The General Cargo Precinct (formerly known as the Carrington Precinct) of the Port of Newcastle is a flood-prone land where rivers could run through and where kokowin (Awabakal for water) belongs to us all. To Think Like a River questions the sustainability of the current coal-dominated export industry located here, particularly in the context of human-induced climate change and predicted sea-level rise. The project explores whether it might be possible for the working port to co-exist and evolve with social-ecological programs that enhance the well-being of local communities and Awabakal Country.
The design addresses this complex site by understanding landscape as an entanglement of self-organizing scales, right down to the micro-nutrients in soils and dredged port sediments.
The project adopts a strategy of adaptive reuse as its main approach, working with on-site structures at a smaller scale and prioritizing Country as a living being. The project embraces the dynamic quality of the site and considers the landscape as a system at the larger scale. These approaches reflect the philosophy of “thinking like a river” – we, as water, can take any route, adapting to the changing environment and what we encounter.
This project engages deep time thinking through three phases. In Phase 1, “Source,” a sudden emergence of small programs join together and form a public accessible journey, seeking opportunities to co-exist with and remediate the underused port land. In Phase 2, “Confluence,” which occurs when the 98-year port lease ends, social-ecological programs thrive and enhance habitats, both on land and below water, while welcoming the industry as a tributary to join. In Phase 3, “Meander,” the site is not afraid but excited to see kokowin meandering through, kokowin is invited to enrich the land and the industrial development. Reflecting a river’s formation, these three phases allow interventions to merge over time, creating a new landscape that is still in the cycle, in the system.
