Land­slide: A New Urban Ecol­ogy

Symposium:


Session Title:
  • Crisis Narrative of Landscape: Future Inherent

Presentation Title:
  • Land­slide: A New Urban Ecol­ogy

Presenter(s):


Venue(s):


Abstract:

  • Panel: Crisis Narrative of Landscape: Future Inherent

    The paper will ad­dress how the Aus­tralian land­scape con­tin­u­ally forces its way back into the built en­vi­ron­ment.  It will at­tempt to ex­am­ine how a new urban ecol­ogy can be nur­tured, an ecol­ogy that does not de­fine sep­a­rate spaces for na­ture in ad­di­tion to the built en­vi­ron­ment, but one that em­braces these wild ecosys­tems as part of its own work­ings. In Aus­tralia these dy­namic forces have come to in­clude the now in­creas­ing cy­cles of fire, flood and ex­treme weather con­di­tions. Sim­i­larly, the al­ready vital flora and fauna within our cities need to be pre­served and not erad­i­cated. By util­is­ing new tech­nolo­gies, can build­ings exist in har­mony with ris­ing flood­wa­ters, and ar­chi­tec­ture be in sync with the an­nual bush­fires or mi­gra­tory pat­terns of birds? The paper will ex­am­ine how fu­ture urban de­sign can in­cor­po­rate the wild and the un­tamed, mak­ing cities open to adap­ta­tion, time and con­tin­gency.  The cur­rent urban con­di­tion bears wit­ness to a fu­ture where the acts of human de­sign, be they via ar­chi­tec­ture or in­fra­struc­ture, often con­tribute fur­ther to re­source de­ple­tion and pol­lu­tion. Sim­i­larly, the push to­wards car­bon neu­tral sky­scrap­ers and eco-friendly ar­chi­tec­ture often fails to con­struc­tively cul­ti­vate en­vi­ron­men­tal con­di­tions that are al­ready pre­sent. In the blurry haze of utopia and dystopia, should the cri­sis not be averted, but adapted for a new fu­tur­ol­ogy?

PDF Document:


Related Links:

Category: