CATCH TH E W A T E R !

Design Re s e a r c h o n
Water Sen s i t i v e U r b a n L a n d s c a p e s
R M I T L A N D S C A P E A R C H I T E C T U R E S E M E S T E R 0 2 , 2 0 1 0 C O U R S E PA M P H L E T
course ab s t r a c t
Moving
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to edit Master title style
This design research seminar dovetailed with inten-
sive climate change
Click to editadaptation research
Master subtitle style conducted
worldwide, that emphases water as a critical re-
underground storage
source for the urban environment. The particular
focus was on metropolises situated on tidal river image
raingarden filtration
mouths, which are subject to storm surges and sea
level rise, simultaneously with unpredictable rain
under streets…
events and droughts. Lack of water treatment and
retention facilities exacerbates water scarcity; urban
densification places additional demands on diminish-
ing water resources. This substantial challenge needs
fundamentally new concepts of resilient water man-
agement, treatment and retention as part of urban
planning and design, at the scale of cities as urban Ideas for underground storage raingarden filtration
landscapes within their entire water catchments. (Reference: City of Melbourne)
The seminar pursued the ambition to take a closer
look on comparing and contrasting urban water
management, treatment and retention design strat-
egies of threatened deltaic, low-lying cities around
the world and in Australia. Thereby the main case
study focus of this seminar was Australia in dealing
with water scarcity, which e.g. in Melbourne has led
to the young management strategy “City as a Catch-
image
ment” as a way to reincorporate water into its urban
environment. Comparing and contrasting case stud-
ies of different urban water design strategies for en-
tire catchments and their visual representations (e.g.
mappings, diagrams, sectional analysis, mindmaps
and graphic images) supported the investigation and
understanding of Melbourne’s system and led to pre-
liminary design scenarios for resilient water sensitive
Greater Melbourne. As water sensitive cities only
can be developed in co-operation of many disciplines Watersquare in Rotterdam
(Reference: Watersquare Urban Architecture - 3D Concept)
it is important that we develop an own vision from
the landscape architectural perspective.
The overall aim of the seminar was for students to
develop research questions about designing water
sensitive urban landscapes, which provided the fo-
cus for their case studies, and to propose design-
driven research approaches which were carried image
out throughout the seminar to develop their
vision for a resilient water sensitive urban Mel-
bourne. Learning activities included core lec-
tures, in-class-debates, guest speakers, small
workshops, readings, on-site explorations,
documentation and exhibition.

Design Ideas for Water Sensitive Urban Landscapes

(Reference: Ryan John Baragwanath, Phillip Smith
contents Matthew David Conte
Alice Tessa Lewis
Louise Naimo

Tech Yann Ooi

Joo Min Agnes Soh
Wan Jing Christina Ting

Ryan John Baragwanath

Phillip Smith

Zhipeng Cai
Cyprian Czajkowski

Chao Sun
Jing Tian
Zhao Wu

Wan Tien Foo

Weichieh Lai
Tian Lan

course leader: Julia Werner

thanks to: Phil Edwards (Team Leader Stormwater Qual-

ity, Catchments at Melbourne Water)
Jock Gilbert (Urban Initiatives, Sessional
teacher RMIT Landscape Architecture Pro-
gram)
Ralf Pfleiderer (Water Sensitive Urban Design
Co-ordinator, City of Melbourne)
Pru Smith (Team Leader Landscape and De-
sign, City of Boroondara)
Professor Cath Stutterheim (SAALA Stutter-
heim Anderson Landscape Architecture)
permeabl e m e l b o u r n e

image (s)

alice l e w i s , l o u i s e n a i m o a n d matthew conte

Studio Level 8

In order to create a successful space, the designer
requires a thorough understanding of the political,
environmental and natural processes of a site. Real-
ity dictates that large areas of prime CBD real estate
will not be acquired by City of Melbourne to develop
the public realm. We have therefore explored the
possibilities of designing within a smaller footprint –
something that can be retrofitted onto both the exist-
ing physical urban context and political system. These
spaces would work as a network across the whole
CBD to promote the use of urban wetlands and their
benefits. Manipulations of the political system have
allowed us to design a palate of financial incentives,
encouraging the private sector to become more ac-
countable for their water use and reuse.
We have created a Permeable Melbourne, a city
that absorbs and utilises its storm water, a city that
is aware of its water systems and is conscientious in
creating environments which foster ecological ac-
countability.
urban hyd r a t i o n

image (s)

agne s s o h , c h r i s t i n a t i n g , t e ch yann ooi

studio level 08, 08, 07

As cities continue to grow in population and geo-
graphical size, the quality and sustainability of ur-
ban environments become critical in the debate for
growth. Public space – once seen as leftover spaces
– is now a critical component in the spatial planning
of a city. At the same time, cities also struggle to deal
with the impacts of weather-related water issues due
to climate change. Water management becomes es-
sential to ensure security of freshwater resources
and mitigate damages caused by weather-related di-
sasters. Our studies of existing public spaces and wa-
ter sensitive urban design (WSUD) examples in Mel-
bourne revealed an apparent disconnect between
the two. Given that urban landscapes are often seen
as areas of consumption, our research is focused on
how water sensitive design strategies can be success-
fully integrated into the planning and design of public
spaces to become a core design driver or programme,
and how they can go beyond the current purpose as
a design tool.
playing w i t h w a t e r
image (s)
ryan b a r a g w a n a t h , p h i l l i p s mith
masters
Overview
Moonee Ponds creek is a highly polluted and disfunc-
tional water system cutting through a cross section of
Melbourne’s North West. It passes through agricul-
tural land in the north, Melbourne’s main airport, a
regional airport, intensive suburban areas, light indus-
trial and along a main infrastructural fly-over before
entering the bay at one of its most polluted points.
Redevelopment in its lower region both threaten it
and offer a chance to rehabilitate the water system.
Objectives
The project aims to addess the Moonee Ponds creek
as a whole catchment and deals with pollution and
flow through a systematic approach addressing water
quality at each stage.
To distribute the pressure on the system through the
whole and increase the potential of infiltration and
filtration, design interventions slow the water flow
and increase the distance that the water needs to
travel to reach the bay.
the worth o f w a t e r
image (s)
cypr i a n c z a j k o w s k i & z h i p e ng cai
studio level 8
In general the majority of immigrants settled in Aus-
tralian cities. Unlike older cities in Europe which,
for many centuries, had developed tight economic
relationships with their outlying lands, Australian
cities have always exhibited a certain detachment”.
Therefore there is a cultural element disconnecting
rural from urban. This project brings together differ-
ent groups of people using one thing we value most
as humans: water. What if water and WSUD principles
could create more landscapes that would reduce the
impact of degrading agriculture? City dwellers are
missing the aspect of rural (country) lifestyle. People
are destroying/preventing relationships by putting up
barriers between each other. Urban agriculture will
allow rural and urban people to connect; for instance
the farmer’s market scene makes people talk to each
other, whereas a supermarket scene is a transitional
space with no verbal human contact.
extradime n s i o n a l Vegetation in WSUD

image (s)

image (s)

tian j i n g , s u n c h a o , w u z h a o
studio level 7

Our Team was interested in small scale Water Sensitive
Urban Design. We aimed at investigating how such de-
sign can be used in landscape architectural design and
under what kind of background WSUD should be taken
into account. In addition, best combination/optimiza-
tion of projects, previous contribution and possible
novel means of designing WSUD are involved as well.
How to combine the WSUD and Landscape design? Our
vision is to divide the city area into three dimensionali-
ties: underground, ground, above ground. Through a
series of case studies both in Greater Melbourne and
internationally, we developed initial ideas for a water
sensitive Greater Melbourne and investigated in the
particular use of vegetation.
invi sible la n d s c a p e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e

image (s)

wei c h i e h L a i [Josh] w a n t i a n f oo [Elise] lan tian

Studio 7 Studio 8 Studio 8

With “wastescape water collection” we propose an
alternative water system in the urban sphere to cre-
ate a network to collect, transfer and utilize every
drop of water in the urban forgettable small scale or
shaded lots. By setting up a series of landscape proj-
ects, which include wetland bioretention between
buildings, roof gardens, tramline greening and lane-
way storm water collection, our vision is to promote
artificial waterways to connect those small dot catch-
ments into a net, gather streams into underground
pipes for transfer to different reservoirs. In the trans-
portation, the water could cool down the adjacent
buildings to avoid urban heat effects by evaporation.
As civil infrastructure, the system could integrate
stormwater facilities into the landscape to mitigate
the water runoff and erosion, as well as incorporate
multiple use of green corridors. It would add value
while minimizing development costs, “wastescape
water collection” functions more effectively and sup-
ports the ecosystems through vegetation filtration
and retention, to remove pollutants close to their
source.