Re-Imagine The Country

Master thesis (2024)

Authors

J. Galea Architecture and the Built Environment

Contributors

T. Kuzniecow Bacchin Urban Design - Architecture and the Built Environment (mentor)
J.R.T. van der Velde Landscape Architecture - Architecture and the Built Environment (mentor)
G. Karvelas Teachers of Practice / AE+T - Architecture and the Built Environment (mentor)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment, Architecture and the Built Environment
More Info
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Published Date

28-06-2024

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

The natural temperate grasslands of the Victorian Volcanic Plains [VVP] are one of Australia's most critically endangered ecosystems. Extreme ecological transformations due to agricultural practices and urban development have resulted in less than 1% of the original vegetation remaining in a pre-colonial state. These losses have led to both environmental and cultural destruction among the region's First Nations People, particularly the Wathaurong, whose deep knowledge of the area established complex land management systems sustaining human cultivation with ecological care for thousands of years.

This research and design project posit that to improve the region, a retrospective examination and uncovering of colonialist and First Nations histories is necessary. With the aim to adapt or reengage with FN’s Peoples cultural views and landscape management which is hidden beneath the surface. The project aims to delineate the fundamental views, laws, and dynamics of the First Nations People and explore their manifestation in spatial ecologies. The focus is on translating these insights into spatial, practical, and programmatic forms to reassess the urban-rural and natural landscape of the Victorian Volcanic Plains. Seven major design ideas were developed through the research, informing a new social spatial landscape for the area.

Furthermore, the design project concentrates on developing a First Nations Agricultural campus within the VVP context, aligning with the design and spatial principles outlined in the research. Situated on a farm owned by the Wathaurung CoOp, this project addresses the complex poly culture systems of Agricultural, Socio-cultural, and ecological production/reproduction. It navigates this complexity through three major design scales: the System Scale, the Compound Scale, and the Building Scale, creating a farm-scape appropriate for the region.

The overarching theme of journey, evident in ecosystem movement, land management processes, and seasonal and social-cultural reproduction, serves as the project's ligaments. It connects various design scales and dualistic systems on the site to educate users about 'seeing this landscape with new eyes.'

The Building design component focuses on designing spaces for core processes of the polyculture system, particularly the seed cultivating and processing areas, where the strongest interconnections between the three major polyculture systems are found.