Helen Lochhead, long time urbanist and new Dean of UNSW’s Built Environment, hails the harbour, with its 320 kilometres of coastline, as the jewel of Sydney’s crown in her Utzon Lecture, Re-imagining the Harbour City. StreetChat reports. Our home is girt by sea. Sydney’s waterways, rivers and creeks reach out from the Hawkesbury through the metropolis and down to the harbour at the city’s heart. Promenades and parks lapped by water are, for the best part, well maintained and reserved for the public’s enjoyment. At worst, sold and fenced, or obscured by tall buildings that do not respect the architectural etiquette of graduation to the shore. “It is arguably Sydney’s only true great public space, and perhaps its most contested. Yet it has retained an enduring resilience, beauty and value despite …

Key themes of this year’s AILA National Awards were connection to country, sustainability, and leadership. Held in Melbourne, 43 winners were selected by the National Awards Jury, consisting of landscape architects and built environment academics from across the country. Street Furniture Australia sponsored the Civic Landscape award. GLAS Landscape Architects collaborated with ASPECT Studios, Lyons, Koning Eizenberg Architecture, NMBW Architecture Studio, Greenaway + Greenshoot and Architects EAT on the award winning Student Precinct at The University of Melbourne. The precinct features a central amphitheatre, entry gateway, lawn, and a new entry space from Grattan Street. Local materials like mudstone and Victorian stone were incorporated into the design.Thorough research revealed the lost Bouverie Creek, bringing it back to the surface. The story of eel migration within the stormwater system was illustrated …