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 Landscape
Architecture Student
Award
PETER WILSON with VAUGHAN HOWARD
(RMIT) for (Re)Placing William Creek
This project proposes the development of a new public space
on Elizabeth Street between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane, including
excavating below Elizabeth Street to reveal the original William Creek
which has long been piped beneath the road surface. Its primary intent was
to offer a purely pedestrian area in the central by closing it to cars and
shifting the tram terminus to the immediate
north in Elizabeth Street. At a practical level, the proposal includes a
pedestrian tunnel passing under Flinders Street and connecting with the
existing station underpass to link
directly to the Yarra River’s north bank. It also represents an
expansion of the adjacent Degraves/Centre Place pedestrian precinct to
support vibrant retail and café activity, and thereby revive this part of
Elizabeth Street which is currently one of the city centre’s least
attractive areas.
At a philosophical level it was hoped that, through a
reconnection with the original landscape system, the community’s awareness
may be awakened to the modern treatment of water and waterways in cities.
By creating a space that highlights the city as a place for lingering
rather than just transiting through, the project sets an important example
at a time when the environmental impact of cars is of paramount concern.
In design terms, the project was spatially sophisticated
and beautifully presented via a range of advanced media, all delivered in
a four week timeframe. The design is a poetic abstraction of an urban
creek bed, with a tessellated surface representing a cracked river bed and
seating spaces defined by ‘eddy currents’ to reflect the cyclic water
patterns of the creek.
Issues of
water quality, including stormwater flows and purification, were integral
to the design through a series of constructed and planted water management
methods. These showcase how natural biological solutions to water cycle
management not only serve a practical function, but contribute to the
social environment by providing green oases in the urban context.
Peter and
Vaughan were able to articulate real issues that affect the City of
Melbourne. Their creative and artistic response simultaneously addresses
both technical and pragmatic issues. This solution was imaginative and
astute, and reflects a very high level of competency relative to their
professional experience, revealing also the success of their close
collaboration. We are promised a brighter future in the years to come when
these graduates begin shaping Melbourne’s urban infrastructure to the
benefit of the community.
Images
 
Photographs: Alison Fairley, Peter Wilson, Vaughan Howard
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