The Forecast creative directors, Di Snape (left), Dr Catherin Bull (centre) and Sharon Mackay (right).
Image: Courtesy AILA
Forecast, the 2014 Festival of Landscape Architecture by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA), promises to showcase the best of the industry in a series of panel discussions, and social events, including an inner city beach swim.
Creative directors Diana Snape, Sharon Mackay and Dr Catherin Bull AM (as advisor), have created a program for this year’s Festival that aims to inspire and engage the profession and community by re-imagining the way we meet, share our stories and learn through discourse and debate.
Delegates will also get to know some of Australia’s most innovative landscape design practices through studio visits including HASSELL, Cardno and AECOM, and have the unique opportunity to visit landmark projects such as the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital and the Translational Research Institute.
URBN DRY DOCK NO. 1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2009)
Image: DIRT Studio
A highlight of the panel sessions will be internationally-recognised innovator in the field of regenerative landscapes, Julie Bargmann, founder of DIRT Studio [read our interview with Julie Bargmann here]. The Festival features a broad range of opinions, expertise and experience, from renowned practitioners such as Pamille Berg OA (Pamille Berg Consulting) and Perry Lethlean (Taylor Cullity Lethlean) to new generation designers such as Matt Baida (WAX Design), and industry experts such as Malcolm Snow (National Capital Authority).
The core of the Festival is a series of conversation sessions between the foremost members of the Australian landscape architecture and allied professional community. The discussions will be open to delegates and feature a broad range of different perspectives and experiences.
“It’s a whole new way of interacting, sharing and developing the best ideas. This new approach reflects the way we work in landscape architecture as designers – transparently, collaboratively and iteratively,” says Sharon Mackay.
Located on the banks of the river in the cultural heart of Brisbane, the Festival will be centred around the Hub, created by Tract Consultants. This collection of origami-like pieces represents the flow of thought during the Festival. It takes advantage of the stunning spaces that characterise the area to create a real Festival atmosphere in Brisbane’s cultural centre.
Forecast will be held in Brisbane 16–18 October at the State Library of Queensland, and includes a launch party, a long table dinner where the 2014 AILA National Awards will be presented and a wrap-up party. Key events during the Festival include:
Come Back to My Place
See landscape architecture in the making when selected local design practices open their doors to Festival goers and the public. For example, hear Beth Wilson of Wilson Architects discuss the stunning Translational Research Institute or Deiter Lim from Tract Consultants explore the future of landscape architecture over breakfast on the rooftop of their Brisbane studio.
Research Summit
Led by the Queensland University of Technology, a platform for research in landscape architecture.
Site Seeing: A decade of Australian landscape architecture through the lens
View images by some of Australia’s best landscape and architecture photographers celebrating place and photography. Curated specifically for Forecast by Landscape Architecture Australia.
Broadcast: The interviews
The Plan and The Architects broadcasters will document the Forecast Festival through interviews and videos with speakers and delegates.
To see the Forecast program in full, click here.
