Our cities are growing rapidly. The environmental degradation so
apparent today is a product of population pressures on a fragile
ecosystem. How fragile are these ecosystems, and how adaptable?
Given that human beings are part of the natural world, how realistic
is it to think of nature in Australia in its pristine, pre-1788
condition? How difficult is it to sustain that condition, especially
in densely settled environments? Is it possible to construct new
‘urban ecologies’ that harness natural processes rather
than restoring nature with Rousseau-like nostalgia’?
The
combined roof, wall and ground surface area in the city is enormous.
Low density suburbs in comparison are space hungry, with vast area
of underutilised open space. Can we exploit these characteristics?
The conference examines the concept of retrofitting; using the existing
‘infrastructure’ of the city and suburbs, its roads
and buildings as a matrix to support interlocking environmental
systems, integrating the natural and built environment in a way
that sustains them both.
The
most successful practitioners and thinkers in sustainable development
are those that are ignoring the orthodox models of their own disciplines
and are instead examining the overlaps. This is the fertile ground
that is producing truly creative approaches to sustainability; hybrid
forms where the lines between building, habitat and landscape are
blurred. The conference draws together a stellar cast of such practitioners
including visionary thinkers, technical specialists, developers,
and government representatives. Keynote speakers include Ken Yeang
and Emilio Ambasz, architects creating new urban ecologies for the
21st century and redefining human habitation in relation to the
natural world. |
Tuesday
29 April - Sydney Town Hall
Conference Launch and Lectures
Ken
Yeang,
a Malaysian architect and Emilio Ambasz an Argentinian architect currently working in New York, discuss
the role of ‘environmental architecture’ in modern cities.
Introduction by Penny Allan, NSW AILA President, and Chris Johnson, NSW Government Architect. |
Wednesday
30 April - Day at Australian Technology Park
Welcome Penny Allan, Convenor and AILA President,
NSW Group
Setting
the Agenda
Peter Droege
 major
partner and sponsor of Ken Yeang |
Constructed
Nature: A New Urban Ecology
Ken Yeang, The Garden in the Machine:
vertical landscapes and ecological skyscrapers. Ken discusses,
with reference to recent projects, "the bringing together
of seemingly disparate disciplines of architecture, engineering,
landscape, ecology, land-use planning, embodied energy studies,
recycling and pollution control to create a single approach
to ecological design" |
Constructed
Nature: A New Urban Ecology (continued)
Peter
Breen / Tony Wong, Symbiosis in the City:
water sensitive urban design strategies in a high density urban
environment.
Caitlin McGee /Cynthia Mitchell (Institute of sustainable Futures UTS), A New Model: the
city as ecosystem.
From the broad scale understanding of ecology to the new Sydney
Water office tower as a case study
Peter Dixon (DLWC), Retrofitting Suburbia:
exploiting the interstitial fabric of the suburbs. Suburban ecology.
Janelle Hatherly (RBG) Community Gardens
feeding the city: works in conjunction with the Department of Housing.
 |
Major
Partner and sponor of Emilio Embasz |
Technologies
Emilio
Ambasz,
Natural
Architecture / Artificial Design: Emilio describes in detail,
his transformations of nature into architecture on a grand
urban scale with particular reference to his recent award
winning Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall in Japan. |
|
Ronald
Wood , Healthy Buildings: the latest data about the benefits
of integrating natural and built environments.
Vladimir (Tom) Sitta, Innovative technologies
in urban greening.
Hiro Akagawa (meteorologist), Royal
Botanic Gardens, Roof Gardens in Sydney and Japan (Hiro discusses
green roofs, walls and other research from Japan, the Royal Botanic
Gardens offer a Sydney perspective).
Jerry Coleby-Williams
Processes and Initiatives
Michael
Mobbs,
Sustainable house.
Daniel Williams, Greening Western Sydney
program.
Reid Butler, The potential for infrastructure
to become a new connective, ‘constructed’ ecosystem,
discussing the Water Sensitive Urban Design program.
Planning PNSW, New assessment and development
criteria - BASIX
Panel
Discusssion
An
expert panel of developers, planners, economists, designers and
government representatives will
discuss the delivery of urban sustainability through an examination
of key initiatives and current local
projects that show how we can move forward. |
