Queensland Projects
2007 EDAW Intern Program
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Landscape Architect: EDAW Intern Program
Location: Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland
BUDGET $250,000
Since 1980, the EDAW Intern Program has brought together 197 students from 15 countries and 55 universities to 21 locations across the globe. EDAW hosts this innovative Intern Program as a commitment to the future of the professions in which we practice.
The program is designed to challenge university students, primarily from planning and design faculties, and offers them an opportunity to strengthen their skills and broaden their perspectives. At the same time, the program provides a valuable and stimulating pro-bono professional service to diverse clients in a variety of markets.
In a supportive environment that emphasises research methodology, planning, deductive reasoning, creative problem solving and teamwork, the students pool their efforts to find solutions for real client groups on actual projects. Each year, 25 students are selected from hundreds of applicants globally. Preparation for the annual program commences over a year in advance. While the planning process is coordinated by the local EDAW studio, many people from around the world contribute to the final outcome.
2007 – Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast
The 2007 EDAW Intern Program united 23 students on the Gold Coast – the first time this program has been held in the southern hemisphere. Supported by Australian and international EDAW staff, this year's interns were drawn from four continents, nine countries and 14 universities, with diverse academic backgrounds, ranging from architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and design, and coastal and watershed management.
The distribution of information, including the application process, was done electronically via the EDAW website. The pre-event program was coordinated by a number of conference calls between the local team and international students. Key information, including focused research papers, was furnished to the students, allowing them to ‘hit the ground running’ on arrival.
The program placed students in an intensive studio environment challenged by international approaches to city-making and urban design, with a focus on future coastal cities. A purpose-built studio was primed to galvanise the energies of both the young designers, planning professionals and stakeholders. The students were encouraged to engage the community and gained insight into the current issues through site tours as part of the planning process. This exercise in immersion, with the participation of local authorities, professionals and the community, provided students with potential solutions and a vision for the future of Surfers Paradise.
The students’ final vision was drawn from the area’s unique setting and captured by the term Intertidal Urbanity: “Much like adaptations of intertidal organisms to daily climatic variability, the future of the Gold Coast depends on how the city adapts to the rising tide of environmental, social and cultural change over the next 100 years”.
The final presentation was held at Surfers Paradise’s newest public plaza, Circle on Cavill, using twin screens that animated the students’ thought-provoking vision. The vision and conceptual master plan illustrated a network of productive and sustainable landscapes and buildings, connected through a web of movement systems. Catalyst sites for future centres of development were identified and recommendations on future steps to realise this vision were presented.
The EDAW Intern Program produced a successful and provocative result for the Gold Coast City Council in 2007, and will continue to provide valuable planning process training for students, globally, for many years to come.
introduction / overview / images / location / Qld-Projects
2008
