FUSE studio (Sem 2-2022)

Fuse studio contributed to the preparation of a new structure plan for South Melbourne by the City of Port Phillip to establish a vision for how the area will grow and change over the next 20 years. The plan is required to prepare South Melbourne for the future in response to challenges such as climate change, population change and COVID-19. It also implements State Government policy directions at the local level, including establishing a network of 20-minute neighbourhoods where people will have the ability to ‘live locally’ and meet most of their daily needs within a 20-minute walk from home, with safe cycling and local transport options (refer 20-minute neighbourhoods (planning.vic.gov.au)).

South Melbourne has distinctive and different characteristics within the context of the metropolitan network of activity centres, such as its unique mix of uses, diverse demographic profile, heritage buildings, open spaces and vibrant street life that need to be supported and enhanced. The area has interesting cultural importance to First Nations as a traditional gathering place as well as a rich post-contact cultural heritage. Moreover, South Melbourne has a strong presence in arts and cultural places and is a recognised hub for creative industries which the new structure plan is seeking to protect and enhance this aspect and promoting art and culture throughout the suburb to engage the community in shaping a stronger identity.

The new South Melbourne Structure Plan will outline how the public realm, such as streets and parks should be upgraded to better meet the needs of people, such as accessibility and amenity. To guide how to balance the various and often conflicting demands of on-street space, such as vehicles, walking and bike riding, landscaping and footpath trading/seating, Council is utilising the Movement and Place Framework development by the State Government (refer Movement and Place : VicRoads).

The Fuse studio explored ways to integrate art and culture into proposed public realm improvements as a way to promote and support social connections in redefining the public realm upgrades that can be initiated by Council and other stakeholders. This allowed enhancing opportunities and ‘permission’ for social connections and cultural expressions. Social connection is considered an important indicator of sustainable, thriving and resilient urban environments. The feeling of belonging to a community and connecting with other people is a core psychological need and ingredient of mental health that needs to be considered carefully by designers.

Further, the studio speculated ways to reflect on cultural fusion theory which describes how the host culture fuses aspects of the newcomer’s culture into the dominant culture to create a fused intercultural identity. Further, the studio speculates on ways to fuse culture and art that can be integrated into the everyday life of the suburb, and increase inclusiveness, activation and liveability in support of a healthy and thriving community. The fusion of Australian Indigenous art and culture in the contemporary urban context of South Melbourne is another focus of the studio to provide a basis for inclusiveness and activation of spaces across the suburb.

• Issue/s or motivation for design inquiry through particular forms of landscape knowledge

Mental health as the state of well-being is a key indicator for thriving cities and is essential for achieving an ‘inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable city (UN Sustainable Development Goal 11). Achieving this relies on upon beyond the health sector and all players in the city making including policymakers, designers, architects and landscape architects have an important role in designing and supporting good mental health.

An individual’s mental health is dependent on complex interactions between personal background, disposition, social and economic circumstances and environmental factors (Layla McCay in Urban Mental Health, Chapter 3). Pre-existing factors such as cultural diversity, education, income, exposure to violence, and disasters increase the risk of mental disorders. Moreover, social disparities between poor and rich, discrimination, racism, social exclusion and stigma increase the risk of loneliness and result in negative impacts on People’s mental health. Degraded environmental factors in the urban environment due to overcrowding can drive negative impacts on the state of well-being. The complexity of factors increases the risk of dismissing responsibilities in the design process.

On the other hand, we know that green environments, active lifestyles, and safe and positive social interactions in the city are effective to promote good mental health. Promoting social connections, cohesion, belongingness and social capital play important role in the facilitation of well-being in cities. This shapes a theoretical framework for the studio to integrate multiple considerations as part of the design process in the development of the landscape masterplans.

The context of South Melbourne provides an interesting mix of strengths and weaknesses to address through design.  The public realm of South Melbourne is dynamic and diverse including some key city landmarks including South Melbourne Market and Town Hall in proximity to Albert Park and the CBD. The grid form of streetscapes dictates a strong structure for streetscapes and public spaces. Multiple parks, wide street verges, social housing precincts and Victorian architecture signifies the visual environment. The studio engages with landscape elements of the existing and past to speculate ways of engaging with art and creativity in public spaces.

• A specific method of design inquiry

The studio applies the Geodesign Framework (Carl Steinitz, 2012) as the design methodology in the development of landscape masterplans through a collaborative approach. This framework holds specific inquiries to develop the design as an integrated design and planning process composed of a systematic process of measuring, modelling, interpreting, designing, evaluating and making decisions. Six main questions of Geodesign in two phases on assessment and intervention include:

Assessment phase:

• How should the landscape (or study area) be described? (representation & description)
• How does the landscape operate? (process)
• Is the landscape working well? (evaluation)

Generation/Intervention phase:

• How might the landscape be altered? (change proposals)
• What differences might the changes cause? (impact analysis)
• Should the landscape be changed? (decision making)

The Geodesign questions were applied to the landscape at any scale and promoted an iterative design process by repeating and reordering questions to create a meaningful intuitive design to achieve optimised design options based on findings and parameters. The context of South Melbourne was studied through each research question in the development of the design masterplans and propositions. We looked at how the suburb’s history and culture are manifested through urban context through description and analysis. This allowed to creation of a strong connection to the place in the development of design propositions. Various methods and techniques will be embedded within this framework to answer each question and provide input to the following questions. A suite of methods, theories and techniques will be encouraged within the framework to develop the design and decision-making as a consolidated continuum.

• Assessment phase

We studied the site to develop a spatial framework including cultural, historical, social and environmental to gain a deep understanding of sites. The studio applied various methods and approaches to ignite design ideas. The Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) was applied as a method to investigate the existing study area. LCA is the process of identifying variations in the character of the landscape. It seeks to identify and explain the unique combination of elements and features (characteristics) that make landscapes distinctive and different from one another, rather than better or worse (Tudor, 2014). This approach provided a framework for valuing, managing and enhancing design through the development of the landscape masterplan. A multi-layer mapping of factors including physical, perceptual, social and cultural will be considered in the characterisation process in response to the first inquiry that how the place is shaped and perceived by its users. Following the identification of distinctive characteristics of the place, various concepts and qualities of place will be studied through the agency of mapping as a generative technique.

Place-based and topic-specific research resulted in developing design principles and shaping ideas and design scenarios on various scales. Through testing, iterations and experiments, design propositions were developed in collaborative and individual modes. In addition, we looked at top-down and bottom-up design thinking for implementation. Related agendas such as gender equality were considered in our design outcomes.

 Generative Techniques

Design through mapping was a key method of generation in this studio. Mapping allowed us to consider the big picture and discover hidden relationships that exist in the landscape. By distilling data to reveal the spatial structure and function, pieces of information come together to illustrate the environment. Established by Ian McHarg in the 1970s and 1980s, layering various data and information would reveal a design strategy. Mapping is a powerful technique for informing us about bio-physical, social and cultural landscape factors. Mapping techniques through analogue and digital tools (GIS) were tailored to unwrap specific information pertinent to shaping design and the future of the site. We studied the landscape through mapping discovery to study relationships and provoke ideas based on what existed. Mapping of the existing conditions, processes and evaluations allowed the expansion of the mapping technique as a generative technique to engage with creativity and art in the suburb in response to the needs of the suburb and the community.

Further, responding to the site by defining common morphological characteristics such as materiality, texture, forms, shapes, and silhouettes and then trying to reproduce these in a new composition was a way of generation that was explored in the studio. This process engaged with cultural aspects beyond the existing site to create connections with different users and create new forms. Semiotics is an investigation into how meaning is created and meaning is communicated was explored in the studio to create and convey new meanings. This process includes the study of sign process, analogy, allegory, metonymy, metaphor, symbolism and communication.

Also, an anticipatory design method was facilitated by developing a case memory related to the project through precedent research. The case memory was developed through three types of design solutions including successful solutions, unsuccessful solutions and the rules by which both classes have been judged (Steinitz, 2012). The case memory was expanded through travel, site visits, reading, media and personal experiences. The case memory operated as a repository that allowed students to select and evaluate designs.