A Story of Sexy Swales, Swirls and Stormwater

January 19, 2014 Amalie Wright

You and I are over 50% water, and water covers around 70% of our home planet.

Water is as fundamental to our survival as oxygen, yet we often take it for granted.

Next week I have the honour of giving a presentation to a wonderful group of people who make it their business to think about water.

My audience at the 8th International Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) Conference will include the engineers, designers, scientists and policy makers who are at the cutting edge of thinking about water in our cities: how we get water when it’s dry; protect ourselves from it when it floods; treat and clean it; and how we manage the rivers, lakes and water bodies in our cities.

I’ll be talking about parks as a way of bringing people and water infrastructure together.

I’ve written about parks such as the Newtown Creeek Nature Walk before. The Nature Walk brings visitors bang up against New York’s biggest sewage treatment plant, and one of its most polluted waterways, yet still manages to provide a calm and artful oasis full of inviting moments.

Today we’re heading to the opposite side of the US, to visit Portland’s Water Pollution Control Laboratory.

The Water Pollution Control Laboratory is the red building in the centre of this image, surrounded by extensive gardens. Downtown Portland is on the opposite riverbank in the distance.

Whilst WSUD is still a new concept to many people, this building, and its surrounding water sensitive landscape was established in 1997.

Approaching the Centre, remnants of former structures remain visible.

The building is home to the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services Pollution Prevention Services, which monitors water quality in the surrounding area. Six labs totaling 1,400 m2 provide start-of-the-art facilities for testing and identifying environmental pollutants.

The building itself features many cost-effective, energy efficient elements, including the large roof overhangs...

windows that can be opened

and generous spitters that direct rainwater into the gardens below.

Rocks directly below the spitters absorb the impact of the falling water, which then spreads into the garden beds, irrigating the plants and allowing the removal of waterborne pollutants.

The garden beds form part of a landscape that educates visitors on alternative ways of managing pollutant-laden stormwater runoff. It treats the runoff from 20 hectares of surrounding streets, paths and neighbourhoods, as well as the lab’s carpark.

The 60-car parking area is also water friendly, with runoff being directed towards lushly planted swales. The planting really breaks down the expanse of asphalt – in some areas the cars are all but hidden – and provides space for shade trees.

Adjacent to the carpark are test plots, where different plant species are trialled for use.

The centrepoint of the landscape though, is the 6,000 m2 water garden.

Water runoff enters via a rock lined channel, or flume, which slows it down. When it’s not raining this forms a sculptural element in the landscape. (Flume - what a great word! Flume. Flume Flume. I love it! Ahem...)

The water is then held in a pond, where it can be treated and either held on site, or released along a curving overflow into the river.

Lush aquatic and emergent planting surrounds the pond, and a lookout platform allows you to get right out over the water.

From there you’re taken on a journey around the pond, through well established planting that at times screens out views of the pond, the building, and even the St Johns Bridge.

It’s a delightful place to visit, and I imagine a great place to work or to take your afternoon cycle (this is Portland after all!).

The water garden was apparently a controversial element in early days. Even though the site had previously been used for industry, many local residents were concerned they would be getting another problem in their backyard, rather than an asset.

Effective monitoring and adaptation over time has ensured that the water garden functions well. And the initial decision to create a sculptural landscape, that integrated with the building and connected to its riverfront setting, has seen the Water Pollution Control Laboratory and gardens become a well-used, and much-loved landmark in the St Johns neighbourhood.

Now it’s over to you.

What do you think of the Water Pollution Control Laboratory? What element most resonated with you? Was it the simple building details that make it a more comfortable place to work, like opening windows? How about the carpark, full of planting that cools the temperature and, let’s be honest, makes it a helluva lot more attractive that just a baking sea of asphalt? And what about the water garden, with its gorgeous stone walls combining with a serious purpose and function?

I’d love to know – please consider emailing or dropping me a line in the comments below.

Of course if you know anyone who’d enjoy this article, please feel free to share. There will be more from the wonderful world of landscape, architecture and design next week.

The multi-award winning building was designed by Miller Hull.

The landscape, also multi-award winning, was designed by Murase Associates.

The sculpture 'Raindrop', is by artist Don Merkt.

All images © Amalie Wright and Richard Buchanan.

Read more about this and other co-location parks in Future Park: imagining tomorrow's urban parks.

Remembering...

January 19, 2014 Amalie Wright

Today is Remembrance Day.

The day commemorates the Armistice that brought World War 1 to an end on November 11, 1918.

Accordingly, today marks the 95th anniversary of the Armistice.

At 11am Australians will observe a minute’s silence to remember those who have given their lives or fought. Whatever your views on war, today is about remembering individuals - the sons, husbands, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, friends who walked out their front door one day and never came home.

You may choose to wear a red poppy today.

Red poppies were amongst the first flowers to reappear in the devasted WW1 battlefields of France and Belgium. For the soldiers, the vivid red colour seemed to come from the spilt blood of their comrades.

Prior to the war, poppies in literature had symbolized sleep or oblivion. After the war, this quickly changed, with poppies becoming a symbol of sacrifice. This was aided by works such as In Flanders Fields, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae’s instantly classic poem, written after he witnessed the sight of poppies on the battlefield at Ypres in 1915.

According to the Australian War Memorial, a woman working for the American YMCA read the poem just before the Armistice. Moina Michael was "so moved by it that she wrote a poem in reply and decided to wear a red poppy always as a way of keeping faith, as McCrae had urged in his poem." Late in 1918 she spoke about the poem and her poppies at an international meeting of YMCA secretaries. Anna Guérin, the French YMCA secretary, expanded on the idea and began selling poppies to raise money for widows, orphans, and needy veterans and their families.

The poppy was quickly accepted throughout the allied nations as the flower of remembrance to be worn on Armistice Day. The first Armistice Day poppies were sold in Australia in 1921 by the Australian Returned Soldiers and Sailors Imperial League (the forerunner to the RSL). One million silk poppies made in French orphanages were imported and sold for a shilling.

So for today, no park, no garden: just a simple bouqet of poppies, in remembrance.

All images © Amalie Wright.

Information on the history of the red poppy is courtesy the Australia War Memorial in Canberra.

Time Travel Made Easy: an Afternoon at the Chelsea Physic Garden

January 19, 2014 Amalie Wright

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to time travel.

I’m not interested in the future – let that unfold as it will. But now and then I fancy popping in on interesting times in history and just spend a while as a fly on the wall.

Was Cleopatra nice to her servants, I wonder, as they filled her bath with milk?

What on earth did Versailles smell like, for heavens sake, with all those chamber pots and lack of bathing?

Maybe some things are best left unknown.

Seeing as most of us don’t have the ability to travel through time, we have to find other ways to satisfy our curiosity.

Londoners have the opportunity to see a little part of their city as it might have been over 300 years ago, simply by spending a relaxing afternoon within the walled embrace of the Chelsea Physic Garden.

Worn by the foot fall of countless learned gardeners...

Established in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, the garden is Britain’s second oldest botanical garden. The ‘physic’ of its name refers to the science of healing.

Its still operating seed exchange programme commenced in 1682, and Sir Joseph Banks worked with John Fairbairn, the Head Gardener and Curator, from 1780 to 1814.

Some of us might be entranced by the beauty of these garden edges...

Better just make sure this bloke's doing his job properly.

Plants from around the world were cultivated at the Chelsea Physic Garden, and seeds and specimens were in turn sent back out.

Possibly the most beautiful cabbage I've ever seen.

A lichen shot - quelle surprise! At least I'm consistent.

In 1983 the Garden registered as a charity, and after three centuries the general public was finally able to peek behind the walls.

Behind the walls...and into the magical glasshouses.

Did Banks peer through this window? I'd like to think so.

Today the Chelsea Physic Garden is an oasis of calm and civility...

...in one of the world’s biggest cities.

If your jangling nerves are in need of calming...

Now it’s over to you.

Did you enjoy our visit to the 17th century? What place do you go to when you feel like travelling back in time in your city?

I’d love to know your thoughts – join the conversation in the comments section below.

If you know someone who’d enjoy reading this article be sure to share it, and check back soon for more from the wonderful world of landscape, architecture and design.

Find out more at http://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk

Why We Do Love A Country Garden

January 19, 2014 Amalie Wright

On the list of dream gardens, the country garden always rates a mention.

Even the most hardened urbanite seems to suddenly view the world through rose coloured glasses upon first sighting an actual rose-covered arbour.

And those for whom the very idea of chintz is enough to bring on an attack of hives, undergo a complete about-face when confronted by a posy of fully blown roses on the mantelpiece.

What happens to us?!

See if you can get through these images without wanting to totally revamp your snazzy-sharp courtyard into a little bower of country goodness…

Big ass trees: the city gardener's dream.

Modest but charming detailing, and I do believe I spy a vine-covered arbour.

A simple concrete path. A little patch of herbs. Bliss.

Learn to embrace your inner scruffy: does this look any less inviting because the herbs need cutting back and a few weedy bits have crept in? Nope.

Pass the smelling salts, it's that crazy rose thing happening to me again.

Texture can be the star of any garden...

Come on city friends, a bit of home grown green veg is easily within the realms of possibility.

I think this is the point where the city visitor starts using words like "nature's bounty"...

If this isn't enough to make a Queensland girl go ga-ga I don't know what is. Fresh-picked peaches! Stone fruit! Heaven...

The picturesque outbuilding - a country garden staple.

I'm lichen it. The patina of weathered surfaces...garden art available to everyone for free.

A little more difficult to achieve these Richard Serra spirals with your lawn clippings I admit...

Even the pre-storm light seems more lovely. Watercolour time anyone?

Gorgeous, no?

And the good news is, unlike that holiday batik shirt that seemed so right on the beach but hasn’t left the drawer since you got home, if you’re clever, it is possible to bring a little bit of country magic back to your place. Well, maybe not the cow.

Now it’s over to you.

What’s your take on the ‘country garden’? Has your concrete and stainless steely resolve ever crumbled in the face of a fresh-laid egg? What have you done to bring the best of the country to your garden?

I’d love to know your thoughts – join the conversation in the comments section below.

If you know someone who’d enjoy reading this article be sure to share it, and check back soon for more from the wonderful world of landscape, architecture and design.

ps: These pictures were taken at the delightful Harvest Farm: 'you'll-never-want-to-leave' cottage accommodation associated with the award-winning Healesville Hotel. If you ever tire of Melbourne’s many charms, recharge with a night or two in the cottage…and a day or two enjoying the garden.

Footnote: Whilst this post is slightly tongue-in-cheek, there is nothing funny about the devastation caused by the ongoing bushfires in New South Wales. Our thoughts are with the affected communities and all those working to save lives and homes.

Back of House

January 17, 2014 Amalie Wright

A confession: sometimes I like the backs of buildings more than I like the fronts.

Sometimes this happens even when a great deal of attention has been lavished on the front: making sure it’s well proportioned, handsomely constructed, and tidily maintained. To tell you the truth, oftentimes the swisher the front, the more likely it is that I’ll like the back.

Why?

Because the back of many buildings is where they let it all hang out: draping themselves in skeins of tangled pipework, erupting in acne-like outbreaks of box air-conditioners, bedecking themselves in ill-considered extensions and add-ons, and casually infilling gaps and windows and unwanted openings with patchworks of random materials.

It’s rude. It’s not always pretty. But gee, it’s often really, really interesting.

Don’t you think?

Here are a few other backs I've taken a shine to:

(Of course I'm not telling you where they are - knowing a little secret spot that thousands of people walk past every day without noticing is part of the fun!)

Now it’s over to you.

What do you think of the backs of buildings? Have you ever thought the bit you weren’t meant to be looking at was more interesting than the ‘official’ public façade? Maybe you have a favourite?

I’d love to know your thoughts – join the conversation in the comments section below.

If you know someone who’d enjoy reading this article be sure to share it, and check back soon for more from the wonderful world of landscape, architecture and design.

ps: Back of House was the inspiration for my little series of three linoprints, currently showing as part of the Brisbane Open House Art in Design Exhibition. If you're in town, pop in and see terrific paintings, drawings and prints by Brisbane designers.

Confessions of a Sellout: Future Park is Launched

January 17, 2014 Amalie Wright

It’s not every day dozens of people call you a sellout, right to your face, and all you want to do is wrap them up in a big ol’ hug.

Well that’s how I felt last Wednesday night when Avid Reader sold out of my book on the night of the Future Park launch.

I was sitting at the signing table (there was a signing table!) when the word started coming down the line (the line – there was a queue!). “They’re selling…they’re nearly all gone…they’ve sold out!”

In moments like these you feel that your heart will just burst with gratitude.

For me it would have been enough to have my crazy wonderful family there, spread across the entire front row.

It also would have been enough to have them joined by my fabulous friends, some of who had travelled from the other side of the country (no mean feat in Australia) to be there.

But they’re your friends and your family, so of course they’re going to be there, right?

What I hadn’t expected was the support of so many of the wonderful landscape architects, architects, and other great people with whom I’ve worked, taught, tutored, burned the midnight oil and laughed over many years. Quite frankly it reflects poorly on me that I was so surprised – you are all the best of the best and I was honoured by your presence.

Then there were many of my wonderful neighbours, and, amazingly, people I'd never met before. These are folks who support their local bookstore, support local writers and are generally passionate and curious - an ideal bunch to have around!

But wait, there’s more. I was so happy to see Rosemary from the Centre for Subtropical Design and Judith from mecu, the two ladies responsible for the travel bursary that set me along this path.

Also there was my publisher, Ted Hamilton, from CSIRO Publishing, who revealed to the crowd how he’d ‘discovered’ me late one night in a radio dead zone, when an interview I’d given on By Design was replayed for the entertainment of insomniacs, and, apparently, commissioning publishers! Ted has been a huge supporter of the book right from the get-go, which is pretty much what you want from a publisher, so I’ve been very lucky he was awake that night.

Centre screen: Mr Ted Hamilton, our man at CSIRO Publishing.

Taking a short break from MC duties Shaun Walsh press-gangs another innocent landscape architect into purchasing a book.

Mark Fuller, my co-panellist, wowed the audience, not just with his jaw-dropping CV, but also his calm eloquence: I swear the man could tell you you were going to have your head cut off and you’d think it was a good idea. And thirdly Malcolm Middleton, who launched the good ship Future Park out into the world, with enormous kindness and generosity. Top blokes the lot of ‘em.

"And it's good night from me...". Malcolm Middleton, Queensland State Government Architect, moments before he smashed a bottle of Cristal across Future Park to send her on her way. Mark Fuller, landscape architect, architect, artist, gentleman farme… — "And it's good night from me...". Malcolm Middleton, Queensland State Government Architect, moments before he smashed a bottle of Cristal across Future Park to send her on her way. Mark Fuller, landscape architect, architect, artist, gentleman farmer, and captivating speaker looks on encouragingly. Or is he just wondering "Now where did I hang my teapot?"

Finally, how good is Avid Reader? Krissy Kneen put aside her best-selling author hat for the evening and, with her team, expertly wrangled guests, food, drinks, audio, social media, customers, drop-ins, weirdos, stragglers and me, creating an event that crossed West End casual friendliness with military precision.