The Future Park International Design Competition invites entrants to propose a new signature space for the city’s centre. The contest is organised by AILA and the University of Melbourne, with up to $20,000 in prize money to be allocated.
Participants are challenged to think about how parks shape Melbourne’s urban form, and uncover new possibilities.
Restricted to a 10km radius from Melbourne’s city centre, designers are asked to present a rationale for the location of the proposed space and consider how their design responds to challenges facing the city in the 21st century, including climate change, growing population, biodiversity and community.
University of Melbourne senior lecturer in Landscape Architecture Jillian Walliss says the competition aims to enhance the role of landscape architecture in Australian cities.
“As our population and density grow, we need to think about how parks and public spaces can also develop to meet the needs of a contemporary city. This competition will showcase the immense talent of our built environment specialists here in Australia and overseas, and hopefully inspire broad discussion.”
Shortlisted entries will be displayed at the University’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning in early October. With the winner to be announced during the 2019 International Festival of Landscape Architecture, ‘The Square and the Park’, 10-13 October in Melbourne, says AILA CEO Tim Arnold.
“The Festival is already starting to take great shape, led by the creative directorate of Jillian Walliss, Kirsten Bauer and Cassandra Chilton.”
Entries open on Friday, 29 May. More information and a submission portal can be found at the competition website.
8 cities taking bold steps to restrict cars:
Cities around the world are starting to see they’ll be cleaner, healthier, and just better overall if people – not cars – are priority, writes Adele Peters for Fast Company.
In downtown Cairo, it’s not uncommon to see streets clogged with cars. But in a proposed redesign for a central thoroughfare (pictured above), a two-way bike lane, a sidewalk, and a plaza filled with palm trees replace the sea of street parking.
Similar changes are now happening in every part of the world, some motivated to reduce air pollution, others moving towards climate change goals, or dealing with population growth.
Read about how Oslow has removed 700 parking spaces, Buenos Aires dedicated more space to buses, and London’s proposed plan to make half of its streets pedestrian priority or car-free.
Seoul is seeing results from its High Line-like highway conversion including 42% more sales for businesses, and is planning for more bikes, buses and electric vehicles. Madrid has rolled out restrictions on older, polluting vehicles, with the Spanish government proposing to ban cars that aren’t zero-emissions from large city centres.
Beijing has closed 32 major streets to non-resident cars, and restricts who can drive on particularly days through license plates.
In Paris one highway is already car-free, and older more polluting cards cannot enter the city on weekdays. By 2024, no diesel cars will be allowed, and by 2030 gas cars will be forbidden.
In Chennai, after successful trials blocking off the busy Thyagaraya Road, a new pedestrian plaza is being built. The city has launched a bike-sharing system and has committed incentives to help kick-start sales of electric and hybrid cars.
The Street Furniture Australia factory, in Regents Park, Western Sydney, is both a manufacturing hub and R&D studio for our Australian-designed and made street furniture products. We run fun and informative group events for customers throughout the year, to share how products are designed, tested and built, and the latest products and projects. This tour is open to design specifiers such as landscape architects and architects, and place custodians including Councils, government agencies, developers and other place managers. Director of Tract Julie Lee said: “It was a great opportunity for our team to look behind the scenes and understand the innovation, research and climate positive outcomes Street Furniture Australia is focusing on. Thank you for having us!” Place Design Group Associate, Liam Isaksen, said: “The factory tour is a fun …
To celebrate the unveiling of the Piatto Chair at our annual product launch party with AILA NSW in Sydney, Jazz at The Mint, clients were invited to enter this quirky contest. The competition called for teams to incorporate Piatto Chairs into an ‘Awkward Family Photo’ portrait, for a chance to win Piatto Chairs of their very own. Congratulations to the creative crew from Yerrabingin, who delivered the strongest awkward family vibes on the night. Highly commended goes to the entrants below, and the full photo gallery from the event is available for viewing. Please contact marketing@streetfurniture.com if you would like to request a high res file to print and frame for your best room.
Clients from Sydney, Adelaide, California and Texas joined Street Furniture Australia and AILA NSW to celebrate the unveiling of new products on March 14, 2024, with margaritas and live music. Jazz at The Mint is an annual product launch held at The Mint, an iconic site in the heart of the Sydney CBD. It is an elegant affair and a unique opportunity to connect with landscape architects and built environment professionals at a global scale. This year’s party featured the new Linea Planter System and upcoming Piatto Chair, a single-seater hybrid between cafe and robust public space furniture – available now for specifications. The gathering was opened by Uncle Allan Murray, representing the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council, with speeches from: Ben Stockwin, AILA CEO, acknowledged the 10 year relationship with …
5 Inspiring Stories of Great Public Places: The Project for Public Spaces has added five more entries to its international Great Public Spaces database. In Moscow, 18 lanes of the capital’s ring road have been reduced to no more than 10 at any point to create the Garden Ring, with 13 new public spaces, 20 crosswalks, generous promenades and 2880 new trees. In Vancouver, Alley Oop (pictured above) transforms an underused laneway into a place for play, with areas marked for basketball and hopscotch, seating and tables for comfort and a dedicated clean team. Strangers are seen playing together. In Bristol, Electric Moon is an artwork and low-cost lighting installation designed to help pedestrians and cyclists see each other at a trouble spot on a dark shared path. Historic Burns Court welcomes visitors …
Can Instagram Playgrounds Reach Beyond the Selfie? Pop-up rooms and sets for staging colourful, envy-inducing photos for social media – so-called Instagram playgrounds – can be designed for experience, inclusivity and accessibility as well as the ‘gram, writes Aileen Kwun for Fast Company. Kwun toured the popular Color Factory in New York City, which planned to run for one month in 2018 but continues to sell tickets and host crowds. In an interview with founder Jordan Ferney, the two discuss human-centred design, collaboration with artists, writers and historians; wayfinding and cohesive visual cues; multi-sensory experiences; and bringing the program onto the streets with a scavenger hunt that encourages visitors to explore the city. Color Factory is one of many popular and seemingly lucrative spaces appearing in the US and abroad. The first …
Emails to Melbourne’s Trees are Romantic, Funny and Strange: The city gave 70,000 trees email addresses for the public to report issues. Instead, they sent love letters and existential queries. Since the project began more than 4,000 emails have come from all over the world including from Russia, Germany, Britain, Hungary, Moldova, Singapore, Brazil, Denmark, Hong Kong and the US. A selection of the emails can be found on the ABC website, including this example: Dear Smooth-barked Apple Myrtle, I am your biggest admirer. I have always wanted to meet you, but tragically, I’m stuck in New York. I think you are the most handsome tree of them all, tall with an inviting open canopy. I love to just dream of you, the smell of your clusters of white flowers, the sight of your …
