in 17th century England and “landscape” emerged to mirror this legal transformation of ownership and space1; ideas and knowledge, including creative works, were transformed into intellectual property in the 18th century through adaptation of these same laws2. These transformations paralleled and supported the emergence of capitalism in modern Europe, sparking a destructive reordering of the world that extended globally via colonization. The earliest “landscape gardeners” worked within these emerging relationships between space, ideas, and economy, establishing an understanding of practice as client-focused service, landscape as “site” (property), and design as professionally authored work (intellectual property). For contemporary landscape architects, practice continues to focus…

Human redesign of landscapes often leads to dramatic losses. These losses are grossly unfair, with some suffering more than others. The harms are often inversely proportionate to societal power, with nonhuman lifeforms at the worst disadvantage. In response, this article reconsiders design as a communal activity that is not unique to humans. All lifeforms including plants, animals, and bacteria can self-design, affect others, act as niche constructors and ecosystem engineers. Human-driven design can produce huge effects but remains a component within this picture. Seeking ways to co-design with all life, we advocate greater powers for nonhuman designers. Let us tackle this idea in three parts. We first mention the current efforts to cater for nonhuman lifeforms, which are commendable but insufficient. Next, we provide alternative steps of participation that introduce…

The concept of authorship is of growing interest for the profession. At the commencement of my career, authorship of a project seemed clear-cut. As a practising landscape architect, you were typically appointed for the life of a project, remained at the table from inception through to the detailed design process, and were still involved when the project shifted through to documentation, tender and construction administration. Being involved at every stage in the project’s development allowed nuances within the process to be easily and carefully refined. By moving a bench to the right and slightly rotating it in the actual site, for instance, you might discover a better view than previously imagined during the on-screen digital design process. All in all, the entire project benefited from continuous ownership by the landscape…