Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 174 May 2022 i Landscape Architecture Australia

YARRA STRATEGIC PLAN LAUNCHED The Victorian state government has launched the Yarra Strategic Plan – Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo – to protect the Birrarung/Yarra River from population growth and climate change. The plan sets out 40 actions, including parkland expansion, habitat restoration, and revegetation works to increase native fish populations. Underpinned by the establishment of the Birrarung Council in 2018, it aims to brings together Traditional Owners and community representatives for shared oversight of the river. Image: Dietmar Rabich CC BY-SA 4.0 water.vic.gov.au RIVERS, STREAMS AT BIENNALE OF SYDNEY Rivers, wetlands, and salt and freshwater ecosystems are in focus at the 23rd Biennale of Sydney. Titled "Rivus", Latin for "river" or "stream," the biennale is curated by artistic director José Roca of Bogota-based Flora Ars and Natura arts organization, with…

Delprat Phytoremediation Garden, Mayfield North, New South Wales Built on the land of the Pambalong clan of the Awabakal people University of Newcastle – School of Architecture and Built Environment and University of Technology Sydney, in collaboration with Landcom, NSWI In a beautiful image of the circularity of intellectual insight and material processes, science writer Dorion Sagan writes of how, in hearing his own breathing, he is reminded of the redox gradient, the metabolic source of energy for most animals. The oxygen we inhale and the chemical compounds making up our food are what sustain us in the very physical process that enables our awareness of those same processes and of our own existence. Redox gradients also exist in the biogeochemical processes of wetlands and soils, and also in contaminant…

Devastating actions over decades have degraded the systems that support our health and connect us with the “more-than-human world.” This has resulted in many of us becoming estranged from nature to the detriment of our capacities for pro-environmental behaviour and even our quality of life. Beyond the decarbonization imperative, we also need to change cities and suburbs to change how we live. A key part of this change must be the (re)generation of public spaces with abundant nature. Our gut instinct that “green is good” (and not just for our wellbeing) is being affirmed by a legion of increasingly sophisticated research using sources of “big data” in Australia and beyond, which is not only confirming that we benefit from being in nature but is also revealing how deep the connection…

Global urbanization continues, while at the same time, cities in Australia and beyond are hotspots of rising temperatures. Across the world, urban densification and expansion are inevitably resulting in more capping of soil and less vegetation, which is in turn leading to additional warming. The heat island effect, urban overheating, record-breaking extreme heat, heat shelter programs, soaring energy needs for cooling, increasing thermal discomfort and loss of lives are realities now shared by cities around the world every year. Planners and landscape architects face the challenging task of balancing the increasing amount of urban hardscape with the need for green and open space. In densifying cities, public parks deliver reams of functions and services, from providing space for recreation and social interaction, to fostering biodiversity, assisting in flood prevention, raising…

The Healing Garden at the Heide Museum of Modern Art, Bulleen, Victoria Built on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples Openwork When John and Sunday Reed moved to Heide I cottage1 in the late 1930s, the land leading down to the Yarra River had been cleared for dairy farming and there were few trees. Over four decades, they transformed the property into a series of romantically named decorative and productive gardens: the Wild Garden, the Orchard, the Heart Garden, the Doll’s House, the Violet Tunnel and, of course, the Kitchen Garden. Evaluating the original garden at Heide I puts me in mind of an Antiques Roadshow appraisal, where an everyday object is given an intrinsic value plus a heightened value because of its provenance. The garden made by…

By 2050, the worldwide population of people over 60 is expected to more than double – and the number of Australians living with dementia or a moderate to severe cognitive impairment is proportionately increasing. The result is a pressing need to plan and build physical and social environments in our cities that will optimize health and wellbeing for people as they age and provide opportunities for them to continue participating in community life and the workforce. Ageing in place is becoming a strong desire of Australia’s baby boomers, and it has significant policy and planning implications for our governments and our communities. To date, much of the work of landscape architects in this area has been in the private sector in the design of aged care and retirement villages. Recently,…

COVID-19 has, in combination with climate change, opened a window of opportunity for rethinking our Australian cities and transitioning them to more sustainable and resilient platforms. To thrive in the face of current and future challenges, all future city initiatives and interventions must aim to build inclusive community resilience and environmental sustainability, as well as promote health outcomes for their populations, while ensuring jobs and economically vibrant cities. An important factor in enabling such transitions is to think differently about the meaning and function of our urban building blocks. Three interconnected opportunities can provide holistic benefits as well as greater community resilience. Working from home as another mode of transport Working from home provides a means of shifting away from private car use, with benefits for the environment, personal well-being…

Beyond Wild is the third monograph published by The Monacelli Press to cover the work of Raymond Jungles, after The Colors of Nature (2008) and The Cultivated Wild (2015) (see Landscape Australia May 2017 or landscapeaustralia.com/articles/The-Cultivated-Wild for a review). Like a good garden, Jungles’ books have flourished with the passage of time. The latest is the most ravishing yet. Reading as a series of essays in garden and landscape planting design, it showcases 20-plus projects from the Jungles studio. All derive from the same hand, while each reveals a new way of working with plants. The introduction by Michael Van Valkenburgh describes the experience of visiting the roof at 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, where Jungles created the well-known Sky Garden. Van Valkenburgh describes it as “one of the best gardens…

Working on a project that involves wood and wood products? The new SpeciesSolutions app is a valuable resource that helps to match various timber species with common applications in Australia and connect buyers with suppliers. With an intuitive interface design, up-to-date information and access to more than 450 suppliers, SpeciesSolutions makes it easier than ever to find the right species for specific applications and vendors to provide them. One of the major causes of reduced service life in timber products is the use of an unsuitable species. By suggesting a range of appropriate species, SpeciesSolutions not only encourages the use of suitable timber but provides options users may not have thought about. Armed with the right information, built environment professionals can benefit from increased availability and cost savings – as…

The buzz and lure of innovation are ever present, yet innovation has never been more needed than now. A sense of urgency has arisen in the response to the COVID pandemic across all social and economic sectors. The vulnerability of complex associations between professions has been highlighted, particularly as we grapple with ways to readjust across the construction industry. The effects of disrupted supply chains, and skill and labour shortages, are felt at the local, regional, national and international scales. While the experience has also emphasized differences between organizations, what continues to remain common is the underlying quest to learn from the disruptions and be better equipped to adapt to sudden changes in the future. Livelihoods and legacies depend on it. At such times of crisis, innovation is sought by…

Landscape architects are in a good position to take action on climate change. There are two key actions to consider: climate change mitigation – reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are the source of climate change; and climate change adaptation – adapting to the impacts that occur because of climate change (for example, longer periods of drought). Climate change actions in landscape architecture often focus on adaptation. However, adaptation without mitigation cannot be sustained, as adaptive efforts would need to constantly meet new benchmarks as the climate continues to change.1 For landscape architects to lead climate action, we need to actively engage with both adaptation and mitigation. An important step for climate change mitigation is engagement with performance metrics through life cycle and metabolic thinking. Most design workflows do not…

From the catastrophic 2019/2020 summer bushfires in south-eastern Australia to the devastating floods that recently engulfed Queensland, the Asia Pacific region experiences more climate-related hazards than any other part of the planet. Despite the massive human and physical costs of these crises, the number of designers equipped to work alongside disaster professionals to reduce risk and to rebuild in the aftermath of floods, fires and earthquakes remains chronically low. Landscape architects are currently under-represented in the disaster and development fields, yet there is a huge demand for their design, ecological and site planning skills. This includes working for local governments or large multidisciplinary practices (such as Arup and AECOM) to develop nature-based strategies for climate change, and designing and rebuilding landscapes and settlements destroyed by fires, floods and cyclones. Here,…

Kevin Taylor and I met in 1989 while sharing a space in architect Gregory Burgess’s studio, a freezing old bakery building in Richmond. Initially, we didn’t really get along so well. I had a small design and construct business creating residential gardens and Kevin was working on a range of community projects. Armed with a consultation report and building brief, Kevin and a switched-on arts officer, Michelle Howard, had convinced the Box Hill council to fund the first purpose-built community arts centre in Australia, rather than renovate an old building as previously planned. He recommended that the council engage Greg as the architect. Kevin and Greg had just completed the sketch design phase and we started working together on the detail design in 1990. I loved to watch the collaborative…