Practice

Recent research reveals a wealth of information about the planets and their complex motions in the knowledge systems of Indigenous Australians.

Landscape Architecture Australia speaks to the editors of two Asian landscape architecture magazines – Landscape Architecture Korea (South Korea) and Landscape Architecture Frontiers (China) – to explore the trajectory of landscape architecture in their respective countries.

Craig Czarny, director of urban design at Hansen Partnership, reflects on more than two decades of planning and design practice in the Asia-Pacific region.

From Taipei to Tokyo, communities and non-profit organizations are working to mitigate the impacts of rapid urbanization from the bottom up.

Agricultural scientist, farmer and writer Charles Massy advocates for a stronger relationship between humanity and the non-human world in agricultural practice. A workshop with Massy and members of the landscape profession offered opportunities to explore the relationship of Massy’s ideas to broader landscape practice.  

The Australian landscape architectural profession has been engaged with Asia from the 1970s. Embassy projects were a particular focus in the beginning, when desires for harmonious political and cultural relationships were expressed in new and interesting physical forms.

Landscape architecture academics Jillian Walliss and Heike Rahmann from the University of Melbourne and RMIT University respectively caught up with a group of international landscape architecture students to learn about their experiences in Australia and why they chose to study here.

The marker trees of the Watti Watti people in north-west Victoria have substantial spiritual and cultural significance yet are currently afforded little in the way of formalised heritage protection.

Phoebe Goodwin provides insights on her humanitarian work with UNHCR in refugee camps in Bangladesh, Greece, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere.

Planners, architects, the police and politicians need to put aside the traditional expert perspective to learn from – and design for – women’s experiences.

The potential of emerging Asian cities has often been defined by European and North American designers, denying the growth of local expertise. It’s time to celebrate the exciting work of homegrown designers, thinkers and critics in Asia.

With the growth of landscape architecture in the region, Australian landscape architecture programs have become increasingly popular with Asian students, particularly from China. Helen Armstrong reflects on how this growing demand has changed and challenged landscape architecture education.

Many of Australia’s ecosystems are in a much worse condition than we think. This is because officials are measuring the health of ecosystems such as forests and woodlands by their size, instead of how damaged they are by disturbances.

As he turns his focus to succession planning, Rob Adams, director of City Design and Projects at the City of Melbourne, sat down with Lucy Salt to reflect on more than three decades of city building.

Parkkim, a landscape architecture practice based in the South Korean capital, Seoul, boasts a portfolio of highly refined projects that are underpinned by a passion for research and innovation.

Ecological succession – where colonizer plant species grow quickly to provide organic matter, shelter and nutrients to their longer-lived neighbours – is rarely employed in planting schemes, but it holds great potential to produce more interesting, dynamic and resilient landscapes.

The desert landscapes of Arizona contain many valuable examples of engaging, species-diverse planting schemes that thrive in extremely dry conditions. With water demand a critical issue throughout Australia, are there cues to be taken from the south-western United States?

Only a handful of Australian designers have pursued careers abroad and achieved international recognition. One of them is landscape designer Bernard Trainor, whose California-based practice has built an impressive portfolio of projects on the west coast of the USA.

Design and research collaborative Rural Urban Framework is responding to the Chinese government’s urbanization agenda by working with rural Chinese communities to contribute positively to social, economic and spatial transformations.

Could the recent return of Mungo Man to traditional owners serve as a turning point in the way non-Indigenous Australia views land and culture as separate entities?

In the Far North Coast of New South Wales, contested ideas of pre- and post-European settlement landscapes, managed by hierarchies of scenic beauty and ecological value, have created tensions in the community.

We need to renew the language of ecological design to better confront the complexity and uncertainty of today’s challenges.

In the age of disruption, traditional structures are being challenged, giving birth to a new type of hybrid built environment professional.

With the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ 2017 salary survey revealing entrenched gender inequity, Rush Wright Associates principal Cassandra Chilton makes the case for action.

Deputy New South Wales Government Architect Ben Hewett introduces the scope and objectives of Better Placed – the state’s first integrated design policy for the built environment.

As we face a future of more frequent and severe weather events due to climate change, we need to start redesigning our towns and regional cities to better cope with shock events.

Landscape architecture student Sofia Paredes-Estrada explores how Simone Bliss Landscape Architecture is pioneering a flexible approach that aims to subvert hierarchies within landscape architecture.

Grazier David Marsh has farmed his 814-hectare property on the South West Slopes of New South Wales for decades. He shares his experience of moving from an industrial farming mindset to taking a more ecological approach based on many years of refinement.

Windfarms are still a divisive issue for many communities due to their visual impact on pastoral landscapes.

In the past twelve months an impressive twenty-five thousand indigenous trees and shrubs have been planted on Karl and Rachel’s 100-acre property in south-eastern Victoria.

Dan Young began his landscape architecture practice with the help of friend and collaborator Paul Owen (Owen Architecture), working on a number of residential projects in Brisbane. Landscape Australia caught up with the duo to talk collaboration, private practice and planting design.

Hailing from New Zealand, Steven Tupu trained as a landscape architect in Australia before emigrating to New York to found Terrain, a practice that has participated in that city’s enormous transformation over the past two decades.

Until now, the Wurundjeri people have had little recognition of their important role in river management and protection, but the new legislation will give them a voice.

The plantings at Sydney’s Barangaroo Reserve have achieved a phenomenal rate of success, largely thanks to the expertise of two consultants: Simon Leake, respected soil scientist, and Stuart Pittendrigh, one of Sydney’s most experienced horticulturalists.

Considering the importance of performance-based solutions for bushfire protection and the current challenges associated with them.

Lot sizes and backyards are shrinking in Australia at the same time as building density is increasing. So we cannot afford to overlook the potential of existing – but neglected – spaces in our suburbs, like drains.

New technologies have the potential to disrupt current land use patterns and create new opportunities in our cities and regions.

Green wall and roof garden projects pose many challenges to good planting design outcomes, particularly synergizing design intent and management. How can the processes be improved?

Michael Bates, arguably the most enterprising landscape contractor in the Sydney region, reflects on his education as a gardener in this excerpt from his recent book, The New Australian Garden.

Should weeds be embraced in built-up urban environments to provide resilient plantings that can thrive in the toughest conditions?

Mass plantings of reliable plants give the best chance of a predictable outcome with minimal effort, but is this what we want for our neighbourhoods?