Emma hicks shape of a walk s3052250 drc final

Page 1

observing / mediating / amplifying / recording landscapes

the shape of a walk

Emma

Hicks

Design

Research

Catalogue


Emma Hicks s3052250

Masters of Landscape Architecture

Design Research Catalogue 2013

.


.


contents


Res e a r c h F r a m e w o r k abstract 08 site actions 10 layers of observation 12 glossary 14

I nt rod u c i n g s i t e positioning parks 18 taking measure 20 national parks kit of parts 22 site context: Murray River inflows and outflows 26

Boundary explorations making and defining boundaries 32 observing boundaries 36 interrupting boundaries 40 expanding boundaries 48

The walkers experience walking site 56 heightening threshold 68 contrasting the irregular 84 extruding ground 92 tracing edge 102 cutting clearing 116

Convergence outlining convergences 134 river and town convergence 136 campground and lake convergence 140 access and wetland convergence 148 river an channel convergence 156

Ref le c t i n g o n R e s e a r c h conclusion 162

A ppe n d i x research metamorphosis: key moments 164 ways of drawing/ways of seeing 170 a note on sources 172 plant palette 174 bibliography 176



research framework


abstract

Defining terms of research question choreographed

design

walk:

Choreographed can be described as arranged movement through space intended to direct a particular experience of site. Choreography implies that the landscape is already there- it is rather the experience of the landscape that is designed. This particular journey through Barmah National Park is one that privileges the walkers experience through the site. The path which directs this journey is considered as both action, object and narrative.

amplify

observations:

Observations are understood to be subjective and relational. These observations of site are used as a starting point then amplified to underline certain qualities of site. By amplification I do not mean to simply make larger, but rather amplification as an extension or response to these observations.

renew attention:

An intention of amplifying these observations is to renew the attention of the observer. A design that is more responsive to site could serve to heighten our awareness of the moment and so renew our attention

alternative readings of site: By readings site I mean the sense or meaning that we create from our observations of the world. The reading of landscape is shaped by experience. Standard national park treatment sets up particular experiences and subsequent readings of landscape that I aim to offer an alternative to based on a critique of this normative approach to the national park.

08


How could a choreographed walk through the Barmah National Park site amplify particular observations of site in order to renew attention and offer alternative readings of site? The site operates across vast temporal and spatial scales that can be difficult to comprehend on the ground. Through a choreographed walk event some of the connections, intersections traces and transitions can be highlighted to interpret the wider landscape context without the use of text and information boards but instead through directly observing and experiencing site. By intervening to register or mark changes within the landscape a testimony is left to make visible the uncertainty and flux of the landscape while also conflating time so that different phases can be read in a single moment. The research aims to challenge normative assumptions of National parks through questioning the lingering perception of the national park as a preservation of pristine wilderness from which all traces of human intervention should be concealed or at least down-played. By considering the national park as a construction of culture as well as nature the national park could become a site for examining possible futures and alternative relationships between people and landscape rather than attempting to glimpse in the national park an “unspoilt� 1 landscape of the past.

of creating a seamlessness between observing and transforming site. Through the process of observation, and in particular the recording of these observations of the landscape, so to begins a process of editing and transforming the landscape. In closely observing phenomena or qualities of site a dialogue begins between the original and the transformed, the existing and the possible so that the walk is shaped by observations of site and is never acting in a void but always in response to these observations. By responding to and amplifying these observations the journey along the path is not simply a line connecting points in space but also begins to unfold a story of site.

Observation here is not understood as a purely passive and objective process but rather as something active. Observation is understood as the means for evaluating the work

Through a process of layered observation, the site is transformed to amplify particular possibilities of site. This process of layered observation begins with direct observations that are then built upon to become the starting point for speculative observations with the intension 1) National Parks Australia website 09


site actions

The focus of the research began with

The facing diagram begins to show how the

an investigation of site and struggling

body of research fits into this matrix of site and

to

action. Site is the world out there and action is

understand

it’s

various

complexities,

processes and scales.

the way I operate as a designer in that space.

Once I felt as though I had come to know the

While there are overlaps and cross overs

site through drawing my attention was able to

each step of my

expand to take in a view of my own actions

located

and decisions within my design practice.

actions I work through and the qualities of site

design process can be

within this matrix. These are the

that I find myself drawn to investigating at this I wanted to know in more detail how I was

particular site and that I recognise as being a

responding to what I found. What are my

theme throughout past work.

habits and techniques? And how might I begin to know and evaluate my own process throughout the research? By pausing at intervals to reflect on my research I hope to become my own teacher and learn to step outside my own work in order to evaluate and critique it.

Observing: To actively engage with site by using all the senses in order to observe with depth- beyond what is immediate and obvious. Observation also includes observing my own responses and actions. Recording/ Marking: Recording is the process which traces the other actions of observing, mediating and amplifying the landscape in order to explore and test assumptions and ideas around the existing and proposed site. Mediating/Intervening: To act between person and place with the intension of guiding or choreographing a particular experience of place Amplifying/augmenting: Launching from observations and findings of site amplifying expands upon what exists there already- to act on possibilities of site

10


V ac

ify in sp

es

pl tin at

er

ia ia

in da

ri

es

g

y

g nv

in

lit

un

rd er

rv

V

am ed m

m co ge

se

bo

re nc

ob es

a

ct

io

te

co

n

si

g

g

11


layers of observation

There are many different layers and positions

cess of observation; the sounds, smells, sight

from which I can observe the landscape, from

and touch of a particular place can all contribute

an almost unconscious first impression through

different layers of observation. While our previ-

to a rigorous analytical observation. I can ob-

ous experiences and existing knowledge shape

serve from within and from without, or from the

these observations.

macro or the micro scale. With each shift in my position of observation my attention will be brought to notice different qualities. These observations emerge not in isolation but rather as a network of interrelated observations that can be manipulated and altered. The nature of this observation is less concerned with dis-

“A large part of seeing depends upon habit and convention... We only see what we look at . To look is an act of choice... We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relationship between things and ourselves”

covering objective facts but instead recognises observations as something subjective and mal-

John Berger, “Ways of Seeing”, p. 65

leable. Through close and careful observation I learn not only about the landscape which I am

If we are aware of some of these “habits and

examining but also to question and not take

conventions” when observing landscapes how

these observations for granted.

might this sharpen our observations?

Recording and observing cannot be separated.

The facing diagram is a general outline of how

When I begin to draw site it begins a type of ob-

the different layers of observation might work.

servation. The pen articulates certain lines and

Depending on site, iterations, representation

relationships sometimes before my conscious

and other factors steps might be skimmed over

mind does. The tools and methods of the record-

or the order might be switched around. The

ing process inform and shape what is observed.

intention is not to create a precise sequence

A camera will record different qualities to a fine-

of steps to be exactly repeated but rather to

line pen for example.

generate a method that is flexible enough to be applied to a range of different situations.

In recording these observations I begin to design the landscape. Through a process of observation certain details are recorded and noted while others are overlooked or deliberately left out. This begins a kind of editing of site as some observations are given precedent over others. A hierarchy emerges out of these observations First I see the site. Based on these visual cues I develop a first impression. As I walk around I begin to measure and read the site with my whole body. All the senses can be involved in the pro-

12


V V V

V context observation

01

observing from afar prior experiences and knowledge the assumptions you bring to observations

secondary sources existing maps/images data from other disiplines

V

V

V initial observation

02 first impressions recognition identification naming/ defining

sketching on site primarily visual noting immediate response

V

direct observation

03 photography measuring drawing based observation modelling

direct sensory impressions mass and void spatial qualities ground & surface

on

direct

V

V

V

temporal observation

04

begin to fill in gaps of what you can directly observe history of landscape possible futures of landscape

drawing and modelling of processes that have informed the landscape sequential images

V

V

V

begin to push against and test what has been observed in the previous phases of observation how can these observations be articulated? amplified? altered? edited?

05

V

add remove fragment extract offset extrude multiply distort contrast reveal trace define...

V

speculative observation

V

V

V

13


glossary

between phenomena 1 This glossary is a combination of established definitions from the landscape architecture profession and other fields as well as my own personal re-defining and combining of words in the context of my research project.

Initial observation: First impressions including recognition and identification of site- what you notice first

Iteration:

A

way

of

testing-

deliberately

repeating,observing and adjusting a process in Some of the words here are defined according to a dictionary definition. Looking up a word in the dictionary can help me understand the different nuances of a word and can help to clarify my own use and understanding of these words.

order to build up knowledge or an understanding, often through comparing and contrasting a series of outcomes.

Knowledge: “The process of gathering knowledge does not lead to knowing... An answer is invariably the parent of a great family of new questions. So we draw worlds and fit them like tracings against the world about us, and crumple them when they do not

Amplify: Amplification is here defined to mean an

fit and draw new ones.�2

extension or response to observed site qualities.

Here knowledge is not about searching for a definite

Choreography: Arranged movement through

enquiry, which inevitably leads to other multiplying

space. A directed sequence of spaces designed for

threads of questioning.

and final answer but is rather pursuing a line of

a particular effect.

Landscape: A landscape can fall in any area of Consequential outcomes: The unexpected

land across the spectrum of urban, rural, productive

outcomes or results of a design discovered through

and protected. While a landscape can be anywhere

making or testing.

it is usually used to distinguish or classify a particular tract of land as different to and distinct from other

Context observation: observing from afar. Any prior experiences and knowledge or the assumptions you bring to observations

landscapes.

Making: Understood as the embodiment of knowledge and ideas.3

Design gesture: A singular design intervention that acts to alter the landscape

Mediating: To act between person and place with the intension of guiding or choreographing a

Design research project: Research of a chosen field explored through the act of designing and reflection.

particular experience of place

National Park: A national park as defined by

Direct observation: direct sensory impressions

parks Australia is a protected area of land intended

of spatial and experiential qualities taken from site

to preserve landscapes for the future- a landscape set aside with the intended purpose of conservation,

Field trip: Excursion into different landscapes

recreation and education. Through this project I aim

with the intention to deliberately and consciously

to explore new possible definitions of a national

observe

park.

Goethian Observation: A method of rigorous

1. Isis Brook, Goethian Science as a Way to Read Landscape, Landscape Research reader #23, p.51-69 2. John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez 3. James Corner, Theory in Landscape Architecture

and patient observation that encourages an awareness of phenomena and the connections 14


Observe: To actively engage with site by using all

Speculative

observation:

the senses in order to observe with depth- beyond

observation comes after other layers of observation

what is immediate and obvious.

have combined to built up an understanding of the

1) to see, watch, perceive or notice

observed landscape. At the point of speculative

2) to regard with attention, especially so as to see or

observation different design gestures can be tested

learn something

against previous observations

Speculative

3) to watch view, or note for a scientific, official, or

Temporal observation: Temporal observation

other special purpose 4) to keep or maintain in ones actions

begins to record and to fill in the gaps of what can be

4

directly observed including the history of landscape

Path: In the context of this project a path can be

and possible futures of landscape. It can involve

defined as more than simply a passage or route

both direct and speculative observation.

through the landscape it can indicate both action, object and story as outlined by Francesco Careri

Topology:

in Walkscapes “The term “path” simultaneously

“Topology is meant to weave meaningful symbolism

indicates the act of crossing (the path as the action

back into a particular place by understanding its

of walking), the line that crosses the space (the path

terrain and surface condition, and by modifying the

as architectural object) and the tale of the space

inherent significance of natural features as they

crossed (the path as narrative structure)”

5

interact with the purpose of man, his daily life and destiny”6

Perception: An immediate or intuitive recognition Walkers experience:

or appreciation of qualities

“Walking is one way of engaging with space. As

Process of observation:

Moving through

we walk we internalise relative positions of our

a sequence or layers of observations which

spatial surroundings in relation to our own body and

accumulates to create an understanding of the

pace, and add measures of distance and personal

subject of observation. A process of observation

experiences to our idea of the world.”7

might include first impressions, close observation

Walking is also a way to observe the site, through

engaging different senses, a recording of these

walking site we are immersed and our body begins

observations (which is in itself a type of observation)

to notice and record details from site.

and speculative observation.

Recording: A mode of observation which traces the other actions of observing, mediating and augmenting the landscape in order to explore and test assumptions and ideas around the existing and

“A journey implies a destination, so many miles to be consumed, while a walk is its own measure, complete at every point along the way.” Francis Alÿs

proposed site.

Sensory observation: A direct observation via the senses of elements from the external world

4. Collins English Dictionary, Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Harper Collins Publishers, 2009 5. Francesco Careri, Walkscapes, Gastaro Gili publishers, 2002

6. Professor Christophe Girot ETHZ, Positions and Oppositions in contemporary landscape conference 2013, “Topology – A new measure of quality in landscape architecture” 7. Alice Foxely, Distance and Engagement: Walking, thinking and making Landscape, Lars Muller Publishers, 2010

15



introducing site


positioning parks

There is an idea that the national park is a

there is still so much that we don’t know about the

landscape where human presence and intent

Australian landscape. European understandings of

should be concealed beneath a layer of green paint.

landscape have shaped and continue to inform our

Standardised design elements such as signage

relationship to the landscape.

and furniture are rolled out in much the same way across the country. While I am not of the opinion

Our observations and positioning of culture in

that the protection of large tracts of land is a waste

relation to the Australian landscape continues to

of time, I do think that there are other potentials

be a work in process. The images on the facing

in a national park and that the idea of national

page are examples of shifting representations of

parks existing only in order to preserve “unspoilt

Australia landscape, in these representations we

landscapes” is ripe for a rethink.

can trace different readings of the landscape.

The discipline of landscape architecture with its ability to work across scales and to work with sensitivity towards the existing conditions, historical layers, changing ecologies and social elements of a particular site make it well placed to contribute to this rethinking of national parks. Yet the national park, unlike other forms of park, are seen to be more “natural” and designed landscapes are perceived as the antithesis of these “natural” landscapes so landscape architects are not generally involved in the design of national parks. An intention of my research is to test other ways of being in a national park. One that might look beyond the protective bubble they sit within to examine the possibilities of different experiences of the park. By testing different possible materials, forms and functions of the national park I am exploring

“Protect nature”, therefore is the slogan of worried contemporaries, politicians and

environmental

organizations.

However, the actual protection of the

possibilities for deviating from the standard national

environment seems to be less important

park treatment and what this could contribute to

than the intensive preoccupation with

wider readings of the Australian landscape.

environmental concerns because, as it turns out, the defence of protected areas

The area of visitor experience in national parks is the particular focus of my research. While much study has been done into the ecology of national parks little has been done in relation to the experience of the park visitor. I would argue that the person is just

somehow implies and often leads to an uncontrolled exploitation of the natural resources that lie beyond the borders of those areas being preserved.”

as much a part of the landscape as the red gums in Barmah national park.

Dieter Kienast, Kienast gardens, p.6 1997

Reading Bill Gammage’s “The Biggest Estate on Earth” helped to highlight for me the idea that

18


“We need to make the best possible compromise we can with our European past, which is our European present..

1773

and the lessons Aboriginals can teach us about what is still a foreign country” Bill Gammage, “The biggest Estate on Earth: How aborigines made Australia” 2012

01

1854

02

1971

03

1974 Shifting representations of the Australian landscape from colonial settlement through to contemporary representations 01: George Stubbs, Kangaroo 1773

04

02: Eugene von Guerard, Warrenheip hills near Ballerat, 1854 03: Walkabout, Roeg, 1971

Nicholas

04: Picnic at hanging Rock, Peter Weir, 1971

2006

05: Royal Botanic Gardens Australia garden, Cranbourne, 2013 05 19


taking measure

The initial mappings of site from afar investigate some of the controls and measures that are in place along the length of the Murray River. An endless quantity of data has been collected along the river as it has become commodified, with daily readings of inflows and outflows being recorded in an attempt to quantify and measure the fluctuations of the river. In these mappings I wanted to find a way to

integrate the general and the large

scale with the precise and the small scale as a way to expose the way these small measures are more than the sum of their whole.


Murray River average monthly flow GL/day

2012

S.A 5000 GL 1000 GL

N.S.W

g

r

su

n

er

mm

tum

onga

rin

nte

au

Yarra w

er summ

sp

winter n autum

Hi

S

n

htow Blanc

wi

spring

ll

n wa

oban

Khanc

Vic

The Barmah National Park is identified as a key wetland in the wider Murray Darling basin system

g sprin r winte mn autu er m sum

sprin g wint er autu mn sum mer


N.S.W.

Mathoura

Murray River

03

Bar m a h N a t i o n a l P a r k

02

Vic. Barmah

01

22


DWELLING

kit

of

parts

identifies

national parks kit of parts

A

existing

infrastructures and amenities of the park and the way national parks typically mediate between the person and the landscape. It also draws attention to the small scale details through which we would experience site if we were to visit this 66 000 hectare park. As I am interested in the experience of the park at the human scale rather than dealing with a overall master plan of the park I wanted to juxtapose the large scale site mapping with these small marks of

CONTROLLING

04

MOVING

DEFINING

INFORMING

human use and occupation.

N

23


This collection of typical national park amenities found in Barmah National Park could belong to any nature reserve, state forest or national park in Australia for the past 50 years. I can see that these ubiquitous national park additions such as the picnic table and the information board are favoured because they are cheap and low maintenance. These amenities become invisible through their familiarity and so they manage to disappear without responding to the particularity of where they are.

Behind this camouflage of

green paint and timber the uses and desires of people in the national park are concealed allowing the mirage of an original wilderness to persist and so “reducing the identity of place to its historical definition”1 regardless of weather or not this “historical definition” ever was or still is.

01

1 Andreas Ruby, “Hyperlocality: the archeology of the here and now in the architecture of R&Sie” Spoiled Climate, Birkhauser, Paris, 2000 24


02

04

01: Existing park amenities including bbq, picnic table and toilet block 02:Typical park signage including the information board- How could this information be revealed through the landscape rather than this didactic approach of telling? 03: Different typologies of national park paths found in Barmah

03

04: Some of the older park infrastructure including an old fence from when the land was farmed using red gum timbre from site

25


Mu rra y R i ve r In fl ow s and Outfl ow s

There are many points along the Murray river where the water is diverted or held. Far from being a straight forward free flowing course from the mountains, down the river to the mouth, the river instead exists as a part of a web of inflows and out flows, diversions and detours. These diagrams were a way to come to understand some of these large scale systems that exist along the Murray River and to highlight the control and manipulation of the river system the Barmah National Park sits within and is very much a part of. Following on from the kit of parts looking at the small within the large I then wanted to look into the larger Murray Darling Basin context and how these small and large scales might intersect. Or what elements of approach to and management

S ite co n te xt:

of the Murray Darling basin system might be

26

visible in a smaller moment within site? As seen in the images below where the small scale irrigation ditch cut in a straight line through the crops makes possible the pattern of farming that can be read from an aerial photo.

miles km

2

4


M ur r ay River Inflows and Outfl ow s : Bar m ah N ati onal Par k

27


Menindee Lakes

S.A.

Murrumbidge River Lake Victoria Billabong Creek Edward River Wakool River Euston Weir W ca akoo na l l

Stevens Weir

Torrumbarry Weir

Ca mp

as pe

Ri

ve r

Na tio

na lc an

al

Murray Mouth

Lo ud o

nR

ive

r

M

ur

ra

yR

ive

r

Lake Boga

Southern Ocean

28


N.S.W Murrumbidge River Snowy mountain scheme

Billabong Creek

Mulwala canal

Tu p

al

Cr

The drop

ee

k

Murray River

Barmah Lakes

Broken Creek

Go

ulb

urn

Riv

er

Yarrawonga canal

Hume Weir Yarrawonga Weir

Ke er Riv

ive

sR

en

iwa

Ov

Goulburn Weir

Dartmouth Reservoir

r

Lake Eildon

Vic. Murray River other rivers irrigation canal creek lake weir

29



boundary explorations


making and defining boundaries

“I’m telling a story that was

When I heard this amazing

told to me by my elders about

story I was struck by how far

a special time long ago...The

back this connection between

Murray River used to come

people

down to the Barmah Lakes

be traced in this particular

and took a right hand turn and

landscape- at least 20,000

headed west...The story went

years of indigenous culture

that when this Cadell Fault

living in this landscape. While

dropped it became a levee

I was aware of indigenous land

bank and so the water kept

management through burning

rising. The water got so high

this story shows a different kind

they were sailing their canoes

of action in the landscape one

over the tops of the trees...The

that we can still see in todays

legend goes that people walked

river course that cuts through

along this great sand hill down

the fault.

and

landscape

can

to the lowest point and they dug a trench with their bare hands

Edward Curr one of the earliest

and digging sticks and let the

white men in the area noticed

water go and it created a new

the Banerang people regularly

Murray River which now takes

and systematically set fire to

a different course...That’s what

the grass and trees for hunting

the legend says. It’s a story

purposes. He observed that the

that is only in oral history. It’s

Banerang “tilled his land and

a 30,000 year old story that

cultivated his pastures with fire”

has been handed down from

giving the forest an open “park-

generation to generation.”

like appearance”1 It

highlighted

for

me

the

The Cadell fault story as told by

myth of this landscape as a

Uncle Sandy Atkins, Yorta Yorta

wilderness empty of people and

elder, 2013

emphasized the impossibility of separating landscape and culture weather it be ancient indigenous culture or recently imported European culture.

32

1 Barmah Forest: A history, department of conservation forests and land, 1987


en ok Br

Barmah National Park

k

ee cr

old course of the Murray river

Barmah

Ca

de

ll F

au

lt

r

ive

R ray

r

Mu

33


iver

ard R

Edw

ult

de

a ll F

Ca

Mu

rray

Riv

er Echuca

Barmah Lakes Murray

River

Barmah Goulb

urn R

iver

01

02

The Cadell fault is a low sandhill ridge that runs north south on Western edge of the Barmah national park. It forms a border to the red gum forest as the fault acts like a levee causing the frequent flooding the forest needs. While the Cadell fault features in the previous narrative describing the 20,000 year old formation of the ridge and dramatic changes in the rivers course I became interested in the way the ridge was acting in the contemporary

01: Geological diagram showing Cadell Fault interrupting the course of the Murray River

landscape. This informed the following mappings

around

the

convergence

of the fault, the forest and the town of Barmah. 34

02: Photograph of the Cadell Fault heading west from Barmah


Christo Christo’s representation of large scale landscape works using a montage of drawing and photography begin testing and imagining works within the context of a particular

site. The given qualities

of site are expressed through the photo while the drawing layered over the top begins to imagine a transformation of the site. Due to the simplicity of the proposition the representation of material detail becomes more important. In the image above it is essential that the softness of the material and the scale of the fence within the landscape is communicated.

35


observing boundaries

These studies of boundaries led me to look at the different thresholds and flows which cross the Barmah national park boundary I began this series of mappings as an enquiry into what exactly defines the boundary of the park. I wondered beyond a line on a map how different forces intersected, followed or crossed this boundary line between national park and privately owned farmland and towns; and what some of the potential uses and approaches which lay between or outside these different models might be? Using

the

process

of

layered

observation, as outlined in research framework, to move through first impressions, then to direct observation of visible “facts”, followed by a filling in of the gaps to trace the movement or

process

As

these

build

up

of layers

a

phenomena.

of

observation

something

“essential”

of the observed phenomenon understood.

Building

on

is

these

observations leads to imagining future possibilities and potentials that tests speculative

observations

against

close observations of the previous mappings.

36


01

02

03

01: presently visible water (direct observation) 02: tracing flood lines (temporal observation) 03: irrigation water system (direct observation) 04: history of river (temporal observation) 04


05

06

07

08


05: irrigated farmland (direct observation)

09

06: inundation zone (temporal observation) 07: existing vegetation (direct observation) 08: topography (direct observation) 09: existing roads (direct observation) 10: proposed blurring of boundary (speculative observation) 11. observations overlaid (speculative observation)

10

11

39


interrupting boundaries

er

ce

riv

fen

d

roa

Based on the previous observations I noticed that where the park boundary is intersected there seems to be an opportunity for greater movement across the park boundary. Where a water body, a fence line or road crosses the boundary there is an interruption to the boundary. Through a process of speculative observation built upon the previous observations an incremental shifting of the boundary along rivers, fences and roads creates a interlaced network that extends from the park out

into

surrounding

productive

farmland, thus breaking down the typical large unbroken mass of national park land into a network of national park .

01: sequence showing incremental extension of the park boundary

02: mapping speculative park network

40


01

02 existing park

speculative expansion

41


01

02 42


Following the tests into extending boundaries on the previous page I began to wonder what effect this would have on the overall shape of the park. If the total area of the park is to remain the same there has to be an exchange of land between protected

park

and

productive

agriculture creating a mosaic of land use where cleared productive land and protected forested land sits always in close proximity. Would it be possible for this mosaic park to grow and shift over time- with cycles of productivity and rest? The fact of land ownership makes more fluid use of land difficult, however in small ways groups like landcare are contributing to this speculative mosaic park by fencing off farmland, particularly along creeks, and so creating

corridors of regenerated

bush that extend out into farmland to join up remnant bush and encourage biodiversity within farms and create corridors of parks that animals and vegetation can move freely along.

01: The existing Barmah National Park shape is a single form following rivers and occupying lower lying flood prone land 02: Fragmenting this single form into a mosaic of national park that follows smaller tributaries, roads and fences so extending the park into surrounding agriculture land. 03. This mosaic landscape is discussed in Bill Gammage’s book “The largest estate on Earth� as an outcome of burning patterns employed by the first Australians. This juxtaposition of forest and cleared land supported suitable hunting grounds while today it has the potential to increase biodiversity in farmlands and to combine into a continuos system landscapes which are currently seen as being in opposition.

03

43


fixed park boundary

Barmah National Park

M

ur

ra

yr

ive

r

Barmah township

01

01: Existing boundary between Barmah National park and Barmah township 02: Murray River flow intersecting park boundary 03. Vegetation patterns across park boundary 04: Thoroughfares and transport flows intersecting park boundary 05: Points of intersection and interruption to park boundary

44


vegetation flows

water flows

combined flows

transport flows

05

04

03 02

45


par k boundar y

1

4

6 1

2

This series of drawings zooms in to a

li nes of contr ol

5

ex i s ti ng boundar y

3

roads and town. While these images are abstracted they allowed me to think about what these boundary intersections mapped previously might look like on a different scale and to begin to think how this edge might be manipulated at a more zoomed in scale. It became clear that they were difficult to read and needed to be further zoomed in to show how these conditions might be experienced on the ground. In a sense these images acted as a stepping stone between the larger overall scale and the more detailed scale that follows

46

pe r me abl e bou n dar y

Barmah National park meets farmland,

i n ter ru p ted bou n dar y

point along the edge of the park where the

2


3

4

5

6

47


expanding boundaries

Further testing of the park boundary interruptions are followed out through section and detail. What would the blurring of these edges mean on the ground and what opportunities might be observed in these redefined boundaries? The following sections and details begin to observe some of the possibilities of bringing the experience of the national park to the edge of a country road. The roadside is thickened and some of the controls along the park boundary such as levees, maintenance lines and fences are removed allowing the national park to creep out along the roadside.

20 meters

01

48

04


01: Section of existing road condition 20 meters wide 02: Section of expanded road side condition including a bike path travelling through spreading vegetation to move people though corridor at a slower pace 03: Detail of bike path under tree canopy 04: Large scale plan of expanded park along public lands of roads and water ways

03

40 meters

02

49


01: Detail of widening of road to accommodate existing roadside stalls within the park network so combining new and old uses 02: Section showing roadside stalls selling local produce

02

01


existing roadside condition expanded roadside condition

01

02

01: Top plan showing existing road and channel intersection Below expanded roadside park to increase public interface with agricultural water. 02: Top plan of existing road protected by levee from flooding. Below a plan showing a raised and permeable road. Red gum vegetation follows the flood waters to the other side of the road so water facilitates the expansion of the park. 51


existing roadside condition

01

expanded roadside condition

02

01: Plan showing existing road, agriculture and water interface 02: Plan of expanded roadside park 03: Detail of interface between widened road and agriculture 04: Section showing how water used for agriculture could be opened to public use

52


03

04



the walkers experience


walking site

Walking is one way of engaging with

space. As

we

walk

we

internalise relative positions of our spatial surroundings in relation to our own body and pace, and add measures of distance and personal experiences to our idea of the world.�

Alice Foxely, Distance and Engagement: Walking, thinking and making Landscape, Lars Muller Publishers, 2010

01

56


The formation of walking clubs, the creation of national parks and increased urbanisation are all connected. As cities and farmlands intensified so to grew the idea that some landscapes needed to be protected from this rapid development of land fro human use. The connection between walking and national parks continues today as bushwalking is one of the central activities promoted by national parks. Currently pedestrian paths are only a small percentage of the infrastructure of the Barmah National Park, due to the relative flat openness of the park vehicular access extends through much of the park except when flooding prevents access. I wanted to emphasise and privilege the experience of the walker- to give the paths a sense of care and a responsiveness to sight which could orientate the visitor within the experience of here and now.

01: A sequence of models in card and clay at 1:50 trial different possible path dimensions, edges and relationships. By quickly trialling different ways for the path and ground to meet weather the path be straight, torn, folded, elevated, flattened or embedded it opens up the endless possibilities for making a path in a national park beyond the conventions of what a path should be 02

02: Through these models I was investigating how the movement of the thread from one corner to the other can take different paths that cause the fabric to fold in various ways that depended upon the route taken and the tension of the thread. I began to relate the thread to a path through the forest. The thread acts upon the fabric to implement various formations of the fabric as too the path transforms the forest. 57


As I walked the site particular moments caught my attention. These spaces drew me to notice them because they marked a shift from their context. From these initial observations I

context observation

made direct observations of site noting the spatial arrangement of the trees and path, any changes in the ground, vegetation and materials.

Based

on

these

previous layers of observation I then began to speculate on possibilities that expanded upon

initial observation

these observations of site. These

adjacent

images

outline the method of layered observation as explored through site E and the amplifying of the clearing through cutting.

direct observation

temporal observation

speculative observation

58


C.

Barmah Lake

ground extrusion

D.

B.

edge articulating irregularity contrast

exis

ting

path

A. threshold heightening

E.

Barmah Lake campground

clearing cutting

ck

tra dge

dri

San


01

20m

20m

20m

20m 02

01: Site photo outlining one of the chosen moments mapped along the walk 02: Plan of the same area 03: Conventional mapping of same area shows forest as a uniform hatch

60

03


“The disembodiment of everyday life I have been tracing is a majority experience, part of automobilization and suburbanization. But walking has sometimes been, at least since the late eighteenth century, an act of resistance to the mainstream. It stood out when its pace was out of keeping with the time- which is why so much of the history of walking is first world, after the industrial revolution history, about when walking ceased to be part of the continuum of experience and instead became something consciously chosen. In many ways, walking culture was a reaction against the speed and alienation of the industrial revolution. It may be countercultures and subcultures that

will

continue

to

walk

in

resistance to the postindustrial, postmodern loss of space, time and embodiment. “

Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A history of walking, Penguin, 2000

Vogt Landscapes I have been interested in Vogt’s approach to design as related in “distance and engagement”, where the relationship between direct observation and experience of landscapes in the field and design research carried out from the distance of the studio is drawn out. I adopted their method of shifting between different tools and modes of representation in mapping site. With each shift a different set of relationships and information can be observed. The above image shows a mapping of a birch forest through photography plan and model.

61


C.

D.

B. E.

A.

At first the vegetation seems to be a repetition of the

subtle changes that are happening on site such as

Eucalyptus camaludensis but once I familiarised myself

shifts in

with some of the plant species I began to read changes in

changes in soil.

topography, gradients

of moisture and

the landscape. The ground has mostly very gradual shifts in topography the changes in vegetation allowed me to

The walk is designed to take in these differences of

read these corresponding changes in ground - for example

site as opposed to the existing path which takes a

rush sedge growing in the slight depression and the

direct route from the road to the lake, emphasising

grey box signifying higher ground less prone to flooding.

a destination rather than an experience. In walking

Through mapping the site I identified different

the site and deviating from the path I was able to

vegetation zones that I wanted the walk to take

explore it in my own way measuring distances with

in. These shifting vegetation zones indicate other

my pace and step.

62


Eucalyptus camaludensis River red gum

Acacia acinacea Gold-dust Wattle

Rumex brownie Slender dock

A.

Juncus ingens Giant rush

existing path speculative path

Carex tereticaulis Rush sedge

63


A.

64

B.

C.


D.

E.

01

02

03

04

walk moments:

observation studies:

A. amplifying thresholds through heightening

01: Sketches directly observing walk moments

B. amplifying irregularity through contrast

02: Corresponding path views

C. amplifying ground through extrusion

03: 1:50 plan showing spatial arrangement of forest

D. amplifying edges through articulation

04: photo of 1:50 direct observation models

E. amplifying clearing through incision

65


01

02

01: Stones collected on a walk because their angular flinty forms caught my eye. 02: Collection of leaves from the walk including miseltoe, eucalyptus camaldulensis, eucalyptus microcarpa 03: Bark eaten by grubs collected from below a dead red gum

66


On my first field trip to Barmah National Park I spent a lot of time driving around and viewing the landscape from a moving car feeling as though I had to see and explore the entire park. When I realised that this was not possible I allowed myself to slow down. So that on the following field trip I spent much more time walking around. I had my bearings and wanted to experience more of how the space of the red gum forest unfolds from the walkers perspective. As I slowed down I noticed more details; identifying plant species, collecting specimens and observing details of site. The forest can now be viewed as individual trees, each with details of creating particular qualities of shade and textures and smells. It is not possible to see the path a bug has left or notice a new leaf at 100km per hour. At a walkers pace I began to collect as a way of observing site. They were artifacts from site that held different information to a photo or drawing.

03

67


heightening threshold 01

01: Amplifying threshold through heightening 02: By stepping up and walking the narrowed path between the trees I am introducing the path as a deliberate construction. The use of the tree netting adopted from the surrounding agricultural context and the domestic scale of the threshold intends to amplify the spatial closing in of the trees while also introducing new elements to the story of site I want to choreograph fro the visitor.

68


02

69


01

70


Model making began with a something of a scatter gun approach. A few simple dog models each photographed from a different angle opened up possibilities for

more

rigorous,

comparable

repeatable

research.

By

and

testing

many possibilities my intention was to move beyond my first and therefore more habitual ideas, responses and outcomes. Photographing each iteration was a way to capture something of this process of

play

that

model

making

allows.

Adjustments were easy to make and elements could be easily manipulated until I saw something which resonated or sparked a new possibility. I found the limitations of the materials useful and the models allowed me to easily

02

observe spatial relationships as I went along making changes. On the following pages are a front, side and detail photo documenting some of these investigations of a 1:50 site model from the threshold/transition site

01: Amplifying threshold through intensifying the vertical

I identified. 02: Amplifying threshold through binding gaps

71


72


73


74


75


01

02

76


03

Based on the exploration of site and possibilities of material and form investigated through the models I began to draw a model or combination of models as a way to continuing the process of making and so forcing and testing decisions. As this was my starting point to the walk I wanted to set up a sense of transition and to intensify the crowding of trees to heighten this impression of crossing a threshold and introducing a new narrative to site. . 01: netting collages 02: introducing a domestic scale to site O3: selected models that informed later speculative observations of site.

77


01

01: Netting used in surrounding farmland to protect crops from birds. The netting has a soft, almost domestic quality that is unusual in agricultural materials, which are normally robust and utilitarian in appearance. When you see a field of covered fruit trees it is like a giant spider has been to work delicately wrapping the trees in her web. A bit like a Claude glass the netting covers the landscape in a smokey mist. 02: Models using open weave fabric to stand in for netting explore some of the effects of light and shadow as filtered through the fabric. 03: Sketch and model showing the path transition through a cluster of trees out into an open space these are the site details that I wanted to emphasise at this moment in the walk. 04: Models testing different ways to underline this idea of a threshold or transition between spaces.

78

02


03

04

79



“The history of Modernism is that of a progressive dissolution of place, of the emancipation of architecture from the circumstances of its concrete physical surroundings… Paradoxically,

Postmodern

criticism of this alienation of the territory of the modern city has not led to a physical rehabilitation of the place. In their efforts to re-inscribe

the

place

on

the

mental map of modernism the protagonists of genius loci and Critical Regionalism for the most part reduced the identity of place to it historical definition… and instead of revealing the place buries it

R&Sie

even deeper in layers of pseudohistoric projections. Against such

The R&Sie house “Spiderinthewood” creates a

a background there is a an urgent

labyrinth out of netting in a dense planting of trees. I

need for an archeology of the

am interested in their use of “indigenous materials”

local which once again brings the

in order to replace the “idealistic abstraction of

physical reality of the place to the

history with a materialist concentration of the

surface and develops architecture

present”. R&Sie here and in other projects look not

out of place itself.”

to a historical idea of the site as a starting point, but instead at present and future conditions of site. This

Andreas Ruby in Spoiled Climate, Hyperlocality: On the archeology of the Here and Now in the architecture of R&Sie Birkhauser publishers, Basel, Berlin, Boston, 2004

leads them to use available materials in new and unexpected ways.

81


02

01

03

04 82


01: A tunnel path puts up walls between visitor and the landscape that can only be glimpsed through small windows. I wanted to test something that was a kind of opposite to the conventional national park path- something that was a shock when placed in the context of open forest 02: Montage showing outside view of tunnel path 03: Montage showing view from within the tunnel path. The landscape glimpsed through the small opening seems to shrink and move further away. 04: Photo of tunnel path model within lake edge site model acting as a divide between the lake and forest.

Geor ges Descom bes I am interested in Descombes approach to site- which he describes as “full of desires or possibilities of becoming�. This paradox of beginning something which was already there resonates with what I am aiming for in a seamlessness between observing and transforming site. His approach to renew sleeping attention by shaking the context- or creating a tension between what is existing and what is added to site also relates to my own ambition to amplify certain aspects of site.

83


contrasting the irregular

01

01: plan of grid- Amplifying the irregular through contrast 02: The grid becomes the frame through which the path moves. Elevated from the ground it lays down a new order over the site. Here the red gum forest has been cleared and it appears more irregular with patchy growth of scattered different sized tree compared with other areas of uniform forest. I wanted to amplify this irregularity through contrasting it against the consistency of a grid.

84


02

85


01

86


02

01: Seasonal changes as the boardwalk is flooded and exposed 02: The grid is laid over site either framing the existing scattered trees or breaking off to let them grow in the midst of the grid. 03: Google map image of park and surrounding agriculture. There is an interesting interplay between the movement of the water asserting itself against the patters of agriculture- a push and pull of forces that can be read in the landscape from an aerial photo.

03

miles km

2

87

4


01

02

03

04 88


01: Observation of existing placement of trees 02: Observation of proposed path through trees 03: Supporting grid extends out into forest 04: Speculative observation of how over time flood debris and forest litter will collect in grid and tree trunks will swell and grow in ways distorted by the grid. 05. Observations using rice to flood the grid and begin to obscure it. 06: Models exploring how different scale grids relate to the arrangement of trees and the human scale.

06

05 89


01

02

90


At this point of the walk it is apparent that the forest has been cleared- large stumps surrounded by smaller trees clambering to fill the gap. I wanted to emphasise the irregularity in the forest at this point through a contrast with an introduced uniformity. I wondered how to embed the scale and control of the garden into the national park, without planting a row of trees how might the path begin to manipulate the growth patterns of the red gums? As the red gum seeds are throughout the soil by disturbing the soil that is exposed to the light and intervening to interrupt the flow of the water the conditions are created that enable the red gums seeds to germinate.

01: Model of a planted row of red gums- what are the alternatives for determining where and how they grow besides direct plantings? 02:The path edge becomes a small intervention that begins to manipulate the growth of the red gum forest by interrupting the flow of water across the site.

Avenue of Eucalyptus camaludensis

91


extruding ground

01

01: Plan amplifying ground through extrusion showing 02: Paths and bridges are generally a flattening of the landscape that smooths out any bumps, here though each rise and fall is exruded from the ground amplifying any changes in levels. Crossing the creek becomes something that needs to be focused on rather than something which you can sail over without registering its existence. The drops in levels also invite further exploration and play- a path to jump off rather than follow.

92


02

93


01

01: Earlier iteration of plan and section form this same moment of the walk. I split the bridge into a high and low path but was not satisfied with the result. It seemed that the bridge was what was dictating my design moves rather than a response to an observation or a clear intention of what to amplify. 02: Earlier iteration of models that informed above drawings. 03: A return to drawing was a way fro me to begin to think about other ways of negotiating the creek. In the bottom image where i begin to break up the bridge into squares of different heights led me to think about ways the gradient of the creek might be exaggerated through geometry and to anticipate both the flows and the absence of water in the creek.

02 94


03

95


This moment of the walk I struggled with more than the others. I seemed to be trapped by this idea that the path needed to intersect the creek with a bridge and this idea of the bridge became my starting point rather than a clear idea of what I was amplifying on site. By returning to my follies from week one I realised that the dimension and direction of the weaving in the grid was determined always in response to the grid. I decided to bring some of this method to this exploration by determining the dimension and formation of the module in relation to the creek and the user. The arrangement of each component then responds to the form of the creek bed, with the soft edges of the creek bank being transmuted into the sharp rise and fall of the steps

01: Photo of first follie exploration here strips of material were determined by the dimensions of the grid while the direction of weave follows the direction of the grid. Different tensions of weave cause the fabric to reveal and conceal the grid in different ways 02: These models through the depth to which each component is raised or buried similarly respond to the site with different tensions.

01

96


02

97


01

98


01: Models begin to consider and reveal the flows of water that seasonally transform the creek. 02: Another follie exploration tracking the unravelling of the weave and the flow across the grid.

02

99


01

01: Drawings explore ways the path could amplify the shifting levels in ground rather than the typical flattening of the landscape that happens with paths

100


Ter esa M oller Teresa Moller ’s Punta Pite project negotiates the coast edge at times almost disappearing into the rocky cliffs and at others offering a sharp contrast of form but at the same time a continuity of material though the use of local stone. The particularity of the path to the place in which it sits is important to this project. Each stone is laid out in response to the site. This creates a simple but powerful dialogue between path and place that balances different intensities of contrast and harmony.

101


tracing edges

01

01: Plan of lake edge amplifying the edge of hte lake through tracing the changing levels in the lake 02: Agricultural irrigation hose becomes the material for the path. The movement of water instead of being concealed is highlighted as walkers trace its variuos movements.

102


02

103


01

02

104


01: Different model materials are tested to define the lakes edge each with their own qualities and limitations. I tried to use materials that were as close to the irrigation pipes they were standing in for as possible- rope for hose and plastic straws for PVC piping 03: Examples of pipes and hoses used in surrounding irrigation systems 04: Models exploring the transitional edge between the forest and the lake. The bright colour of the straws used in the model also suggests a more industrial material

03 105


01

02

01: Initial models testing a meandering path that traces the edge of the lake and the shifting water levels 02: Details of different hose clamps and straps that can be used to bind the hoses into paths. Industrial and agricultural materials can be appropriated and used in unexpected ways 03: Hose paths winding beside giant rushes that line the lakes edge 04: Rope models looking at different ways the paths could split and cross each other

03

106


04

107


02

01

108


03

01: A sequence of path models in card exploring ways to fragment the path and invite deviation

If a path normally asks to be followed how can you make a path that asks you to step off the defined boundary of the path? Initially a sequence of card models looked at fragmenting

02: These sketches expand upon the models and begin to think about the potentials for different materials to fragment. 03: Remodelling the spill model in wax allows the material to create the desired effect rather than forcing the material

or dissolving the path in various ways to invite deviation from the path. I observed in the spill model made in cardboard that the material was not suiting my intension but a shift in material to wax which can be poured on in a liquid form that spreads and pools on the ground better represents the flow I wanted the path to suggest.

109


An extension on this fragmenting of the path was inserting moments that interrupt the flow of the path to draw attention to something happening on site. At this moment of the walk there is a large red gum adjacent to the pathhow could the path allow the tree to cause a break in the path allowing for a blurring of the path boundary inviting deviation from the path and independent exploration of site?

01

01: existing site conditions marker posts indicate the path between the trees 02: sequence of models looking at alternative movements and possible interruptions and pauses in the path between the points identified in model of existing site 03: detail of expanded path model 02

110


03

111


01

02

112


03

01: Path intersecting reeds at the lakes edge

the

02: Detail showing how the giant reeds form a wall around cleared space 03: Modelling the lakes edge 04: Axonometric drawing intersecting the boundary between lake and lakes edge 04

113


01: Model sequence testing various materials and dimensions for intersecting reeds 02: How does the model respond to the existing but always shifting site? The positioning of the reeds fluctuates with the level as the lake as they will only tolerate a particular depth of water.

114

01


02

115


Upon looking closely the forest is made up of many small material details There are those that are placed there as part of the national park infrastructure like a cement water regulator or a rusty chain link fence and those materials that come from the forest like water, soil and vegetation. I was interested in how these materials responded to and registered changes in time and atmosphere. Treated pine posts are used throughout the park to sign post paths, to mark out car parks and sometimes just as mysterious demarcations in the forest, however in each instance they are the same 50cm high square posts set about 2 meters apart in straight lines. In the models on the facing page I looked at how this same material of treated pine posts could be arranged to create alternative relationships between body, ground and amongst themselves. I began with 20 balsa wood sticks to stand in for the treated pine posts and played around with different configurations. This small sample shows how varied the outcomes can be even with this very limited material palette of ground and 20 posts. The same materials can mark the ground in many possible ways each arrangment with it’s own spatial effect. The material itself seems to transform in the different arrangements sometimes appearing light or heavy, solid or permeable, straight or precarious.


117


cutting clearing

01

01: plan clearing

of path cutting through the

02: The cutting brings your eye down low and so exaggerates the dry grasses and the flat openness of the clearing while the red gums define the clearings edge.

116


02

117


02

01

03

04

120


05

01: The walkers perspective of existing path through the clearing 02: Plan showing how the path gently curves through the clearing behaving in much the same way that it does through the denser areas of the forest 03: The walkers perspective of proposed path 04: The path is straightened and centred through the middle of the clearing to amplify the uninterrupted openness of the clearing. A split irrigation pipe forms

a narrow and slightly convex path that invites you to a flat cement disc in roughly the centre of the clearing where the path opens up and invites a pause to observe the space and a possible point from which to deviate from the path. 05: Section of irrigation channel path cutting through the clearing 06: Local materials of cement irrigation pipes and channels drawn from surrounding agricultural context.

06

121


01

02

122


01: Existing path through clearing 02: Speculative path through clearing drawn from model explorations. 03. Model from sequence of explorations into amplifying the space of the clearing.

03

123


Eucalyptus camaludensis River red gum

124


“Thus walking—as art—provided a simple way for me to explore relationships between time, distance, geography and measurement. These walks are recorded in my work in the most appropriate way for each different idea: a photograph, a map, or a text work. All these forms feed the imagination.” The Eucalyptus camaldulensis can grow to 30 meters tall and live for as long as 500 years. These large trees have the ability to dwarf the human scale in terms of size and age, these differences in scale are represented in the facing drawing. I wanted to consider the path as not just dealing with ground but also this sense of a canopy and enclosure

Richard Long

125


125


There are many ways the path can move through the forest yet the existing national park paths were a constant gentle curve that kept an even distance from the trees and seemed to follow the path of lest resistance sticking always to more open spaces. On this page I looked at alternative routes through a more open forest and the facing page I negotiated different possibilities for moving through a more densely wooded forest. In testing these alternative movements through the forest I begin to consider alternative experiences of the path as explored through the photos on the following page.


01

02

128


03

04 01: Path form tracing existing path in width and gradient edge 02: Spreading path blankets ground to the edge of the clearing 03: Path as line to follow rather than a surface

04: Straightening the path to cut right through the middle of the clearing. A hard edge is in contrast with the existing soft and meandering path. This path is the most directive- it asks to be stuck to.

129


130


Tracing various existing lines on site from lines of maintenance to desire lines marking paths down to the creek. Posts and tape on site formed the first layer of amplification of these markings. These were then overlaid with further drawing onto photos to test different intensities and to highlight the different boundaries of the path.

131



convergence


lakes/campground/river

exposition infrastructure

wetland/forest/river

interaction

02

flood zone evolution access

03

town/forest/river

material interface edges

01 134


agriculture/road/river

industry & ecology interface

04

irrigation

135


outlining convergences

Each convergence looks at a different set of

While

these

intersections

are

relationships that exist around the Murray river and

happening over a different scale

human engagement and use.

the actions of observing, mediating, amplifying and recording remain as

Drawing from Maya Lin’s Confluence project

an approach to site.

located at seven smaller sites within the large scale system of the Columbian River I decided to zoom into various points of convergence along

Observing:

the Murray River as it passes through the Barmah

To actively engage with site by

National Park. I chose for these convergences

using all the senses in order to

moments of meeting between the river, the forest

observe with depth- beyond what is

and human use and occupation.

immediate and obvious

These points were identified on my first field

Mediating/Intervening:

trip when I was driving about trying to see and

To act between person and place

comprehend the entirety of the park in a couple

with

of days.

or

the

intension

choreographing

of a

guiding particular

experience of place The first convergence looks at the meeting of river, Barmah township and the boundary of the

Amplifying/augmenting:

national park. The second intersection looks

To expand upon site by drawing out

at the campground on the edge of the Barmah

what exists there already

lake. Further up stream is the intersection of road access and the visible changing course of the river

Recording/ Marking:

as a billabong is formed in the old river bed and

To explore and test assumptions

the final intersection is between the national park

and ideas around the existing and

boundary, a public road and private farmland and

proposed site.

the controlled but often difficult to read movement of water between these systems. Reflecting on this part of the design research project I noticed there was something frantic about these observations that seemed to spread my attention too thinly and did not leave me room to refine my process. This reflection triggered me to return to site and to take the time to focus on observing and engaging directly with just one of the sites of convergence. This slowed pace lead me to walking and the idea of an accumulation of careful observations as a way to engage with and amplify and respond to different qualaties of site.

136


M aya Lin Maya Lin‘s practice sits between landscape architecture and art. Her Confluence Project informed the approach of how small scale actions might sit within a large scale site. Points along the Columbia River were chosen to highlight something of the history of both white exploration and indigenous culture. I was interested in how she drew together small and large scale, an ecological and a cultural approach and historical and contemporary land use.

137


river and town convergence

S1

P2

P1

0m

500

1000

1500m

01

S1 0m

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000m

02

138


The first intersection investigates how the rather fine thread of a pedestrian pathway between the town of Barmah and the Murray river can be further articulated taking clues from site in order to strengthen the interface between the town and the river. There is an existing path which makes it way through the red gums down to the muddy banks of the Murray river. It is quite narrow and steps have been cut into the dry mud at points to allow people to navigate some of the more sudden changes in levels. This original path, which has been created through use over time and has already been established as the most direct route from the town to the rivers edge, is re-traced and further defined to amplify the shifting rise and fall of the river and to create a continuous thread linking the main intersection of the town with the river.

03

01: Plan 1_ intersection of town, forest and river 02: Section 1_ Long section looking at shifting boundaries of control 03: Mapping the flows across the boundary between Barmah and the national park 04: Montage of drawing over site photo that traces the existing path maintaining the human scale of the path but introducing the materials from the town down to the rivers edge.

04 139


S2

ine

l od

flo

72

19

o

flo

6

98

e1

in dl

o

flo

1 01

e2

in dl

o

flo

4

92

e1

in dl

o

flo

od

flo

0m

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2

99

e1

in dl

D2

9

96

1 ine

l

110

120

130

P2

140m

01

01: Plan 2_ path tracing line between intersection of town and river 1975

8

D1 1917

7

key to images:

1995

6

1944 1935

P1

5

1st plan

4

S3

3

3rd section

2

1

D2

2nd detail

M2

2nd model

0

0m

140

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

02: Detail 1_ edges leading down to water mark previous water levels

9

10

11

12

13

02

14m

03: Section 2_ Section showing platforms marking previous flood lines 04: Detail 1_ The sharp corners of the platforms contrast with the soft shapes of the river bank


D1

0m

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

210m

03

S2

D2

0m

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21m

04

141


campground and lake convergence

S1

P2

P1

0m

500

1000

1500m

01

S1

0m

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000m

02

142


S2

0m

10

P2

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140m

03

01: Plan 1_ intersection of Barmah lake, campground and river 02: Section 1_ inundation zones and shifting boundary of Barmah lake 03: Plan 2_ campground amenity block and visible connection to Barmah lake

143


This intersection where the campground and forest meets the lake is a popular tourist destination. The campground has some basic amenities such as toilets, campfires and picnic tables that follow the usual national park formulas. These amenities allow us to feel “at home� in the landscape and are there for the comfort and use of people yet they try to disappear back into the landscape. At this intersection of human occupation and the lake I wanted to highlight the connection of the water in the system and human use and need for this water. By exposing pipes and making visible the filtration of the water I wanted to highlight that each visitor is implicated and is a part of this wider water system. The casual visitor, without the need to read a lengthy information board, is momentarily drawn into engaging with this process.

D2

01 0cm

7cm

02 0cm

The choice of grasses to filter the water in the toilet system are chosen from the immediate area where many different indigenous grasses are endangered by changes to the wetlands. These grasses make another connection to site and take on a similar role to the one they perform in the surrounding wetland however here it is a part of a deliberate and controlled display.

7cm

01: Eraggrotis tenella Delicate love grass (rare) 02:Pseudoraphis spinescenes Moira grass (vulnerable) 03: Amphibromus fluitans River Swamp Wallaby Grass (vulnerable) 04: Section 2_ Camp-gound in relation to the Barmah lake 05: Detail 1_ Campground amenities block that uses and treats lake water before returning it into the lake 03 0cm

144

7cm


D1

0m

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

210m

04

S2

D2

0m

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21m

D1 05

145


01

02

03

04 146


Following the observation that the standard colour of existing national park amenities is a particular shade of national-park-green, as seen in image 01, I wanted to explore some propositions that used colour and form that were opposed to this standard toilet block design. Beginning with the question of colour I simply changed the grey green toilet block to a bright red. The form seemed to shift with the change of colour as it became more distinct from the context in which it sat. I

noticed the way the toilet block is slightly elevated. This led me to play with alternative forms as well as colours- ones that asked to be seen rather than attempting to disappear into the context. The form of national park buildings reference the bush hut- I wanted to trial different distortions of this simple small hut form and colour them in highly saturated colours to cause a shock in the landscape. A shock which awakens the observation and attention of the visitor

05

01: Existing national park toilet block 02: First colour test showing existing national park toilet block in contrasting colour 03: Pink straw model 04: Purple card model 05: Yellow paper model 06 06: Blue model

balsa

wood 147


01

02

148


01: Proposed toilet block uses filtered water from the lake to embed function within site. Uses forms and materials of surrounding agriculture practices and colour to define itself against site. 02: Existing national park toilet block painted typical drab green 03: Local agriculture material palette that is used in toilet block to reference agriculture context the park sits within and is a part of.

03

149


access and wetland convergence

S1

P2

P1

0m

500

1000

1500m

01

S1

0m

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000m

02

150


S2

0m

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140m

P2

03 01: Plan 1_ Intersection between wetland forest and river 02: Section 1_ movement of water between different zones 03: Plan 2_ meandering path network defined with different materials

151


The interstitial flood zone that exists between river and land is explored at this intersection. The old paths and braiding of the river forms billabongs and wetlands. These wetlands are often bordered by large rushes that obscure our view of them. By cutting access the wetlands and making them a more visible part of the forest we come observe and know them. The paths allow this access while their shifting forms serves a practical purpose of being flexible enough to negotiate the shifting landscape. Tree branches, debris from floods, short cuts and pools of water all alter the course of the braided network of paths. These adaptations echo the way the course of the river moves over time. These movable paths then link up to a more fixed boardwalk which serves as a stable point against which the dynamic changes of the landscape can be measured.The fixed and the fluid path each have their purpose one to respond to changes on the site the other to act as a stable point from which change can be anticipated and registered. The path can operate as not only a functional line but also as something which traces changes and anticipates a dynamic landscape.

152

01


D1

02

D1

01: Reduced braiding of the river path has occurred over time with increased controls and irrigation 02: Detail 1_ shifting paths perspective showing a hierarchy of new paths layered over old

P3 03

03: Plan 3_ shifting paths layering different materials in response to changing water levels and vegetation

153


D2

0cm

5cm

01

D2

D3

0m

1

2

154

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21m

02


01: Detail 2_ flexible markers await the floods there direction changes with the inflow and out flow of water 02: Detail 3_ a fixed boardwalk elevated over wetlands allows a point of access from which to to witness these changes of site

03

03: Models of the edge of the lake similarly register these changes 04: Long section showing wetland billabong as old course of river

D3

0m

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170m

S2 04

155


D2

01: Detail 2_ The giant rush at the edge of the lake has the potential to form a wall for the passage through the reeds to the lake 02: Section 3_ Bird hide and jetty intersect land and lake 03: Plan 3_ Bird hide and jetty intersect land and lake

01

On

reflection

these

design

iterations from earlier in the year seem to be more habitual responses

to

site.

I

hurried

through to reach an outcome without spending enough time exploring other opportunities of the site. This lead me to focus on

refining

my

process

and

seeking ways to move beyond my

initial

observations

and

subsequent transformations of site.

156


D2

S3 0m

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40m

02

P3 0m

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40m

03

157


158

rivers and channel convergence

P2

P1 0m 500 1000 1500m


S2

P3

P2 0m

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140m

As in the previous investigation

the flooding river from spilling onto

into how the roads might expand

the road or into the farmland at the

to take on the role of a network

wrong moment instead a system of

of nation park here I wanted to

irrigation canals, pumps and pipes

draw attention to the controlled

transports the water in a controlled

flow of water form one side of the

way that is determined by the crops

road which is the publicly owned

and their requirements.

protected landscape of the national park and the privately owned

At this intersection of park and

productive farmland on the other

agriculture, public and private,

side of the road.

water moves between the twohere there is an opportunity to

Irrigation

water

holding

pools

expose something of this controlled

typically have steep edges and

movement of water across this

function only to hold and control

boundary.

the flow of water for irrigation. A small levee of 1.5 meters prevents

159


0m

1

2

3

4

5

6

8

7

9

10

11

12

13

14

15m

02

D1

ark

l

oo

e

ric

ld fie

alk nal c w n ca i l ub tio d p riga e t ir jec ng pro lowi fol

lP

p ing

old

o cR

bli

t

iga

t

ad

h ion

pu

Irr

a ion

ee

h ma

Na

r

lev

Ba

D1

0m

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150m

01 S2

160


01: Section 2_ showing intersection between National Park and surrounding context 02:Detail 1_ exposed water pipe runs parallel to jetty operating as kind of hand rail as well as a visible sign of the movement of water. 03: Model 1_ projected walkway from holding pool into farmland, shifting intensity of placement of vertical element is intended to be seen from road to indicate the direction and flow of water along the canal

M1 03

04: Plan 3_ edge between public land of holding pool and private agricultural land shown in green 05: Detail 2_ View to projected walkway showing context of rice field. D2

P3 04

D2

05

161



reflecting on research


164

conclusion


How could a choreographed walk through the Barmah National Park site operate to amplify particular observations of site in order to renew attention and offer alternative readings of site?

of architecture that is intrinsic to place- or that amplifies qualities of a place. In repeating the process of amplification of site through the different key moments of the walk I began to recognise patterns in my process, to compare what I was doing when it worked and what I was doing differently when it failed. For example the moment of the walk where the path crosses the creek I began to redesign a bridge that was a response to a vague notion of what should be there rather than

Working through the design research question I have

any clear articulation of what I wanted to amplify drawn

developed a process for amplifying qualities of site through

from observations of site. This also further explained to

a process of layered observation.

me ways to avoid the normative response to site which is what was generated when I responded to ideas of what

As I struggled to develop my process I encountered

should be there rather than closely observing site and the

landscape

many possibilities suggested here if I look with care and

architecture

practices

who

articulated

something which resonated with my own ambition for this

attention.

particular project and also more broadly my own approach to the landscape discipline. Practitioners such as Georges

I begin the process of design work in a haphazard and

Descombes, Teresa Moller and Vogt landscapes each

intuitive way drawing from past experience and looking

in their own way design with a responsiveness to site

to examples from others. Through an initial scatter gun

that heightens awareness of the moment and place with

approach to generate multiple possibilities and in this

sensitivity. When I observe in my own work or someone

research project trialling many design potentials through

else’s that the design appears to be working there is a

the model I was able to move beyond what my first

moment of recognition that comes from an architecture

and perhaps more habitual response to designing in a

that seems to be “of the site�1 it does not try to disappear

site might be. Then comes the more difficult process of

into the site but seems to belong.

beginning to make sense of and untangle some of the jumble- to evaluate what to follow, what to refine and what

An emergent question from my research was what exactly

to leave behind. By observing what I have generated

gives landscape architecture that sense of belonging to a

in relation to site and the associated actions of making,

place and how this could be generated. Further testing of

drawing, reading, modelling, curating and recording I am

the processes developed in this project could be carried

continuously making decisions and judgments. I wanted to

out to compare how observations of site might be amplified

try to tune into these decisions and judgments as a way to

in other locations. I would also like to investigate further

begin to be a better teacher to my own design practice.

how might these close observation of site develop a way to work that avoids standardized and placeless design?

In reacting against normative national park practices I wanted to tell an alternative story of the site to that of

While these precedents held something which I admired it

the unspoilt wilderness. A story that is given its narrative

was only through attempting and trialling design processes

through the shape of the walk with the materials acting as

for myself could I identify what it was that they shared and

the characters and the reading of the landscape unfolding

that I wanted to explore in my own work. When I came

through the act of walking.

to amplifying site through observation I began to develop for myself a way to work, in thinking of observation of landscapes as a progression towards transformation of landscapes helped me to get closer to this ambition 1 Georges Desombes, Superpositions, Thinking the Contemporary Landscape: Positions and Opposition, 29-6-2013 < http://www. multimedia.ethz.ch/conferences/2013/>

165



appendix


key moments

By tracing some of the changes to my design research question trajectory

and

framework

therefore

through

the

which

I

approached my project I am able to reflect on the course of my project though out the year and identify some of the

research metamorphosis:

key instigators or provocations

168

which have shaped my project whether

it

be

a

reading,

precedent, image, experience or conversation. This is not an exhaustive list of every question that came up through the course of my research but rather a collection of questions to define key moments

and

influences

in

determining the path of my design research and to reflect on how these questions developed and are interrelated.


01

Murray Darling Basin as contested site

• •

02

rethinking positions on national parks

• •

03

04

05

06

the Murray Darling Basin is topical yet not much explored by the landscape architecture discourse contested site / site of difference levels of control

questioning positioning of national parks as a “protected wilderness” alternative experiences of national parks

representation and anticipating change in dynamic landscapes

• •

allowing for difference representation feedback

small scale design as catalyst for change in a large scale site

• •

bottom up approach flow on effects of small things

observation in the amplification of site

• •

site boundaries observing - representing designing site

choreographing alternative experiences of site for the walkers experience

• • •

walkers experience of site directing experience questioning normative assumptions

169


The question

design has

research undergone

a

metamorphosis both directing design research trajectory and also modifying to follow new lines of enquiry. The site triggered the initial questions and framework but upon reflection I became just as interested in the question of how I was acting as a designer within this site. These

questions

could

be

approached and answered in many ways. Although it seems more questions are generated by questions than answers.

How can different and often conflicting needs be allowed for within a contested sites along the Murray river? The media coverage of the Murray Darling Basin plan and my personal interest in this sparked my initial interest in the site. I knew my research question would shift and change as I went along and I wanted to chose a site that had many different faces. A site that was viewed, represented and described in different and conflicting ways. While all landscapes have this potential I wanted this uncertainty and conjecture to be immediately apparent. I specified the site of the Barmah National park as I wanted a site that was close enough for me to visit through out the year and one that was on public land. The Barmah National Park is the largest national park on the Murray river and the site of many intersecting views and needs whether they be ecological, cultural or economic. I was also motivated by the fact that the National Park in Australia is not a place where the landscape architect, or any form of overt design practice, has an existing identified role. This design research question while it helped me to determine a site it quickly slipped down the list of questions the site asked back as I began my research.

What is the cultural and ecological role of the national park and what are potential new positions for the national park? Once I defined my site as within the public land of a national park I began to reflect upon the current role of the national park and what it reveals about our relationship to ideas of “nature” and “wilderness” and how potential new experiences might be designed for in a national park. Reading’s such as William Cronin’s “Uncommon Ground” gave me a framework for thinking about national parks although from an American perspective. Bill Gammage’s “The Biggest Estate on Earth” helped me to begin to identify some of the gaps and re-frame the national park in an Australian context. 170


How can design in Barmah National Park anticipate and embrace changes? And how can this dynamic landscape be represented? I began to think of the conflict between the desire and need of people along the river to stabilise and predict the river that has long existed in cycles of flood and drought, dynamic flows and constant flux, as one of the central conflicts of site as. I wondered what effect the difficulty of representing this dynamism had on our understanding of the river. As I drew I became interested in how all the small decisions of what was included, what was left out, what was highlighted, and what was brushed over began the process of design. I could not engage an element of site in the design process if it was not represented. The representation of site could not be separated from the designing or making of site The struggle to represent such a large scale and changeable site was ongoing. Because the representation and communication of site and design was going to be an inevitable part of any project it became more of an ongoing sub-question throughout my work.

How might small scale interventions and material detail act as a driver and starting point for design within large scale national parks? Once I had been to site I became interested in how the scale of my initial experience of looking at site from afar within the larger scale context of the Murray Darling basin compared to visiting and experiencing site on the ground. I wanted to investigate how design might intervene from particular points within rather than large scale strategic manoeuvres applied at a distance. This then led me to test how material details might act as sensors to site by registering and responding to changes that allow the individual in a moment to read site processes and conditions that happen over larger temporal and spatial scales.

What is the role of observation in the amplification of details of site? After mid semester break I came back with a new distance and perspective on my work I began to wonder about how exactly I was using these site details and how I might evaluate and reach a better understanding of my own design process. When reading on Goethian observation I recognised something of my own process in this idea of layers of observation and how that might fit as a bridge between site and representation and design, giving me a framework though which to begin to evaluate my work. I wanted to look in greater depth at this process of accumulated observation, to clearly define it so that it is both strong and flexible enough to be transferable to different scenarios.

How could a choreographed walk through the Barmah National Park site operate to amplify observations of site in order to renew attention and offer alternative readings of site? Provocations: after another visit to site where I spent a lot of time walking about the park rather than racing around trying to see and know it all I became increasingly interested in the walkers perspective within the national park/ Reading the book wanderlust Initially I wanted to try this observation process in many different situations but then decided that to gain a depth of understanding it was better to reflect on what this process has been so far and to then in a focused and deliberate way apply it with intention to site. I saw the walk as an existing key component to the national park that had the potential to embody the different existing roles of the national park while also offering endless new potentials for interactions between people and site. By focusing the design process on a 6km walk I wanted to test with rigour the potential for the path to both direct visitors observations and experiences of site but also to observe my own process of design with greater focus.

171


ways of drawing / ways of seeing

Recording and observation are part

The

of the same process. Recording

representations of the flows of the

is observing and observing is

Murray river. In each image there

recording.

is level of abstraction, reduction and

facing

images

interpretation.

are

While

all

the

subject does not change what can The tools and conventions with

be observed in each image does.

which we record observations of

The materials and the methods of

the landscape inform what we see.

the drawing provide the framework

The drawing convention of a plan

through which we must work to

sketched in the field with a blunt

engage with what is out there in

pencil and scribbled notation will

the world and each approach also

led us to observe different qualities

offers with it a different possibility

compared to a 1:50 section drawn

for seeing.

with a fine line pen back in the studio. While a 1:1 model will

In

each

image

there

register very different qualities

investigation

compared to a model at 1:1000

controls and measures along the

into

the

is

an

various

river from a diagrammatic look While moving through different

at points of control to an image

conventions

showing

different

of

layers

recording of

site

observation

the

accumulation

of

incremental changes.

are uncovered and investigated. Various modes and conventions of

drawing,

photographing

modelling are

capable

and of

articulating different observations.

01 . Perricotta Forest inflows and outflows 02 . Murray Mouth average yearly outflows over last 20 years 03. Follie of flows 172


Ca

lf

Cr

ee

k

Co

w

Cr

ee

k

Ba

rb

er

re sC

ek

Ba

rb

er

sO

ve

r f lo

w

BA

RH

AM

KO

O

N

DR

O

O

K

Bu

rr

um

bu

rr

yC

re

ek

KO

O

N

D

RO

K

U

O

G

RE

AY

nb

er

R

ee

k

ST

VE

Cr

RE

RI

ow

FO

Gu

ER

RR

ST

U

W

M

BO

FO

N

CO

HU

N

A

r To

ru

mb

ar

ry

W

e ir

03

02

k ee Cr d ke oo Cr

k ee Cr le Tu

G U N B OW E R

01

173


a note on sources

By drawing from a wide range of sources across multiple disciplines including

geology,

history

and

ecology the layers of possible site observations accumulate. Many studies have been done into the hydrology, flora, fauna and geology of the Barmah National park. While it has not been the site of design research much scientific research

has

been

01

conducted

there, I wondered how some of the research from these other fields that work in the landscape might feed into how the designer acts in the landscape. While in-depth knowledge across so many fields is impossible even a shallow understanding of a single field can contribute another layer to the landscape which, when seen in relation to the other layers, adds up to an enriched understanding of site. 02

01 . Geological diagrams 02 . Historical photos 03. Potamology study) diagrams

(river

04. Murray Darling Basin Authority data and diagrams 05. Parks department State map

174

03


1,200

Barmah–Millewa Forest (A1)

MID MURRAY

Legend 1,000

Gunbower–Koondrook –Perricoota Forest (A5)

Hattah Lakes (A7)

city or town point of interest (place, lake, etc) hydrologic indicator site

(key environmental function site)

weir lock salt interception scheme (SIS)

Sunraysia Irrigation District

inflow

800

outflow irrigation diversion power station Elevation (m)

fish passage

600

(A1) (A3) (A5)

hydrologic indicator site (key environmental asset site)

Murray Valley Irrigation Area

West Corurgan Irrigation District Edward River 400

Billabong Creek

500

Wentworth Darling River

Curlwaa SIS

Buronga SIS

Berriquin Irrigation District

04

Mildura–Merbein SIS Mildura

Mallee Cliffs SIS

Red Cliffs Mildura Weir and Lock No. 11

Colignan Nangiloc

Deniboota Irrigation Area

Lake Iraak

Robinvale Irrigation District Downstream of Euston (F56) Distance (km)

Lake Hawthorn SIS

Psyche Bend SIS Euston Robinvale Lakes Benanee and Caringay

Boundary Bend

Euston Lock and Weir No.15

Murrumbidgee River

Goodnight Irrigation District

(F55) at Wakool River Junction

Vinifera Nyah

Piangil Tooleybuc

Lake Boga

Swan Hill

Koondrook Barham

Little Murray River

Little Murray Weir (10 GL)

Wakool River inflow

Cohuna

Loddon River flows into Little Murray River

Beverford

Deniboota Canal

Barr Creek SIS

Little Murray River

(F54) downstream of Torrumbarry Weir

Moama (F11) Campaspe at Echuca

various irrigation diversions Goulburn River

Echuca Campaspe River

Barmah Choke

Blightly

Barmah

Edward River

Finley

Moira and Barmah Lakes (Natural storage) Broken Creek

Berrigan Canal

Gunbower Creek

Pyramid Creek SIS

Cohuna Channel Left Branch

Torrumbarry Weir

Barmah and Millewa Forests (storage/demand)

Cobram Barooga

Toocumwal

Ovens River Lake Mulwala

Mulwala

Yarrawonga

The Drop Hydro Power Station (2 MW)

Rochester–Campaspe Irrigation Area

Bullatale Creek

0

Mulwala Canal (10,000 ML/d)

Black Dog Creek West Corurgan Channel (656 km long)

200

Yarrawonga Weir (126 GL) (F107) downstream of Yarrawonga Weir

Yarrawonga Channel

Torrumbarry Irrigation Area 400

600

700

800

900

1,000

1,100

1,200

1,300

1,400

05

175


plant palette

TREE SPECIES Various

types

of

vegetation

make up much of the material in this 28,500 hectare park. At first the vegetation seems to be

Eucalyptus camaludensis River red gum

a repetition of the Eucalyptus camaludensis

but

once

I

familiarised myself with some of the plant species I began to read changes in the landscape. The

Eucalyptus largiflorens Black box

ground has mostly very gradual shifts in topography the changes in vegetation allowed me to read these corresponding changes in

Eucalyptus melliodora Yellow Box

ground - for example rush sedge growing in the slight depression and the grey box signifying higher ground less prone to flooding.

Eucalyptus macrocarpa Grey Box

Acacia acinacea Gold-dust Wattle

INTRODUCED SPECIES

176

Bromus hodaceus ssp. horaceus Soft brome

Critesion murinum ssp. leporinum Wall barley- grass

Helinthotheca echioides Prickly ox tongue

Bromus rubens Red brome

Cirsium vulgare Spear thistle

Luctuca Serriola Prickly lettuce

Echium plantagineum Patterson’s curse

Aster subulatus Aster weed


INDIGENOUS SPECIES

Carex inversa Knob sedge

Carex tereticaulis Rush sedge

Juncus subecundus Finger rush

Lachnagrostis filiformis Common blown grass

Excoparpos strictus Pale fruit ballart

Eleocharis acuta Common spike grass

Sclerolaena muricata var. villosa Grey roly-poly

Eleocharis pusilla Small spike grass

Senecio quadridentatus Cotton fireweed

Pseudoraphis Spinescens Moira Grass

Brachyscome basaltica var. gracilis Woodland swamp-daisy

Austrodanthonia duttoniana Brown-back Wallaby Grass

Marsilea drummondii Common nardoo

Wahlenbergia fuminalis River bluebell

Lobelia concolour Poison pratia

Rumex brownie Slender dock

Sida corrugata Variable sida

Austrostipa scabra Rough spear-grass

Austrodanthonia setacea Bristly wallaby-grass

Atriplex semibaccata Berry saltbush

Chamaesyce drummondii Flat spurge

Einadia hastate Berry saltbush 177


bibliography

The research project is an accumulation of more than a years work. Many different experiences, classes, readings and other observations have contributed to shaping my approach to and understanding of the discipline of landscape architecture, from growing up on a farm that borders a national park to studying art history. The bibliography reflects a range of readings which I have visited and re-visited throughout my research. This collection of books also reflects the expansive nature of landscape architecture, there is room for botany, history, fiction, art theory, science and more, a rich and endless seam of possibilities to explore.

01. Richard Andrews & John Beardsley, Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes Yale University Press, 2006

02. John Berger, Ways of Seeing Penguin Books, London, 1990

03. Isis Brook, Goethian Science as a Way of Seeing Landscape Research Journal # 23, pages 5169, 2006

04. Blain Brownell, Matter in the Floating World Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2011

05. Barmah Forest Conservation Forests and Lands, Melbourne, 1984

06. Francesco Careri, Walkscapes: walking as an aesthetic practice Gastaro Gili Publishers, 2002

07. Peter Downton, Design Research RMIT university press, Melbourne, 2003

08. William Cronon, UNcommon Ground: Rethinking the human place in nature W.W Norton & Co. New York/London,1995

09. Patrick Leigh Fermor, Between the Woods and the Water John Murray publishers, London, 2004

10. Flora of the Nathalia District and Barmah Forest, Pocket Guide Nathalia Wildflower Group, 1990

11. Luca Galofaro, Artscapes: Art as an approach to contemporary Landscape Gustavo Gili Publishers, Philadelphia, 2003 178


01

02 03

04 06

05

07

08

10

09

11

179


12. Alice Foxley & Gunther Vogt, Distance and Engagement: Walking, Thinking and Making Landscape Lars Muller Publishers, Baden, 2010

13. Bill Gammage, The biggest Estate on Earth: How aborigines made Australia Allen and Unwin, 2012

14. Jeffery Kaster & Brian Wallis, Land and Environmental Art Phaidon Press, 2010

15. Kengo Kuma, Studies in Organics: Kengo Kuma and Associates TOTO Publishers, Japan, 2009

16. James Lingwood, Robert Smithson, Bernd & Hilla Becher Field trips Hopefulmonster Publishing, 2002

17. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception Routledge Press, 1945 18. Andreas Ruby (editor) Spoiled climate, Birkhauser, Paris, 2000

19. Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory Vintage Press, London, 1996

20. Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking Penguin Books, 2001

21. John Steinbeck, Log Book from the Sea of Cortez Penguin Classics, London, 1951

22. Editor Simon Swaffeild, Theory in Landscape Architecture University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2002 180


12

14

13

15

16

17

18

21

19

22 20

181


With thanks... to RMIT MLA staff Natasha, Rose, Charles for

Liz,

MLJ,

Jock,

and

Craig

encouraging,

questioning

and

counselling

me

throughout

the

year, to

Young

street

and

associates

for

tolerating

my

monomania

and

bringing

encouragement many

me in

different

forms, to the bush ladies

and

to

my

MLA peers for the camaraderie, tips clips.

182

and

hot

youtube


183


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.