Practice

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?

With the global population rapidly rising and our farming and natural environments under intense pressure, saving seeds is more important than ever.

A message from the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) on promoting proficiency and professionalism in planning.

Why is it easier to imagine an ecocity – full of lush green spaces and bike lanes – than a just city where everyone belongs?

An unprecedented law has been passed that requires the planning system to protect and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, culture and tradition.

In her new book How to Grow a Playspace, Katherine Masiulanis asks “Is it counterproductive to design children’s spaces, given that over-prescribed landscapes may stifle creative potential?”

New research shows regional cities generate national economic growth and jobs at the same rate as big metropolitan cities, but they require greater investment to prosper.

Townsville is the first city to sign a City Deal as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Smart Cities Plan. The Mayor of Townsville, Cr Jenny Hill, sat down with Queensland Planner to explain what it means for the city.

Coastal planning in the twenty-first century must be ‘reset’ to respond to the intertwined challenges of sustained population growth, urbanisation and climate change. Are planners up to the task?

The concept of Smart Cities is becoming increasingly vague, to the point that it is defined differently by almost every author who writes about it.

Noted historian and critic of landscape architecture, Marc Treib, speaks with Fiona Johnson about his new book Austere Gardens, Isamu Noguchi and landscape design.

Marc Treib visits a garden that is incredibly rich in its colours and textures and equally intricate in its selection of plants.

Anne Cochrane visits Australia’s oldest arid zone public garden in Alice Springs.

Irrespective of whether building information modelling (BIM) is being adopted by Australian landscape architects, it is only a matter of time before it begins to affect the way they practise.

Mangrove ecosystems along Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria suddenly died back in late 2015, yet the event has attracted barely any national attention.

An analysis of the likely implications of garden area requirements for land in Melbourne’s growth areas.

But what are the challenges associated with developing Hazelwood into a lake for recreational use?

With the Perth Freight Link now cancelled, the community that grew around resistance to this project looks forward to beginning the work of replanting and restoring.

Community centres enrich lives and help develop harmonious societies within our cities, yet they attract little investment. Are there other ways we can help these facilities?

Thomas Woltz spoke with Landscape Australia editor Ricky Ray Ricardo about restoration ecology, planting design and responding to social issues by design.

Meet ten “emerging voices” who are facing the challenges of the next fifty years with curiosity and commitment.

In the space of a week, the world has gained three notable new legal persons: the Whanganui River in New Zealand, and the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers in India.

How much do we really know about planning in the Pacific Islands?

Adrian Dwyer, executive director of policy and research at Infrastructure Australia, discusses value capture and how it can help to stretch public funding further to deliver more of the infrastructure Australia needs.

Fortitude Valley is home to Brisbane’s Night Time Economy (NTE), but is it a good idea to concentrate most of the city’s nightlife in one designated locality?

Historian Matthew Higgins looks at the uses of some native plants by Indigenous and European Australians before the declaration of parks and reserves from the mid-20th century onwards.