Innehållsförteckning för Issue 151 August från Landscape Architecture Australia

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AWARD FOR INDIGENOUS STUDENTS A new scholarship seeks to encourage Indigenous students to study landscape architecture at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Arcadia Landscape Architecture has sponsored the UNSW Built Environment Arcadia Landscape Architecture Award for Indigenous Students, which seeks to address the under- representation of Indigenous practitioners in the industry. The grant is open to Indigenous Year 12 students applying to study a bachelor degree in landscape architecture at UNSW. Pictured above is a landscape project at Dunstan Grove, Sydney that features public art by Aboriginal artist Jason Wing. Photo: Courtesy Arcadia Landscape Architecture ARCADIALA.COM.AU 2016 HASSELL TRAVELLING SCHOLARSHIP ROBIN EDMOND AWARD This year’s winner of the Hassell Travelling Scholarship – Robin Edmond Award is RMIT University graduate John Williams. The scholarship, which offers the…

Snow on the mountain, a cold, blustery wind, a choppy, grey River Derwent. And on the water in Hobart’s Elwick Bay, in two parallel lines of sixty metres alongside one of the boardwalks, short transparent poles on blue flotation buoys bob up and down, one or two pulled out of line by the unusually high tide of the previous night. Each of the poles has two lights. One ranges from red to green according to the level of dissolved oxygen in the surrounding water, and the other is white, activated when a text message is sent to the installation and a reply returned. The poles form an installation, Amphibious Architecture, commissioned by GASP! – Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park – and developed by Queensland-born, New York-based artist, engineer and designer…

Palm tree branches are used in this project as a simple measure to respond to coastal erosion caused by rising sea levels on Tarawa Atoll. Inserted into the sand, the spoon-shaped branches create an effective barrier, causing sea currents to slow down and deposit sand materials into the concave inner surface of each leaf branch. Parametric design is used intelligently to increase the performance of individual branches by combining them into groups or swarms of branches. As a result, sand mounds are created over time that gradually elevate coastal embankments, allowing aquatic plants such as mangroves to grow and secure themselves to the beach. PROJECT In-Situ Network – The Territorial Generative Production Strategy LOCATION Kiribati and Belize PRACTICE Linkscale and Amphibious Lab PROJECT TEAM Maj Plemenitas, Ana Abram TIME SCHEDULE…

Porta now offers durable hardwood timber beams and decking in Karri timber. Karri timber decking and beams are a versatile and attractive option for exposed outdoor applications and in garden construction. Karri timber decking is a Class 2 (above ground) Australian hardwood. Fully certified (PEFC) and sustainably logged, Karri is a cost-effective choice for outdoor timber in landscaping constructions. Karri timber beams are Class 2 (above ground) / Class 3 (in ground) and have an F27 strength rating, making them suitable for use anywhere that a highstrength, structural-grade timber is needed. The decking and beams stain, sand and machine well. They are ideal for a large range of external and internal applications, including landscaping, joinery, decking, cladding, furniture and stairs. Karri timber can be used to add warmth to a…

The number of highrise towers is increasing exponentially in Australia. With this, public debate on whether they are good for the city and the residents who live in them intensifies. Some concerned about highrise living see it as a dehumanizing and dystopian experience that has poor social and psychological outcomes for the residents. At the same time, highrise luxury apartments are fetching multimillion-dollar prices in our capital cities. Yet only a very small percentage of Australians currently live in highrise apartments (buildings of more than four storeys), so it’s reasonable to assume that many who hold such concerns have never lived in a highrise building. Much of the stigma of highrise housing emerged when tower living was embraced to deliver public housing in the 1960s. Concerns regarding crime, health and…

The Calyx is a new horticultural display centre at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, designed by PTW and McGregor Coxall. The design of the Calyx builds on the geometry of the Ken Woolley-designed Arc glasshouse to which it is grafted, creating an integrated space with indoor and outdoor areas for exhibitions. The project includes the longest continous green wall in the Southern Hemisphere and can be climate controlled to replicate conditions well enough to nurture plants from anywhere in the world. The name “Calyx” refers to the outer casing of a flower bud. At the centre of the building is an “Iris” podium, which features a mirror pond and can be used as a flexible space for events as well as exhibitions. PROJECT The Calyx LOCATION The Domain, Sydney DESIGN…

This innovative installation developed from the need to undertake a large field experiment – examining the effects of climate change on kelp forests – in a natural but controlled environment. To achieve this, over 500 adult kelp were transplanted (in what is thought to be a world first) onto an array of twenty-eight artificial reefs that use a modular design of metal and Turfstone pavers, distributed over 1.5 hectares in the cool waters of Tasmania. Eighteen months after the kelp was transplanted, the reefs are teeming with life. Although habitat rehabilitation was not the team’s immediate aim, the experience gained has greatly improved our capability to understand, conserve and even restore these critical marine habitats. PROJECT Transplanted kelp forest LOCATION Tasmania, Australia PRACTICE University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and…

The city is a palimpsest; it moves within time and as a collection of layers for those who read it as a textured landscape. I love this city, but it is not mine. I am living on stolen land. As an Indigenous academic I recognize that this city, Adelaide, is built on the traditional land of the Kaurna people. The city has been built over another people’s home but that home is still here, Kaurna people are still here and if you scrape back the myth created by the settlers, you will see this. I have been trained by Indigenous Elders and by academia to listen to the song that the world around us sings.1 I have been trained as an Indigenous woman with a dual heritage – as an…

Contemporary existence is a theatre of emotions. Being happy is a constant expec-tation, and there are books and courses readily available to help people achieve happiness. Anger, joy and fear are served up for our entertainment in reality TV shows based around home improvement, extreme sports and crime. Love is something to compete for against other “bache-lorettes” and human relationships are played out on television and social media. Emotional distance – the stuff of relationship breakdowns – sees a separation between ourselves and our cities. While all the cacophony of emotion-as- entertainment plays out around us and people strive to be happy at any cost, an authentic connection with our cities unravels. Loss of experience, a muting of the sensorial and a narrowing of the emotional spectrum are the collateral…

Te Ara I Whiti – Light Path transforms a redundant piece of motorway infrastructure into a sculptural and playful cyclepath threaded through Auckland’s inner-city motorway junction. The intent of the project was to create a hybrid space that supported its intended function as a cyclepath but also enabled occupation and explorative pedestrian access. The path allows an episodic experience that engages with both the infrastructural landscape of the motorway and contextual views of the wider urban landscape. PROJECT Te Ara I Whiti – Light Path LOCATION Auckland, New Zealand PRACTICE LandLab (landscape architects and urban designers) in collaboration with Monk Mackenzie (architects) CLIENT Auckland Council, New Zealand Transport Agency ENGINEER GHD LIGHTING Lion ARTIST Katz Maihi CONTRACTOR Hawkins Infrastructure TIME SCHEDULE Design, documentation: 6 months Construction: 6 months…

Terms such as “disaster preparedness” and “disaster mitigation” have become mainstream as we head deeper into the Anthropocene. The global environmental crisis is at the forefront of our collective experience, more so now than it has ever been. The science is telling us that climate-related disasters such as drought, wildfires, cyclones and floods will continue to increase over the next century. Among those most susceptible to such events are the world’s poor and displaced people, living in refugee camps and informal settlements in developing countries. In 2014 the Australian Government cut $7.6 billion from its foreign aid budget over five years.1 But worldwide, the need for humanitarian assistance continues to grow, urban density continues to increase and disaster scenarios are compounding. Informal settlements and refugee camps are becoming more commonplace…

It is early morning and the air is thin, a prelude to a warmer day. Summer is fast approaching in Greece, although some rain showers have still punctuated these past weeks. Close to the border with Macedonia, about fifteen thousand migrants wait, in a limbo from which they all want to escape on a northbound road [see “Postcards from Greece” on page 69]. Some have just reached these informal camps, while others have been here for a few months. The largest occupation is in Idomeni, just across the Macedonian border police entry point, but thousands are also scattered in other locations – some in public areas well visible from the main road to Polykastro, others more secluded. Like the family of Basim, Hulud, their children and Hulud’s brother. They have…