

The 2018 AILA International Festival of Landscape Architecture: The Expanding Field sets out to challenge, prod, and reimagine what contemporary practice in the field of Landscape architecture could and should be in the age of the Anthropocene.
Each of the thoughtfully curated sessions was framed around the notion of expansion and examined through six sessions: Pushing Boundaries; Synergising Technologies; Expanding Territories; Cultivating Cultural Intersections; and Navigating Political Terrain. Significant discussion explored the underlying dialogue around how each of these concepts affects contemporary practice in Australia, as we grapple with reconciling our specific colonial history and its societal impacts as well as the shared global and environmental impacts of a changing climate.
Whilst this confronting dialogue was not easy listening, the Festival curators from TCL had thoughtfully composed sessions which brought together intentionally challenging content from speakers whose ambition was to extract landscape architecture practice out of the pleasant picturesque, to engage in work that has direct impact on the state of society and the health of the planet.
Given the breadth of speakers assembled from the fields of design, farming, environmental science, art and indigenous knowledge, these messages were delivered in a variety of tempos and proclamations.
Our people across our studios attended the annual AILA International Festival of Landscape Architecture, to openly engage and absorb the intellectual dialogues presented by the curators and speakers of the festival.
In addition, our Director, Sacha Coles, moderated one of the challenging sessions which explored the topic of ‘Synergising Technologies’.
We’ve gathered a snapshot summary and provided our commentary on the discussion by select speakers who represent the broad fields discussed above.
‘Pushing Boundaries – Designing a Planet?’
Elizabeth Meyer: Landscape Architecture Department Chair, Director of the Graduate Landscape Architecture Program, University of Virginia
Landscape Architecture as defined by Elizabeth is in an incredibly well situated and skilled position to influence behavioural change. We as designers need to explore and design with "multi-species collations" in mind as our industry faces growing influence on society and people interaction through our public spaces and experiences. We as landscape architects and designers have the ability to alter our users' perspectives on how they inhabit and interact with space, place and people.
Always remember to consider; "To what end and for whom?"
Richard Weller: Meyerson Chair of Urbanism and Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania
A thought-provoking, and at times despairing outlook at the challenges we will face as climate change becomes increasingly prevalent and the population surges 10 billion. A grappling and endearing way to kick off the 2018 AILA conference – a wakeup call if you will, which made us all the more attune to talks of positivity from Charles Massy and Liberty Lawson.
The intent: we as an industry, have the potential to tackle the challenging and confronting issue of climate and population change in a positive and impactful manner, and take real action.
We’ve listed a couple of examples of how the varying typologies and how they are being addressed across the globe:

- Econoclasts – Topotek + BIG – Superkilen – fun
- Cyborgs – Gardens by the Sea – structure vs surface- theatrical
- Indeterminist – Freshkills- Succession with no end point
- New-materialists – Museum Park Louvre – micro-biological material
- Post-colonial – Deconstructing conceptual landscapes
- High-performance – Oystertexture + 'A New Urban Ground, NY - Nature-based strategies- form follows function
- Digital Natures – Mapping sand deposits- Holland