The Birrarung (also referred to as the Yarra river) is a 242km waterway that extends across south-central Victoria, Australia. It has important cultural and spiritual significance to the Aboriginal communities, particularly the Wurundjeri people who gave the water its name – Birrarung – and view it as a life source and vital meeting place. In 2017, the Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung murren) Act identified the waterway as a single living and integrated entity in need of protecting. This paved the way for the development of a 50-year Community Vision, the Yarra Strategic Plan and established the Birrarung Council – the first independent voice of the river. It also marked the first Australian legislation to have a dual Aboriginal language title – which translates to “keep the Birrarung alive” in Woi-wurrung – and saw Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Alice Kolasa become the first Wurundjeri person to speak from the floor of the Australian parliament. Such steps recognise the Traditional Owners’ historical custodianship of this ecosystem and includes their wisdom in shaping its future. Through consultation with the Birrarung Council and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Elders, National Gallery of Victoria now presents a new exhibition, titled Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070. It spotlights ideas from eight leading Australian landscape architecture and design firms, as they present their visions for how communities can better access, engage with and care for such an important living ecosystem. Today, we spotlight five projects on display, from TCL’s speculative soil samples to new public spaces imagined by ASPECT Studios.
Heidelberg / Templestowe | Openwork
What would it be like if the Birrarung became an autonomous territory? Using the tools of landscape architecture, Openwork propose that in 2070 the river has seceded – and removed itself from Victoria. The boundary of this new independent State positions the Birrarung at the centre of this new spatial entity. They have redesigned three types of infrastructure that now encroach on the river: the road, the transmission tower and the drain. Three models show the transition of each from its “before” to “after.” The goal here is for infrastructure to accommodate more than just people and host a complex ecosystem.
Kew / Ivanhoe | OFFICE
Aqua nullius focuses on an alternate future where water and lands within the Birrarung are managed by Traditional Owners. The video work uses archival maps and images, combined with new landscape architectural modelling, video footage, interviews with Traditional Custodians and speculative illustrations to propose a vision that responds to First Nations’ sovereignty of water and land. OFFICE focuses on a collection of golf courses built across ancient billabongs. This project reclaims these privatised spaces by reintroducing flood, fire and care cycles, returning the environment to the care of Traditional Custodians.
The Upper Yarra | Bush Projects
The acquisition of private land for public use provides an opportunity to reconsider land use to prioritise the needs of the community. Bush Projects proposes that in 2070, following acquisition of a tract of private agricultural land, the Birrarung Bio-zone will be established. They envision this as a protected ecological habitat spanning 1,500 hectares of the upper Birrarung floodplain. In the future, people will be able to access this site under the guidance of local community caretakers. Bush projects has designed a uniform for these workers, made to prevent transmission of biohazards – such as seeds of invasive species.
TCL take a look beneath the surface of the Birrarung’s land and water, zoning in on the stretch of river in Yering and Yarra Glen. The design speculates the results of soil samples taken of the area over the next half century. By 2070, TCL proposes that measures taken to assess the health of this ecosystem extend from water to land to sky. Here, imagined core samples and media clippings predict a resilient future where the region is able to adapt to change, heal and endure. Cylindrical samples take us below the subterranean depths to witness the shift from Toxic Tides in 2025 to thriving Reciprocal Technology in 2070.
Cremorne / Burnely | ASPECT Studios
Over time, the city has encroached on the lands along the Birrarung, resulting in a lack of public space and insufficient room for flora, fauna and seasonal water flows. Aspect Studios proposes the use of insights from the Birrarung’s past to implement five new “Design Acts.” The overall idea is based on the premise that future Melbourne will have become denser and the community will have a renewed expectation of the river’s parklands as large-scale shared spaces. Changes would transform Melbourne into a place where large trees – such as the great river red gum and the manna gum – can thrive in an urban forest for all.
NGV, Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070 | Until 2 February
Words: Diana Bestwish Tetteh
Image Credits:
- Birrarung Bio-zone Guide. Image: Bush Projects.
- Reimagining Birrarung Installation. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
- Birrarung Bio-zone Guide. Image: Bush Projects.
- Renders from ASPECT Studios ahead of the exhibition Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070 on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from August 2024. Image courtesy of ASPECT Studios.