ALL CHANGE
RMIT ARCHITECTURE ALL CHANGE STUDIES RELATED TO THE DARC PROGRAM
Since 2011 Architecture students and staff at RMIT University have been undertaking design research under the name: All Change as correlated to the International Project: 'DARC' - Designing the New World: Developing Architectural Education in Response to Climate Change – this research is framed around design studio investigations and related support theoretical studies undertaken through ancillary elective subjects.
This research investigates meaningful degrees and fields of integration with the territorial visions of Habitat 141, a large scale environmental rehabilitation project coordinated by Greening Australia and other environmental organisations across the border between the states of Victoria and South Australia. In particular, the South-West Wimmera region, located approximately 300 to 400 kilometres west of Melbourne, is tested as a case-study area envisaged as a connected and interrelated territorial network – a common rehabilitated geographical asset of natural and urban environments with the potential of alternative sustainable economic models for the existing communities and their cultural, historical and social backgrounds.
Focused on rural and urban contexts of this region, more in particular: Horsham, Natimuk, Mitre, Goroke, Edenhope and their territorial surroundings, the projects question whether the regeneration and growth of regional towns could form an important alternative to the expansion of the Melbourne suburbs – from this point of view the sustainable character of these works resides not only in their attempt to integrate urban environments with the surrounding revegetated natural environments, but also, in parallel to this, in their aim to lowering urban development pressure from coastal Australia through re-injection of life, economies and therefore population in rural towns.In speculating on how and where people live, work, produce their food, share community activities, participate into the world from their specific places and how these solutions interact with the natural and social environments, these projects question conventional urban planning modes and propose instead combinations of sustainable social and environmental solutions; rethinking urban design from an ecologically empathetic position, these proposals speculate on topics such as ‘distributed systems’ and ‘local networks’ as a new paradigm by which urban designers increasingly re-consider the provision of critical resources like food, energy, and transport.
Investigating correlation of activities and synergy between dispersed and yet integrated spaces, and encouraging active reciprocal interrelation between indoor and outdoor spaces, these works put forward ideas of sustainable lives and economies that relevantly address the size and character of the studied rural towns – environments in which the sense of sharing and collaboration among the various community groups is historically and typically stronger than in larger urban contexts. Punctuated by spaces that can be shared or used in flexible and polyvalent ways, the towns envisioned by these projects address sustainability by also minimising their built footprint on the ground and rather encouraging reuse of existing buildings and infrastructures, and the activation of open space through a range of various productive modes: from localised organic food production, to flower farming; from the production, storage and distribution of green energies, to land regeneration and the spreading out of 'urban bush' that can be potentially related to sport events, alternative commercial enterprises, environmental education programs, entertainment, art and more empathetic activities associated to the field of ecotourism among others.
This research investigates meaningful degrees and fields of integration with the territorial visions of Habitat 141, a large scale environmental rehabilitation project coordinated by Greening Australia and other environmental organisations across the border between the states of Victoria and South Australia. In particular, the South-West Wimmera region, located approximately 300 to 400 kilometres west of Melbourne, is tested as a case-study area envisaged as a connected and interrelated territorial network – a common rehabilitated geographical asset of natural and urban environments with the potential of alternative sustainable economic models for the existing communities and their cultural, historical and social backgrounds.
Focused on rural and urban contexts of this region, more in particular: Horsham, Natimuk, Mitre, Goroke, Edenhope and their territorial surroundings, the projects question whether the regeneration and growth of regional towns could form an important alternative to the expansion of the Melbourne suburbs – from this point of view the sustainable character of these works resides not only in their attempt to integrate urban environments with the surrounding revegetated natural environments, but also, in parallel to this, in their aim to lowering urban development pressure from coastal Australia through re-injection of life, economies and therefore population in rural towns.In speculating on how and where people live, work, produce their food, share community activities, participate into the world from their specific places and how these solutions interact with the natural and social environments, these projects question conventional urban planning modes and propose instead combinations of sustainable social and environmental solutions; rethinking urban design from an ecologically empathetic position, these proposals speculate on topics such as ‘distributed systems’ and ‘local networks’ as a new paradigm by which urban designers increasingly re-consider the provision of critical resources like food, energy, and transport.
Investigating correlation of activities and synergy between dispersed and yet integrated spaces, and encouraging active reciprocal interrelation between indoor and outdoor spaces, these works put forward ideas of sustainable lives and economies that relevantly address the size and character of the studied rural towns – environments in which the sense of sharing and collaboration among the various community groups is historically and typically stronger than in larger urban contexts. Punctuated by spaces that can be shared or used in flexible and polyvalent ways, the towns envisioned by these projects address sustainability by also minimising their built footprint on the ground and rather encouraging reuse of existing buildings and infrastructures, and the activation of open space through a range of various productive modes: from localised organic food production, to flower farming; from the production, storage and distribution of green energies, to land regeneration and the spreading out of 'urban bush' that can be potentially related to sport events, alternative commercial enterprises, environmental education programs, entertainment, art and more empathetic activities associated to the field of ecotourism among others.
Habitat 141 zones map. Source: Greening Australia
ALL CHANGE Research
All Change design studio, semester 2/2011
The first All Change design studio was run at RMIT, Architecture Program, in semester 2/2011 (July-October 2011). This studio was taught by Mauro Baracco, Graham Crist and Melanie Dodd in a collaborative mode, focusing on 3 correlated topics: 'land regeneration' (coordinated by Mauro), 'food' (coordinated by Melanie) and 'work' (coordinated by Graham). These topics and related projects were applied to the towns of Horsham, Natimuk, Mitre and Goroke
All Change design studio, semester 1/2012
Following from 2011, similar investigations were undertaken invsemester 1/2012 (February-June 2012). A second All Change design studio was coordinated by Mauro Baracco only. Edenhope was added as a further urban case study; Horsham was dropped.
All Change design studio, semester 1/2013
A final All Change design studio was coordinated by Mauro Baracco in semester 1/2013, in association with related support research elective. Apsley was added as another urban case study.
All Change support research elective
Louise Wright coordinated a series of research support courses that ran in correlation with the three studios.
All Change design studio, semester 2/2011
The first All Change design studio was run at RMIT, Architecture Program, in semester 2/2011 (July-October 2011). This studio was taught by Mauro Baracco, Graham Crist and Melanie Dodd in a collaborative mode, focusing on 3 correlated topics: 'land regeneration' (coordinated by Mauro), 'food' (coordinated by Melanie) and 'work' (coordinated by Graham). These topics and related projects were applied to the towns of Horsham, Natimuk, Mitre and Goroke
All Change design studio, semester 1/2012
Following from 2011, similar investigations were undertaken invsemester 1/2012 (February-June 2012). A second All Change design studio was coordinated by Mauro Baracco only. Edenhope was added as a further urban case study; Horsham was dropped.
All Change design studio, semester 1/2013
A final All Change design studio was coordinated by Mauro Baracco in semester 1/2013, in association with related support research elective. Apsley was added as another urban case study.
All Change support research elective
Louise Wright coordinated a series of research support courses that ran in correlation with the three studios.
Map of the South West Wimmera Region
All Change is a collaborative project between RMIT University Design Research Institute - Future Fabric of Cities Flagship program, the School of Architecture and Design, Greening Australia and Habitat 141. The All Change website, related exhibitions and publications are supported by RMIT Design Research Institute- Future Fabric of Cities Flagship Program.