Thesis

School of the Built Environment.

Department of Architecture and Interior Architecture

Productive urban landscape: Poetics of a working landscape, social and spiritual meaning.

This thesis is presented for the Degree of Master of Architecture of Curtin University of Technology November 2015

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Declaration

Acknowledgement I am indebted to the following people, as without you by my side

This dissertation contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university.

To the best of my knowledge and belief this dissertation contain no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgment has been made

throughout the course of my Architecture education, this journey would not have been possible.

Thank you to all Curtin staff and students who have made my time at Curtin a memorable one.

To my supervisor, Richard Hammond, I sincerely thank you for your guidance, encouragement and inspiration that have enabled me to compile this body of work.

Signed,

To Elizabeth Karol, thank you for your motivation and advice leading up to my research.

Tuan Anh Ngo, 10th of November 2015

To Hannah Thurlow, your love, support and patience have given me the strength to get through those long nights over the last 4 years.

With all my love, I thank you.

To my mom and dad who have sacrificed so much to allow me to become who I am today. From the bottom of my heart, I am forever grateful.

To Slavin Architects, who has given me all the practical knowledge and experience, I deeply thank you.

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Contents

1. Preface This thesis, in my mind is not an exhausted interrogation of all existing knowledge but a beginning of a journey I partake with much wider global community. This thesis give me an opportunity to research and explore the body knowledge that is available readily as well as contemporary human inhabitation examples and then manifest into a scenario in which I can practically applied and further explore the theories and knowledge. However, any project in reality requires much collaboration between people and discipline knowledge, let alone an ecological urban project. Urban is a complex ecology

1. Preface

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2. Abstract

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3. Introduction

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4. Background theories

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4.1 Ecology and Connectedness:

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4.2 Ecosystem services

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honest to myself, this design does not taken placed in a lived world but manifested though my personal research and

4.3 Biophilia

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imagination. Therefore the design outcome is neither an example nor practical outcome but a manifested scenario with all

4.4 Illusion of separation

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4.5 Urban issue

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4.6 Alternative urban – ecological urbanism

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is only part of this journey, not the end. In a grand scheme, this thesis only sit somewhere near the beginning of my life-long

4.7 Food

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personal architecture journey.

4.8 City farming

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itself, it involve multitude actions from political, economic, culture to community and personal etc. This complex web of relationships and interactions is the basic of which cities are created and generated. As much as I would like to be fully

its flaws and bias. I did however acquire many feedbacks from my supervisors, architects, colleagues, my peers, family and friend in building up this story as believable as possible.

Like a gardener with his garden, I deeply enjoy the journey and process of co-evolution with the project; the design outcome

This thesis has been set out as a storybook to display my journey weaving theories and design manifestation. I attempted to use many visual illustration accompany with series of large and smaller texts. This allows the readers quickly capture the essence of the project while still carry the necessary details of the exploration. I wish that you would enjoy this as much I do.

5. Perth urban

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5.1 Geology and productive land history

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5.2 Regenerative development

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6. Speculation

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6.1 Scenario 1 - Food and coffee waste discussion

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6.2 Scenario 2 - Caversham redevelopment

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7. Patterns and design – Caversham site

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7.1 Core patterns

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7.2 Natural system - Urban environment integration 58 7.3 Designed elements

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8. The end of the beginning.

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9. Reference

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2. Abstract Problem: In industrialised part of the world, the urban environment has become a dominant condition. In it dense group of human inhabit. City is an agglomeration of architecture primordial function: shelter. However, as city grows, not only it absorbs large amounts of resources from the surrounding, its expansion also alters, and eliminates other parts that support the human life. Natural and productive landscapes are often superseded by city mechanical structure. This process often deprives and alienates city inhabitants from his age-old relationship with other natural systems. This negligence rooted from mechanical and separation thinking, which dominated western philosophy. Using Perth as an example: our suburban sprawl slowly removes valuable agriculture land as well as native bushland. Areas such as Spearwood, Wanneroo where market gardens used to be are now replaced by contemporary suburban. Perth food-mile has dramatically increase as a result while new generation of children are almost unaware of where their foods come from.

This dissertation has sought to explore an alternative urban archetype, which acknowledges the connectedness of urban ecology and the importance of nature systems in supporting human life. By weaving natural systems and productive landscape with urban mechanical system, this dissertation will test the implications of this urban archetype through a scenario of new redevelopment.

Because urban is a complex ecology, amalgamation of many complex systems and data does not equal to understanding.

But by understanding the patterns of natural and urban systems, the two can be combined to create vital synergy in coevolutions.

The central theme of this dissertation is an exploration of integration urban and productive landscape. This theme is explored in Perth metropolitan context as a whole. First, Leederville cafe strip is discussed in retrofiting an exisitng urban. Then, design of a new urban archetype is explored at Caversham site along Bennet Brook as part of Swan River flood plain. This research will further my understanding of the relationship and patterns between natural systems, productive landscape and urban environment.

Figure1: Wheatfield - A confrontation. (Mostafavi 2010, 21)

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3. Introduction Some might ask how food has anything to do with architecture? Or should productive landscape subject belong to landscape discipline? This mindset is in fact not uncommon. As I will discuss more details later, this way of thinking deeply rooted in western culture, especially in scientific methodology. This dissertation will attempt to argue that it is more important to understand the relationship between subjects than the subjects themselves. In other words, it is very crucial to see architecture in relation to wider knowledge and environment.

Food is a crucial component of all living things. Food is a medium in which specie exchange energy with its environment.

Human cultures and civilization evolve around foods. Before industrialization, urban were developed near and surround fertile productive landscape. The local climate and geography conditions generate specific type of productive landscape, structures and cultures of the region. Over the time, these components as a whole characterize the sense of that particular place. After industrial evolution, technological advances remove the need to have productive landscape to be closed to urban environment. City becomes the machine for living and mega agriculture landscape becomes the machine producing food. Beside unsustainable outcome such as food-mile, wastefulness and environment degradation, this model of living also detach us morally and ethically from nature.

First, this dissertation will discuss the theories of urban ecology, biophilia and urban productive landscape. Through these grounding, Perth metropolitan development is extrapolated from its past and current development trends. The reaction to this current development is developed into two scenarios. One scenario discusses an opportunity of intervention into existing urban fabric - Leederville. Second scenario explores an alternative urban redevelopment in Caversham. The redevelopment proposes medium density housing are being integrated with productive landscape, natural system and typical commercial function of a city. This program further explores practical pattern and relationship between natural systems and urban environment. Permaculture and patterned languages became tools in this design exercise to articulate the placement of each element to archive the desirable outcome.

This dissertation is a result of an ongoing study of system patterns, urban and ecology theories and the two scenarios. These individual tenors were composed into an urban design proposition, which explore the possibility and limitation to the urban typology at the site and Perth context.

Figure 2: Productive landscape perspective

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4. Background theories 4.1 Ecology and Connectedness: “ The whole is much more than the sum of its part�. (Aristotle) Gregory Bateson explained the connectedness of all things and importance of these relationships. This is at the core of ecology theories. Felix Guattari develops the theory of the three ecologies, which are the environment ecology, human mind ecology and human social relationship. Guattari argument places human and his mind in the complex relationship with the larger environment. Align with Gregory Bateson, he argues that our ecological crisis is deeply rooted from our erroneous conception of the world. And to create any substantial change, we will have to broaden our view to include the human mind and social relation into ecology worldview. (Bateson 1987; Guattari 2000) Figure 3: Dynamic of ecological crisis (Bateson, 1987, 499)

This connection between human and nature is both physical as well as mental.

Suzuki David stressed that human is intertwine with the environment. For example inside lungs, air is fused deep to our body; same with water, nitrogen and carbon etc. In addition, there are more bacteria cells on human body than human cells making up our body ecology. (Suzuki 2009). At the subatomic level, the material world appears as a field of energy. Dense patterns of energy vibration are then perceived as solid matter. This make everything ever existed essentially an indivisible whole. (Dominique Hes).

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Three ecology registers Environmental Social Mental

Figure 4: 14 Billion (Saraceno, 2010)

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Human’s physical connection to nature

4.2 Ecosystem services It is then quite simple to perceive nature environment as an ecosystem supporting human life. A typical example is forests as it clean the air and water. Forest also hold many complex ecologies or can be seen as ecology itself. Forest is a home for millions species which to be discovered. It provides many services to agriculture lands down stream and surrounds it. Other examples are river system, wetland system, soil, bees, mycelium etc. These ecosystems provide many services, which are invaluable in sustain human inhabitation. (Soil Ecology and Ecosystem Services 2012; Alberti 2008)

Figure 5: Ecosystem service (Vancouver, 2015)

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Figure 6: New York Central Park (Bernstein, 2015)

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Mental connection to nature: Human’s instinctive love for nature 4.3 Biophilia Moreover, the connection goes even further than this utilitarian interdependence. It is described as biophilia by a biologist Edward Wilson. This is an innate ‘spiritual and emotional affiliation’ to nature. This affiliation has been presented through many different cultures and believes systems from Taoism, Buddhism, Shinto, Hindu, and many Indigenous cultures (Wilson 2003). An example closest to us is the Noongar believe system. “Noongar spirituality lies in the belief of a cultural landscape and the connection between the human and spiritual realms. Everything in our vast landscape has meaning and purpose. Life is a web of inter-relationships where maam and yok -men and women- and nature are partners, and where kura-long ago, the past- is always connected to yey (present)” (Kaartdijin Noonga - Noongar Knowledge 2012) Edward O. Wilson also describes this affiliation as an Enlightment in the question of meaning of human existence. (Wilson 2014)

Figure 7: Instinctive love for nature (Becker, 201)

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4.4 Illusion of separation Instead, separation thinking has dominated our thinking rooted from dominated western philosophy such as Dualism (Descartes) to scientific understanding of the world as mechanical system. Within this thinking, some philosophies see nature as a wild beast needing to be controlled and exploited for human life while others see humans as the worst parasite to nature environment. (Dominique Hes 2015) And even Darwinism perspective of human as a super species above all others. But this way of thinking only become demise to the world.

“The creature that wins against its environment destroy itself” (Bateson 1987, 501) Gregory Bateson summarised this fallacy into a short list of false ideas since industrial Revolution: “(a) It’s us against the environment. (b) It’s us against other men. (c) It’s

the individual (or the individual company, or the individual nation) that matters.

(d) We can have unilateral control over the environment and must strive for that control. (e) We live within an infinitely expanding “frontier”.

Figure 8: Illusion of separation (Egdnola, 2013)

(f) Economic determination is common sense. (g) Technology will do it for us.”

“It’s us against the environment”

(Bateson 1987, 500)

The way we understand the world through science is by isolating fragments of the complex web to observe and analyse.

However this very act of isolation and separation each fragment makes us lose sight of the rhythms, patterns and cycles within which that piece exists. It also creates an artefact that tells us very little about the behaviours and properties of that fragment in the real world. Using fragmented scientific understanding of the world instead human intuition to deal with specific problem of the ecology web then often become extremely devastated.

Figure 9: Human vs Nature Chess (, 2014)

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Mechanical city detached us from nature

4.5 Urban issue This way of thinking also translates strongly onto our way of living in modern time. Urban has become a machine to separate and protect human from nature. Industrial evolution and technological advance further alienate us from nature.

This growth is not without resistant. We see romanticism period as a reaction to industrial evolution, garden city movement as reaction to congest and unhealthy cities. These reactions one more time confirm Biophilia tendency in our psyche.

It is the core of the problem that man does not seeing himself being a part of the larger environment. He cannot control the environment being so much larger him. Man’s humility was simply taken over by the arrogant scientific advances. But science knowledge itself is not wisdom. Each scientific discipline is heavily isolated from one another.

This in effect results in ad hoc measures to every single problems human face. These ad hoc measures do not effectively resolve the crisis but often exaggerate the problem or create other problems. For example, history of DDT in dealing with ‘pest’ later found to have tremendous negative effect on the ecology and as a result to human health. This pattern of problem solving is repeating itself constantly with many other scientific discovery such as sewages, GM0s (genetically modified organisms), nuclear energy, CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) etc. Whatever we do to the nature, we do it to ourselves.

At the same time the growth of urban environment is inevitable, it is and has been the central of political, economic, culture and social activity. If any change can be made to the world ecology, it must start from the

Figure 10: Mumbai urban (Burdett, 2015)

cities.

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Figure 11: Peth contemporary suburban (Nearmap 2015

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4.6 Alternative urban – ecological urbanism

Because natural environment is deeply connected to human society, the health of natural environment is also connected to the health of human societies. This put forth an understanding of human roles within ecology. Because we are an intrinsic part of ecology, we can be a positive part. In fact, just like nature systems, urban ecology is not static but constant evolve with its wider environment. Urban even though being dominated by human, it is still as part and connected to the ecosystem. The question is how urban can become a collaborative part with the natural world. (Mostafavi 2010; Alberti 2008)

Figure 12: Patrick Blanc with Herzog & de Meuron, Vertical Garden, Caixa Forum (Mostafavi, 2010, 25)

Garden city movement is the beginning of the re thinking of urban environment. Other living part of nature has been brought in to the city. However garden suburb has been an alternative way of development, which arguably do the opposite to the garden city principles. Garden city movement also do not address foods issue in the city. (Lehmann 2010, 69)

Nature and city

Figure 13: Gougi island Abandon Fishing Village (Medlock 2015)

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Industrial food system is detached with human and detrimental to nature environment

4.7 Food Food is one of our fundamental exchanges within the natural environment, and is the central theme of this thesis. Yet our modern way of life in cities has often alienated us from this basic connection. Food can be medicine or a slow form of poison. Industrial agricultural business commodifies everything people eat while exploiting nature to a detrimental extreme.

Genetically modified crops become standard and wipe out over 75% of traditional varieties. Seasonal foods become available all year round from global food trade. This confuses the human psyche and biological pattern. Processed and convenient foods become dominant grocery items and are consumed in alarming quantities. A colossal amount of energy is being used for chemicals, fertilizers, transportation and packaging. Children are significantly less aware of where milk and bread actually come from beyond the supermarket shelves. Moreover, wastefulness, food miles and a modern, unhealthy diet are only the tip of a much bigger issue: we are ethically and morally alienated from nature. (Cockrall-King 2012; Paxton 2009)

Figure 14: Coronado Feeder, Dalhart, Texas – detail (Galperina, 2013)

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4.8 City farming

Urban farm are often small, diverse, collaborative and community focus rather profit driven

It is both utilitarian and poetic to have productive landscape in the city. Besides closing the nutrient loop, alleviating waste, supporting biodiversity and saving energy, producing food in the city also links people better with the community in order to foster beneficial behaviour and participation in social change (Planck 2009). The productive garden movement across Australia and other parts of the world has shown its benefit from direct contact with food growing, such as improving mental and physical health, changing consumeristic habits and encouraging democracy in cities through communities. Experiences in engaging with productive landscape also give people a deep sense of connectedness and satisfaction. (Kerrie Bell 2013) (Planck 2009)

Growing food in the city is not a new concept. The inhabitants of Medieval Paris grew food throughout the city. The victory garden movement during World War I and II was promoted both stylistically and patriotically in The United Kingdom(Cockrall-King 2012). Organoponicos – commercial urban organic farming - was widely rolled out in Cuba after the collapse of The Soviet Union.(Clouse 2014). In 1990, the academic Tim Lang raised the issue of food and began the ‘New food movement’ and then the ‘Slow food movement’ in 2006. Then in 2008, The United Nations Population Fund reported that there were already more people living in the city than the country. It marked the rise of market gardens and farmers’ markets. Food began to be grown in the most populous cities of Europe, North America, and Australia. Consumers now become co-producers, and therefore more aware of their food source, and these gardens have become a new means of food production. (Cockrall-King 2012). There are so many advantages of growing food on small plots in the city, from flexibility to extended season from the heat island effect, less dependence on fossil fuels and machinery, pest control and most importantly, access to the city market. These Market Gardens are ranging from ¼ acre to 1 hectare. Permaculture techniques make city farming (spin farming) a lot more productive both ecologically and financially. Successful stories of many market gardeners and community gardens, such as Jean-Martin Fortier in Quebec, Curtis Stone in Montreal, John Hantz in Detroit, and New York City rooftop farms, present hope for our cities of the future. (Mark Gorgolewski 2011)

Figure 15: Urban farm (Cheng, 2013)

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Geological characteristic of Perth metropolitan create certain land resouce that is valuable for agriculture

5. Perth urban

5.1 Geology and productive land history

Perth metropolitan is located on The Swan Coastal Plain. On the East is the Darling Range. This particular geology, along with the climate of the South West of Western Australia, has formed a specific river, wetland and ground water system. This natural system is the basis upon which The Swan Coastal Plain ecology has been living. Area along the river and wetland system, with good soil such as clay, loam, peat, and brown sand, and available water have been exploited for agricultural use in the past.

Figure 16: Perth Atlas 1955 (Gordon Stephenson, 1955)

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Perth productive land being replaced by contemporary suburbia 1955

2014

However, our current city sprawl is slowly replacing both agricultural land and nature bushland with mostly suburbia and roads. Not only does this increase the food problem, but this expansion also threatens our local ecology.

Aligning with scenario of the food city in Boomtown 2050 by Richard Wellard, This project explores further what the future might hold.

Figure 17: Perth Agriculture land 1955 and 2013

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5.2 Regenerative development Besides addressing the suburban sprawl issue, Perth needs to look more deeply and broadly into the food issue and its relation with wider ecology. Increasing density of the urban environment and fencing off a nature reserve is not enough in dealing with the ecological issue.

Figure 18: Permaculture flower ((Holmstad, 2010)

Regenerative development is different from restoration, because an ecosystem is not static, but constantly evolving.

This instead follows the conventional approach of removing humans as much from the environment to protect it, while regenerative development looks at ways to allow humans to be a part of the evolution of the ecosystem. And the solution often exists at a local place-base level, within the local community. “Develop means to bring forth new potential. The simple definition is to add value�. (Dominique Hes 2015). But adding buildings does not always give it new value in relationship with other living systems.

It is not all about buildings. It’s about the relationship between buildings, infrastructure, landscape, people and environment.

Architecture just about building often puts the focus on form making, visual stimulants rather than substance. But by looking at all the relationships and interactions with other components, urban begins to play an active role in modifying behaviour as well as collaborating with nature in co-evolutions. The first scenario looks at how an existing urban environment can be adapted to respond better to the natural system.

Figure 19: Regenerative development diagrams (Dominique Hes, 2015, 121)

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6. Speculation 6.1 Scenario 1 - Food and coffee waste discussion Established urban: Leederville - respond to an existing urban with a large quantity of food and coffee waste available.

By simply collecting this waste on a daily basis and turning it into soil through a small local composting facility. This compost is the basis of soil ecology, from which food can be grown locally on pallets or portable containers and re-

One apparent opportunity exist from existing urban environment is food and coffe waste

supplied to the local area.

This can run on the basis of a community project or entrepreneurial approach, or a combination of both. At the site there would be a small composting facility, which would be incorporated into the 4 storey building development.

Instead of having an unusable roof, small investment can turn the rooftop into usable space and can be rented out for urban farming, and extra compost on pallets can be spread out to all available sun-exposed sites or rented out to local residents. This model can potentially be rolled out widely all over Perth metropolitan.

This development can reduce a large quantity of energy consumption for food, alleviate organic waste going to the landfill and create methane in an anaerobic condition. At the same time, this development would utilise readily available food waste in a business model, which is beneficial to both the human and natural environment.

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Figure20: Leederville food waste to compost

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May 2008

August 2010

July 2011

June 2012

June 2013

August 2014

6.2 Scenario 2 - Caversham redevelopment Caversham site- Respond to a suburban redevelopment encroaching on existing agricultural lands, this site is chosen as a scenario for an alternative housing development incorporating productive urban landscape.

August 2015

current suburban development scenario site

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Figure 21: Caversham aerial images (Nearmap 2015)

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Place as core: This goes beyond critical regionalism of Kenneth Frampton. It’s more than just topography, climate, light and tectonic form, but encompasses qn entire network of ecological and cultural systems. Only through these relationships to a place can we enable the people to find meaning and intimacy in fostering a co-evolutionary development process

Figure 22: Site location in the context of Perth

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Waters The important role of water resources in the ecosystem is quite apparent.

The Noongar tell the dreamtime story of The Waugal, or Serpent, and how its track left the water body as rivers, swamps and creeks. (Kaartdijin Noonga - Noongar Knowledge 2012).

Water is also a central theme in many other religious and spiritual beliefs. The appearance and disappearance of water are directly linked to life. Hence it is easy to see water and related elements as sacred.

Being part of the Swan River Flood plain, the site shares rich clay, loam and brown sand soil, available water and rich biodiversity.

Figure 23: Perth 100 year flood plain (Water 2014)

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Native Flora and Fauna of the site, its function and symbiosis The area used to be covered with flooded gum woodland and riparian vegetation : flooded gum (Eucalyptus rudis) and swamp paperbark (Melaleuca rhaphiophylla), sheoak (Casuarina obesa) and saltwater paperbark (Melaleuca cuticularis).

(Acacia saligna), grey stinkwood (Jacksonia furcellata), spearwood (Kunzea ericifolia), harsh hakea (Hakea prostrata), woolly bush (Adenanthos cygnorum), woody pear (Xylomelum occidentale), grass tree (Xanthorrhoea preissii), zamia (Macrozamia reidlei).

Native Fauna: Very small amount of mammals: bandicoots, brushtail possums, honey possums. Original fauna would have included echidna, grey Kangaroo, wallaby, chuditch, long necked tortoise, Frogs and snakes. Many of these are threatened by introduced species such as cats and human activities.

Figure 24: Swan Valley catchment area (1988)

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Figure 25: Bennet Brook site photo record

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The Bennet creek is an important part of a much larger river system. Besides managing water and nutrient cycle, this wetland system is also an oasis for wildlife travelling up from the river and provided a seasonal food source for the Whadjuk people in the past.

Redevelopment of the site would give good opportunity to rehabilitate the native vegetation along Bennett Brook, and control pollution going downstream to the Swan River system.

summer

winter Figure 27: Aerial Image of winter and sumber (Nearmap 2015)

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Figure 26: Bennet Brook system

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Tourism industry Being in an area where the winery and tourism industry has been a tradition, cafes restaurants and farmers’ markets have great potential to be incorporated into the site. Moreover, because of the dormancy of grapes, winter becomes a quiet season for the tourism industry. Vegetable crop is in the opposite. There are many varieties that only grow well in winter. This proposal could then benefit from its diversity of crops. Restaurants could then also celebrate seasons with a diversity of seasonal vegetables and fruits.

Figure 28: View from the site to open landscape Figure 29: View to opposite winery

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Ground water complication Hydrogeological data show a high water table at the site, especially in winter months. Hence, basement parking should not be a part of the development.

The data also show a significant salinity in the groundwater. It is then not recommended to use groundwater as a source for productive landscape irrigation. Salt build up through evaporation in summer can cause severe salinity of the soil.

Figure 30: Ground water contour maximum (Water 2013a)

Figure 31: Ground water salinity level nit(Water 2013b)

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Transportation system: Perth metropolitan transport plan 2031 indicates a future train line service from Ellenbrook to Bassedean next to the site. (Australia 2014) This would allow the site to have an intensification of its function from housing, agriculture and commercial activity. It would also allow the development to be much denser than the current suburban development model. Along with a car share scheme, it would also reduce the car infrastructure in site planning.

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Figure 32Perth metropolitan public transport plan 2031 (Australia 2014)

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Development program The Caversham project with an over 5-hectare site will attempt to incorporate higher density housing with urban productive landscape.

Optimally, 1 hectare would provide 250 dwellings at R250 and 4 hectare would provide enough permaculture productive landscape to supply fruit, nuts and vegetables for 500 people (80m2/person without grain and protein). The total development is equal to R50 zoning development. This figure is calculated based on the French biointensive farming method of 371m2 per person with a complete diet. A large part of this area is used to produce grain, protein products.

Being in such a compact system, there is potential to have a decentralized power generator, its own water system and a local compacted wastewater treatment plant.

Figure 33: Design program

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7. Patterns and design – Caversham site A complex system cannot be understood through a collection and amalgamation of data, but by comprehending patterns

7.1 Core patterns Borders and boundaries condition: In chemistry and physics, when two materials meet, there is an interaction between them. This interaction happens at the borders between the two. With a more complex system, such as a living system, the border becomes the third medium itself. For example, at the interface of tree root and soil, a complex layer of bacteria and fungi is established to create the nutrient transaction between plant and soil. Other examples in nature include riparian vegetation between a water body and the land, or an estuary where river and ocean meet.

These borders are often the hotspot of ecology. This happens because of the exchange of energy, materials and resources. Permaculture practice and many traditional agricultural techniques exploit this property by growing different species of plants side by side to create symbiosis. It is not always beneficial to the two media, but by allowing interaction, and observing, companions can often be identified and established to make the best out of the environment.

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Figure 34: Border and boundary condition examples

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Similarly, the front garden, or courtyard, becomes a third medium between the shelter and natural environment. These spaces also often nurture human social interactions, as they are the spaces between private and public domain where the edge between building and environment is blurred (Coe 2008). In an urban setting, similar interactions happen at marketplaces and in streets, between country and city.

Figure 35: Country and city fingure (Alexander, Ishikawa and Silverstein 1977)

Within this understanding, food and productive landscape is the border between human and nature. However, the way the city has been developed works against this pattern. The garden city and suburban movements are a lukewarm solution towards this, but they fail to acknowledge a fundamental interaction, which is food.

Developed further from the garden city idea, Continuous Productive Landscapes (CPULS) and Country and City fingers attempt to further address these interactions.(Alexander, Ishikawa and Silverstein 1977) (Andre Viljoen 2009)

Figure 36: Continuous Productive Landscape Brighton (Andre Viljoen 2009)

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branching to increase surface areas

Pattern of growth, branching: This pattern appears in the respiratory and circulatory systems of animals, root and branches of trees and fungi, The core is the original point (or seed) where roots grow and branch downward and branches grow and branch upward. This pattern increases surface area and helps the tree to capture energy in larger areas. All this energy is then transported and stored inside the tree’s artery system around the core, to be reused when necessary.

Figure 37: Pine tree grown in a glass box (Mike Amarathus 2013)

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7.2 Natural system - Urban environment integration Wildlife and natural systems are connected to the Swan River system through the wetlands and Bennet Brook system.

(Hence, this water stream is an artery of the natural system). This system has many symbiotic relationships with the produc-

from flood areas or above the flood level. Farmland, on the other hand, can be relatively close to the flood level. The chinampa technique uses swale or a channel of water to increase edge conditions, allowing for water and wildlife to mingle with agriculturql land, while at the same time effectively mitigating the flood effect on agriculture.

urban structures urban artery

assets. Floods, however, pose a threat to human habitation. It is important to locate building and permanent structures away

productive landscape

plain very beneficial to agriculture. Traditional farmlands have been built around these river plains to take advantage of these

wild nature artery

tive landscape. Complex water and vegetation systems carry and exchange large amounts of nutrients. This makes the flood

A city on the other hand is connected through roads and streets. Streets can be seen as arteries of city life. Good streets hence allow both flow and exchange. A building has symbiosis with a productive landscape where produce can be stored, sold and consumed. View, air and temperature from a productive landscape are also beneficial to human habitation. Dense human habitation also produces large quantities of biowaste, which is a nutrient to a productive landscape.

This finger system allows both the urban and natural wildlife systems to maintain their circulation and functions, while maximising the interaction between the two.

Figure 38: nature and urban fingers diagram

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7.3 Designed elements

Figure 39: Detail Master plan north west

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Figure 39: Master site plan

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Urban village living

By orienting all apartment units north, and making a maximum depth of 15m for cross ventilation, the Perth climate could allow buildings to be comfortable without air-conditioning and heating. A northern aspect is also desirable for balcony gardens and social exchanges and being articulated to increase edge conditions. A south-facing side, on the other hand, has the quality of silence, solitude. Roofs can be utilised for extra productive landscape, either community or commercial. Apartments at higher levels can have the option to access a communal courtyard.

Figure 40:Perspective urban village

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Car park: While a car is a personal convenience, it does exaggerate individualism and has a negative impact on the social and ecological dimension. Because Perth is still a very car dependent city, reducing the number of cars per person requires a holistic approach. By concentrating car parks, transitioning private ownership to car share programmes and improving public transport, large areas of bitumen surface can be reduced and replaced with productive landscapes or communal spaces.

Figure 42: Carpark scenarios

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Chinampa system, swale, cistern, and water storage in the ground: Surface water is available during wintertime along the Bennett Brook and through rainfall. This water source can be collected through the swale system stored in cisterns underground for household usage as well as productive landscape in summer.

Characteristic of the duplex soil is the ability to hold onto large amounts of water that can be reused in summer. By maintaining the soil through dense vegetation and mulching, water evaporation can be reduced significantly. The swale system also mitigates drainage throughout the site by collecting and transporting runoff water to the Bennet Brook. The swale vegetation system and chinampa productive landscape also take up large quantities of nutrients from the water before returning it to the wetlands system.

The water channel of a Chinampa system also weaves the natural system from the brook deep into the productive landscape.

This allows nutrients upstream from the natural system to support the productive landscape. At the same time, surplus water runoff from the urban environment is being captured, stored and purified by the vegetation of the chinampa system before being discharged back to the wetlands system.

Figure 43: Traditional Chinampa system (Mollison 1988)

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Figure 44:Productive landscape and natural system intergration

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Nutrient cycle Because the human is a part of ecology, it is important to see the human’s role in ecology. On a nutrient level, humans convert large amounts of food into other types of nutrients, which is food for bacteria, plants and other microorganisms. However, human settlement has often grown over the typical balance of the natural system. This has led to adverse health effects on human and natural systems and has become a taboo in our culture. We then often avoid all affiliation with human faeces, despite its important relationship to the greater ecology.

Figure 45: Eco city nutrient cycle (Lehmann 2010)

Like most advanced cities, Perth has a comprehensive water treatment plant, which treats sewage from both commercial and residential uses. Besides massive energy consumption, these centralised sewage treatment plants further human disconnection (mentally and intellectually) from the ecology. In fact, in terms of technology, it is possible to treat all of this human waste locally; one of many current decentralised systems is the ‘eco machine’ water treatment plant. This system uses the strength of the combination of six kingdoms of life (Plants, Animals, Protists, Fungi, Archaebacteria, Eubacteria) to intensively recover nutrients from wastewater, producing both clean water and biomass. The biomass is the trimming of plants, which are free of pathogens and can be safely returned to the soil. (Todd). Based on the case studies of the system, about 200 m2 of greenhouses is enough to treat the wastewater of 125 households.

Figure 46: Eco machine water treatment plan diagram(Todd 1995)

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Intervene and capture of the site energy

Without air-conditioning systems, each 2-person household can be supplied with enough electricity from a 2.5Kw solar energy system. For 250 apartments units, it would be a 625Kw system. At a current efficiency of 21.5%, a solar panel system would require 43750m2, which would take up less than half of the roof area of all of the apartment blocks. This would still leave more than half of a hectare of roof space for productive landscape.

Series of building blocks running east to west also create wind tunnels. At the street edge of the site, where wind accelerates through the gap, a vortex wind turbine could capture this energy without noise or disruption of air space.

Figure 47: Energy capture diagram

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Image of the city:

It is important to understand the different dynamics between rural and city areas. While the rural provides vast amounts of natural landscape for the human mind to absorb, the city intensifies the human social, economic and cultural exchange. Most of this happens at the edge of the streets (artery of the city). To help humans navigate the city, edges, landmarks, nodes, and paths are required to be arranged logically (Lynch 1960). These elements are located along Bennet Street together with the future train line to form the artery of the future city. While the rural area uses vast tracts of open space to give a buffer between public and private space, buildings and levels bound cities’ private spaces. The landmarks indicate a node at the centre of the site where the productive landscape is shared with the population at large.

Figure 48: Public and private domain

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Edges, paths, landmarks and node in combination create a legible Image of the city. Commercial edges along the street allow a condition for city life, while defining the boundary of the public domain. Public squares, tall buildings and Vortex wind turbines then become landmarks and nodes of activity. It also signals the entrance of a productive landscape where exchange can be magnified and sustained.

Figure 49: City image diagram

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Sacred space On the other end of the natural landscape, where building meets the brook, nature is held in utmost regard. It defines the sacred space within the urban: it’s where the water meets the land. This water level, fluctuating in cycle, is celebrated and worshipped. This sacred space is then nested through several series of courtyards and buildings.

Figure 50: Sacred space diagram

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8. The end of the beginning. “Farming is not just for growing crops, it is the cultivation of human beings� (Fukuoka 1985). Bringing back productive landscape into a city is not just about the food issue: It captures the essence of the human being in the universe. The integration of the urban environment and natural system is an extrapolation of the human and nature relationship in the modern day.

This does not mean a suppressing of progress in human society, but a striving to make this progress evolve in harmony with the natural world.

This dissertation questions the possibility of bringing humans back to each other and to the natural world through urban development and intervention with productive urban landscape. This process allows me to better understand the relationship between city structures and natural systems. The process of observing and searching for patterns of the site and systems can be further explored in the future. It is a seed being sown in my heart, and a hope for the future.

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Figure 51: Site model photographs

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