Brydie Singleton

THE FLOODPLAINS
Grounds of Ecological Entanglement and Seasonal Agency

Echuca is an aquatic town; the river defines its history, shapes its form, and underpins its identity. Situated within a vast floodplain, the thesis is conceived through the lens of flooding, while addressing the two issues of dying native fish species and dying tourism through an architectural response for the contemporary future of Echuca.

A hybrid program of a Murray cod sanctuary and a civic riverscape, interacts with the nurturing of the river’s ecology, in a way that dually performs as ecotourism. The Floodplains expresses a shift away from a purely anthropocentric architecture, embodying the notion that architecture should positively impact more than just humans. The intervention operates on a range of physical and temporal scales; governed by the seasonal requirements of breeding, and the absence and presence of water. The architecture engages and adapts with the hydrology of Echuca, in such a way that the architecture becomes performative.

This thesis stands as a provocation for natural fluctuations of the Echuca floodplain. It aims to express the entanglement and fluctuating forces that reside in ecology and water. The intervention argues that civic space and grounds for ecological repair can co-exist, and when agency is given to the living entities of the Murray River, the expression of aquaculture becomes enriched.