Landscape Architects as Change Makers

This bi-lingual exhibition investigates the tactics and strategies used by Japanese and Australian landscape architects to implement innovative design outcomes that respond to the cultural and ecological specificity of their regions.

Showcasing eight projects by award-winning designers, the exhibition presents a deeper understanding of how landscape architects operate within their own conditions to achieve outcomes that positively contribute to environmental, economic, and cultural futures.

Working with audio-visual media, the exhibition mixes designer interviews, site footage, drawings and still images to offer an engaging and immersive understanding of design thinking. Conversations with a further twelve Australian and Japanese landscape architects explore critical issues facing practice including questions of professional and cultural identity, the design possibilities of working outside the city and the role of global connections.

Funded by the Australia-Japan Foundation this exhibition draws on the Japanese design experience to rethink the way that Australian landscape architecture is understood and presented. This extends into the panel discussions and floor talks which will bring together the Australian designers and three Japanese designers who will visit Melbourne during Melbourne Design Week.

Featured designs include work by Jane Irwin (Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture), Anton James (JMD design), Kirsten Bauer (ASPECT Studio), Nick Griffin (McGregor Coxall), Toru Mitani (studio-on-site), Tatsuya Hiraga, (Landscape plus) Hiroki Hasegawa (studio-on-site) and Michio Tase (Plantago)

Exhibition curators

Jillian Walliss is an Associate Professor in landscape architecture at the University of Melbourne. Her research explores the relationship between theory, culture, and contemporary design practice. She has published widely, including The Big Asian Book of Landscape Architecture (2020) and Landscape Architecture and Digital Technologies: Re-conceptualising Design and Making (2016).

Dr Heike Rahmann is a Senior Lecturer in landscape architecture at RMIT University. Her research combines design practices and contemporary urbanism with a special focus on theory, technology and urban ecology. Through her practice in Europe, Asia, and Australia, she has established strong partnerships with industry, community and government bodies, especially in Japan and Korea. She has published three co-authored books including Tokyo Void: Possibilities in Absence (Jovis, 2014) with Marieluise Jonas and The Big Asian Book of Landscape Architecture (Jovis, 2020) with Jillian Walliss.

Saran Kim is a recent graduate of the Master of Architecture at the University of Melbourne. She works at Architectus and continues to be involved with the university as a professional staff member. Her practice crosses the fields of design, technology and media. Originally from Japan, and with a strong interest in landscape architecture, Saran’s involvement in the project has encompassed interviewing and translating Japanese landscape architects, exhibition curation, graphic design, web design and multimedia production.

Kiyohito Tamotsu is a Japanese landscape architect and architect. He graduated from the Swedish Agricultural University with a master of landscape planning and worked in Australia as a landscape designer before joining the Losfee's Tokyo office. Kiyohito is the executive director of the Japanese Landscape Architects Union (JLAU) with experience in outreach activities involving next-generation designers. Since 2021, he is the chair of the IFLA-APR Landscape Architect Without Borders working group.

What's on

The exhibition will feature a busy program of talks and events, with feature Melbourne Design Week events - more details to come!

Visiting Japanese designers in conversation
Friday 19 May - Melbourne Design Week
Time to be confirmed
Dulux Gallery

Australian and Japanese designers in conversation
Sunday 21 May - Melbourne Design Week
Time and venue to be confirmed

A new generation | working between cultures
Sunday 21 May - Melbourne Design Week
Time and venue to be confirmed

Exhibition partners

Major gallery partner