The Ambition of Urban Realities

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: In 2011, Rosalea Monacella and Craig Douglas initatied and managed 'Urban Realities', a 3-day landscape urbanism design challenge at The Docklands, a new suburb on the western fringe of Melbourne's CBD. One hundred arhictects, artists, designers and landscapers from around the world took part. A symposium at BMW Edge Federation Square theoretically interrogated how designers might approach the research agenda of the challenge. This publication, edited by Monacella and Douglas, includes transcripts of the papers presented by local and international guest speakers as well as a project overview written by the two instigators. ' RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: The two new pieces of writing produced for this book - 'The Ambition of Urban Realities' and 'Preface' - document the scope of the design challenge and explain what it hoped to achieve: 'to challenge, re-envision, and generate alternate ways of thinking about and designing public space and our cities'. The writing, photographs and transcripts reproduced in this book provides permanent evidence of 10 ephemeral gardens that were constucted over 72 frenetic hour and a blueprint for future design challenges. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The original writing in this book documents 'Urban Realities' a project that was included in the Victorian State Government's State of Design festival. The project attracted $45,000 in external funding from City of Melbourne, VicUrban (the State Government's agency for sustainable development) developer Brookfield and more. The event recevied wide coverage in trade and specialist media. Melbourne Books is a leading commercial publisher of books on art, landscape architecture and design. 'Urban Realities' is held in the collection of the National Library of Australia.