Landscape Architecture Thesis_Oliver Xu

STUDENT

Oliver Xu

SUPERVISOR

Alistair Kirkpatrick

H-SCAPE

Landscape Architecture Thesis A Tale on Housing Transformation with Hyper Ecology A Spatio-temporal Journey in Coburg North, Victoria

RESEARCH QUESTION Could the results of the COVID-19 pandemic cause the depopulation of inner-city suburbs, which leads to novel ecological processes and triggers a different land-use regime?

Design research uses a narrative to explore this notion.

DESIGN STATEMENT The intrinsic characteristics of ecological processes are not highlighted in the broader project of urbanism. The novel COVID-19 might lead to a series of consequences, which might make us rethink and re-evaluate the established systems. If the inner-city suburbs were depopulated due to the results, would it be an opportunity to reassess the traditional land-use regime that is intensely occupied by houses? Design research uses a narrative to explore this notion.

The propositional parameters are set to simulate the extreme scenarios, the purpose of which is to reveal and exhibit the essential characteristics of ecological processes: activeness, messiness, openness, and indeterminacy.

The design proposals sustain and catalyze the onsite ecological processes to celebrate the novel ecology. On the other hand, the hotter and drier climate that might happen in the future further highlights the necessity to embrace those characteristics of ecological processes for the landscape design in the suburb context.

COTENTS

6 8 10 12 14

RIPARIAN ANALYSIS - 2020 Soil Depth Soil Moisture Existing Vegetation Composite Mapping

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CHAIN EFFECTS - 2021 COVID-19 Recession Climate Change UNDER EXTREME SCENE - 2023 Concept Initiation Form Iteration

28 31 32

ADAPTATION TO CRISIS - 2027 Humans: Adaptations & Chaos Plants: Escapes & Intrusions

34 POST-PANDEMIC - 2035 36 Design Ambition 38 Precedents 40 Vacancy Transformation Prototypes 42 Design Outcome34 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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RIPARIAN ANALYSIS - 2020

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RIPARIAN ANALYSIS Soil Depth

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The steep slope with the lack of vegetation cover leads to the shallow soil profile.

The deposit and sedimentation of the inner bank of the river bend with gentle slope lead to deep soil profile, while the outer is relatively shallower due to the erosion and steep slope.

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RIPARIAN ANALYSIS Soil Moisture

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South-east Facing slope has more soil moisture, compared with North-west Facing slope.

Stormwater Outfall from the nearby residential and industrial zone adds the soil moisture.

Low soil moisture results from the concretion of the river bank, which breaks the micro hydrological interactions.

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RIPARIAN ANALYSIS Existing Vegetation

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Ve g C o m m u n i t y : G r a s s y S h r u b l a n d .

Dominate vegetation is shrubs with grasses.

Mainly appear on the South-East Facing Slopes, where the evaporation rate is lower.

Ve g C o m m u n i t y : G r a s s y W o o d l a n d .

Dominate vegetation is tall trees, shrubs with grasses underneath. Appears mainly at the river bank, especially the inner convex, due to deep soil with enough moisture.

Veg Community: Grassland/Lawn. Dry out and dying in summer.

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RIPARIAN ANALYSIS Composite Mapping

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Generally speaking, the existing vegetation density of the South is higher than North.

Most of the creek banks have better conditions for the establishment of the vegetation with deep soil profile and sufficient moisture, except for some cliffs or escarpments. Whereas, these areas are also already heavily, or have the potential to be heavily invaded by the exotic vegetations.

Therefore, some areas are revealed with opportunities to be vegetated and developed.

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CHAIN EFFECTS - 2021

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CHAIN EFFECTS

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CHAIN EFFECTS COVID-19 Recession

GDP RN

N TU

DOW

ECONOMIC

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JO

S LO

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UNTRY TWON

BACK TO CO

ES

ENVIRONMENTAL

SP AC

FL

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N GR EE

HO

ME

IES

AC UP

FROM

BYE-BYE

E EVALU

WORK

LA

ND

CULTURAL

HOME ONLIN E

OF VA LU ES

TO

C VA

IS HI NG

BA

CK

RTY D PROPE

CH ER

SOCIAL

EMPTY

DOMINO-LIKE CHAIN EFFECTS 19

6 4 2 0 % -2 -4 -6 -8 Jun-12

Jun-13

Jun-14

Jun-15

Jun-16

Jun-17

Jun-18

Jun-19

Jun-20

GDP DROP

TEMPORAL VISA HOLDERS FLEE AWAY

VACANCY RATES UP 20

In the near future, the great depression would hit Australia due to COVID-19, a series of chain effects set off. The initial patterns of the increasing property values and population intensity in capital cities could be challenged. This scenario reveals a chance to reassess the traditional housing dominate land-use regime.

CHAIN EFFECTS Climate Change

PRECIPITATION PATTERN 2020

Extreme weather might happen more frequently, such as more imbalanced precipitation, and higher evaporation rates. How could we respond to the hotter and drier climate in the future.

PRECIPITATION PATTERN 2035 21

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UNDER EXTREME SCENE - 2023

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UNDER EXTREME SCENE

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UNDER EXTREME SCENE Concept Initiation

The initial "green" turned into "brown". However, The activeness and openness of ecological processes promise the way to help the establishment of vegetations with simple design interventions.

Surface Flow Accumulation Point Stormwater Outfall Point

Stormwater Outfall Point

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ZOOM IN PLAN 2023 HOT AND DRY YEAR

UNDER EXTREME SCENE Form Iteration

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ADAPTATION TO CRISIS - 2027

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ADAPTATION TO CRISIS

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ADAPTATION TO CRISIS Humans: Adaptations & Chaos

2019

31 2027

ADAPTATION TO CRISIS Plants: Escapes & Intrusions

GARDEN ESCAPES

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INTRUSIONS

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POST-PANDEMIC - 2035

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POST-PANDEMIC NEW ORDER

Design Ambition Vacancies Transformation

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POST-PANDEMIC Precedents

"Kwinter called for a redefinition of the design project and the broader project of urbanism in ways that exhibit or sustain essential characteristics of messiness, indirectness, openness and indeterminacy: "to approximate these ecological forces and structures, to tap, approximate, borrow, and transform morphogenetic processes from all aspects of wild nature, to invent artificial means of creating living artificial environments."

<Ecology and Design: Parallel Genealogies>

Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord, Germany

POST-PANDEMIC

INITIAL VACANCY

Vacancy Transformation Prototypes

TRANSFORMATION

CRACKS OPEN

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WALL SHADES

100% HARD SURFACE

50% HARD

DEPRESSIONS

WASTE CONCRETE PLACEMENT

STICKS SHADES

SURFACE

30% HARD SURFACE

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POST-PANDEMIC Design Outcome

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Ahern, J. (2016). Novel urban ecosystems: Concepts, definitions and a strategy to support urban sustainability and resilience. Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 4(1), 10-21.

Retrieved from http://lib.cqvip.com/qk/71961X/201601/668799463.html.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). Demographics: Coburg North [Data file]. Retrieved from https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/ quickstat/SSC20593.

Boucher, D.L. (2020). Forget Cities, the Post-Covid Push Towards Towns. The Urban Developer, Retrieved from https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/swapping-high-densitycities-for-rural-towns-post-covid.

Chang, C. C., & Turner, B.L. (2019). Ecological succession in a changing world. Journal of Ecology, 107(1), 503-509. doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13132 City of Darebin. (2008). City of Darebin Heritage Study: Draft Thematic Environmental History.

Collier, M.J. (2015). Novel ecosystems and social-ecological resilience. Landscape Ecology, 30 (2), 1363-1369. doi: 10.1007/s10980-015-0243-z Creswell, J.W. (2007). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. Thousand Oaks, United States: Sage Publications.

Farina, A., Belgrano, A. (2006). The eco-field hypothesis: toward a cognitive landscape.

Landscape Ecology, 21(2): 5-17. doi: 10.1007/s10980-005-7755-x Farina, A. (2012). Landscape Ecology in Action. Berlin, Germany: Springer Science + Business Media.

Grose, M.J. (2014). Gaps and futures in working between ecology and design for constructed ecologies. Landscape and Urban Planning, 132(1), 69-78. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.08.011 Grose, M.J. (2017). Constructed Ecologies: Critical Reflections on Ecology with Design.

Milton Park, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate Change and Water. Retrieved from http://www.taccire.suanet.ac.tz:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/552/climatechange-water-en.pdf?sequence=1.

Janda, M., & Lasker, P. (2020). Australian recession confirmed as COVID-19 triggers biggest economic plunge on record. ABC News, Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-02/australian-recession-confirmed-as-economyshrinks-in-june-qtr/12619950.

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Kaseke, K.F., Mills, A.J., Henschel, J., Seely, M. K., Esler, K., Brown, R. (2011). The Effects of Desert Pavements (Gravel Mulch) on Soil Micro-Hydrology. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 107(10), 1-9. doi:10.1007/s00024-011-0367-2 Manzanedo, R.D. (2020). COVID-19: Lessons for the climate change emergency. Science of the Total Environment, 742(1): 1-4. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140563 Moreland City Council. (2013). Edgars Creek Conservation and Development Plan: Edwardes Lake to Merri Creek.

Moreland City Council. (2016). Coburg North Profile. Retrieved from https://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/about-us/our-city/demographics-and-data/suburbprofiles/coburg-north/.

Moreland City Council. (2013). Flood Emergency Plan: A Sub-Plan of the Municipal Emergency Management Plan.

Nassauer, J.I. (1995). Messy Ecosystems, orderly Frames. Landscape Journal, 14(2), 161169.

Northey, S. (2007). Knowing our creek: A story of Edgars Creek. Friends of Edgars Creek.

Radford, R. (2013). Urban growth to engulf nature in Merri catchment. Merri Growler, 1-8.

Reed, C., & Lister, N. (2014). Ecology and Design: Parallel Genealogies. Retrieved from https://placesjournal.org/article/ecology-and-design-parallel-genealogies/?cnreloaded=1.

Rinaldi, B. M., (2014). Editorial: Hyper-landscapes. Journal of Landscape Architecture, 9(3), 4-5. doi: 10.1080/18626033.2014.969019 Ross, H. (2020). Post-COVID-19 wave of regional migration predicted as people seek simpler life, get back to basics. ABC News, Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-10/post-covid-19-pandemic-simpler-lifemigration/12229082.

Stangl, P. (2008). Evaluating the pedestrian realm: instrumental rationality, communicative rationality and phenomenology. Transportation, 35(3), 759-775. doi: 10.1007/s11116-0089175-7 The Department of Natural Resources and Environment. (1997). Geological Map Series: Melbourne [Data file].

Turner, T. (1996). City as Landscape: A Post-postmodern View of Design and Planning.

Milton Park, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.

Wei, W., Yu, Y., Chen, L. (2015). Response of Surface Soil Hydrology to the Micro-Pattern of Bio-Crust in a Dry-Land Loess Environment, China. PLOS ONE, 10(7), 1-17. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133565 Williams, D.G., Scott, R., (2010). Vegetation-Hydrology Interactions: Dynamics of Riparian Plant Water Use.

Landscape Architecture Thesis Oliver Xu 0412732512 xukedake@gmail.com