Charlotte Sudholz

Project: Cultivating Repair: A space for reconciliation between locals + the land

This thesis addresses a narrative of exploitation that has defined Renmark, allowing the art of cultivation to foster a sense of reconciliation between locals and the land.

The relentless pursuit of implementing control over the Murray River has lead to the division and ownership of the temporal system across three states. Such dissolution in policy is responsible for a history of water mismanagement and environmental degradation; a set of consequences that plague the irrigation settlement of Renmark. A downstream dependency on the Murray sets a scene for future despair; as an intangible relationship with water continues to threaten the livelihoods of its inhabitants.

In highlighting what has and is at risk of being lost, this thesis exposes a vulnerability that questions the relationship between Renmark and the river. This dialogue is formed by addressing two main issues that underpin the politics behind exploitation of the region: that of lost knowledge and salinity. Accordingly, the fragility of these themes are revealed and acknowledged in the architecture proper, manifesting in the typology of an exchange, nursery and forum; all of which mutually celebrate the art of cultivation in Renmark.