Beyond human-centred approaches to urban design

The Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning has received $65,000 from FB Ideas and Creative Futures Design Research and Education Fund to undertake design research at Fishermans Bend and conduct workshops for high school students from regional Victoria.

Starting with one prototype site, the funding will allow subject leaders and students from Si_Lab and DF_Lab to conduct urgently needed research into new forms of architecture and urban design that goes beyond our existing human-centred approaches to include biodiversity.

Over time, the vision for this work is to include public-facing events, exhibitions, open data feeds, and student design work that will promote networks and corridors of biodiversity habitats, traced across the post-industrial urban terrain of Fishermans Bend.

Developed with Dr Stanislav Roudavski, the program will be facilitated by Associate Professor Rochus Hinkel together with Professor Dan Hill. The project will bring together students and subject leaders across digital data collection, visualisation and analysis, digital fabrication, robotics, and CNC milling.

“This project will allow our students to go deeper and explore emerging technologies that prioritise designing for biodiversity during a time of climate crisis. Using Fishermans Bend as a test case, students from Si_Lab and DF_Lab are encouraged to think beyond traditional architectural limitations to provide industry-ready solutions that protect our shared future,” A/Prof Hinkel said.

Through the collaboration between Si_Lab and DF_Lab, the project aims to create a network of “more-than-human habitats” that will demonstrate how to foreground biodiversity repair and regeneration in Fishermans Bend.