Urban Ecology

BACKGROUND: 'Urban Ecology' is an essay by Mauro Baracco and Louise Wright, published in 'Architect Victoria', Summer 2017 - an edition themed on contemporary responses to landscape. Through describing their design work - Garden House and Garage+Deck+Landscape - Baracco and Wright discuss a design approach that is responsive to existing local ecologies, and is able to regenerate large scale territorial systems through small scale interventions. CONTRIBUTION: In this work, Baracco and Wright introduce a context for architectural and urban design, particularly pertinent to Australia and Melbourne, wherein 'wilderness in the form of remnant or intact pre-settlement ecosystems is present in our cities, a condition that is rare'. They describe the 'Bradley Method', whereby small remnants of indigenous vegetation are restored by removing the introduced weeds around them, and discuss the application of this principle of responding to and restoring local ecologies. The resulting built work sits lightly within the site and suggests an architectural approach that might develop 'meaningful responses to issues of our environment within the city'. This work contributes to Baracco's ongoing research exploring levels of continuity between micro and macro scales, and states of integration between open and built spaces, and natural and urban environments, spanning from large territorial/urban to small site scales. SIGNIFICANCE: This work was published in 'Architect Victoria': the official journal of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) Victorian Chapter. It provides leading edge coverage of the issues influencing the Victorian architectural community. The journal is published quarterly, and is available in print and online. The work was peer-reviewed by an editorial team of practicing architects.