Welcome

Chinese porcelain square dish with underglaze landscape, Kanxi c.1700

Kia Ora whanau, Welcome to the Master by Project research programme at Unitec.  We have a great year ahead of us with a wide range of topical research projects and great workshop critics. We are all looking forward to your research work making a real difference to the way we live.

Success!!

Two of our top graduates in 2018 are working in two of the leading design practices in NZ. ZHANG Yuan is working at STUDIO PACIFIC in Wellington
My MLA study in Unitec help me a lot in career searching. The company thinks highly of the degree, the skills and the achievement I'd gained in Unitec, for example the design software skills, research skills and the landscape design skills. The research I'd finished during my study showed the abilities to solve specific site problems, conveyed the care for the environment and the efforts to balance the increasing house land use and the demand for the sustainable environment in high density city area. These were the issues which the company was curious about. In the online and even the face to face interview, the interviewer always asked me those questions related to my solutions to solve these issues raised in my research project. So the success of the Master study provided a big chance to make the company more interested to know me better.

Zihao Wang is working at LandLAB in Auckland,
Zihao recently joined LandLAB as a Graduate Landscape Architect having completed his Masters in Landscape Architecture at UNITEC.  Zihao provides assistance in the studio across a range of scales, sharing his expertise in 3D Modelling and documentation.

November Workshop Timetable

Abstracts

Zihao Wang
From the external – landscape transformation    
Art and landscape architecture have a historical and close relationship, and art works, such as painting and sculpture, can provide inspiration for landscape architecture. I believe that an inter-cultural design process could provide more solutions than an approach based on a single culture. Ancient Chinese landscape painting has a philosophy about living environments, which may be useful in New Zealand, but it should be combined with local aesthetic orientations. To achieve that goal, I will investigate New Zealand’s painting and art works, attempting to build connections between painting and landscape architecture. The same feeling while seeing the original art works and the resulting landscape architecture is the goal of this experiment, and that feeling is addressed by the perspective system. To explore the relationship between landscape and external art work, montage will be investigated as a method. My research supports evidence that landscape architecture could be influenced by and benefit from the exploration of multicultural art works.

Jane Park
Sound Landscapes: The past, the present and the possible
Sound Landscapes poses the question, how can polyphonic soundscape ideals be the main driver in the design of post-industrial environments in Onehunga?
A hypothetical Master Plan for future development at Onehunga is used as a framework to answer this question. The plan provides a location for the implementation of underestimated acoustic techniques, which will add to the discourse regarding harmonious soundscapes within the urban landscape.
The discourse currently focuses predominately on the undesirable influences of the imbalanced soundscape that is universally known as noise pollution. The potentials of the sonic aesthetic are undermined. This investigation seeks to address this issue and demonstrate that the sonic landscape is a valuable resource awaiting its discovery and that there are opportunities for this invisible aesthetic to foster and enrich a sense of place. Polyphonic elements can occupy a privileged niche within the landscape.
Significant social, cultural and ecological needs of key stakeholders have been identified and these are acknowledged and reflected in the sound-driven principles and interventions that are a result of this project. Analysis of design precedents has identified possibilities for addressing issues of noise pollution from a position of inspiration and positive influence.
It is common for disciplines to reside in silos. This research project seeks to raise awareness of the potentials of integration - the confluence of acoustic theory and normative landscape architectural practice. This process, which is polyphonic by nature, has produced a variety of strategies and spatial arrangements that aim to transform sound from a problem to a design resource.

Hao Long 
The use of green roofs and living walls to regenerate the urban eco-system and revitalize the public realm
During the last few decades, global climate change has been occurring due to human activities and the over-exploitation of natural resources. With the acceleration of the global urbanization process, the urban heat island effect, air pollution, rainstorms, and other environmental problems have become increasingly severe in urban areas. The world's population is continually converging on metropolitan areas. Sprawl causes fragmentation of natural and semi-natural areas on the urban fringe (Inostroza et al., 2010, Inostroza et al., 2013), and urban densification decreases the area covered by urban green spaces within a city (Harland & van den Bosch, 2015). To resolve those issues, green roofs and living walls as part of urban landscape design have been increasingly widely favored by urban environmental researchers and designers because they are representatives of sustainable design. Moreover, green roofs and living walls not only can provide a solution to environmental issues, but also can regenerate the biodiversity of urban areas. This thesis will use existing case studies and research results to estimate the positive effects of green roofs and living walls on large-scale buildings in urban environments for the benefit of the biodiversity of ecosystems. 
In addition to these ecological benefits, green roofs and walls can offer usable space for people. Green roofs and living walls can be likened to the traditional ‘roof garden’ concept, but when understood as an extension of green roofs and walls, can become an extension of accessible green space from the ground floor onto urban structures to provide more high-quality outdoor space for people in urban areas and better connections and circulation within and between buildings. The aim is to show how large-scale roof parks can combine amelioration of the environmental problems created by large building complexes with the provision of an accessible and valuable high amenity greenspace for people. Achieving this aim would result in the introduction of elevated green space as an important component of landscape architecture and a valuable component of the urban designer’s toolkit.

Andrea Murray
A Commemorative Landscape in the Christchurch Red Zone 
The Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) occurred between September 2010 and December 2011, with the Christchurch earthquake of February 22nd, 2011, killing 185 people and destroying much of the Central Business District (CBD).     At the time of the first earthquake Christchurch was the second largest city in New Zealand.  The Earthquake Commission received over 470,000 insurance claims, due to the reoccurring earthquakes and damage to the built environment.  The collective sense of loss was felt heavily by the people of Christchurch, especially those families living in the eastern part of the city.   With 15,000 families losing their homes and 7,350 of those families permanently displaced from their land, the earthquakes caused the largest internal displacement in New Zealand history.  Through the 1900s the Christchurch suburbs sprawled east along the Avon River/Ōtākaro.  This is now known as the Residential Red Zone (RRZ).    This project looks at the abandoned landscapes of the RRZ, and how a commemoration of loss might be expressed honestly.  This design uses broken elements of the abandoned neighborhoods to tell a story of place and loss.   This design incorporates new elements that give back a sense of place, creating tūrangawaewae for all visitors, to the design site.

Okan Can Bozat
Self-sufficient design: An educational building with a lower carbon footprint, superior thermal comfort and air quality
Global climate change and increasing population of the world causes higher amount of carbon emitions in the latest years. According to huge growth in the building industry, whole energy needs are increasing and the carbon footprints of the buildings are rising rapidly. Common approach on building design, requires external systems that needs high amount of energy to provide demanded heating, cooling, air circulation and water supply. However, with the sustainable approach, all those needs for the building environment and internal atmosphere could be supplied by natural systems within a respect to environment. The purpose of this research is to discover how to achieve “self-sufficiency” on an educational building in Unitec South Campus, Mt Albert. This is to say, the term self-sufficiency in this proposal is defined as a building has lower carbon footprint, a building can answer its own needs, and a building that achieves thermal comfort with higher air quality inside it. In order to achieve self-sufficiency, passive design methodology and zero energy approachs are going to be applied and while achieving those features, the systems are going to be used in this School of Architecture building, will also act as architectural elements on design and will define the characteristic of building.

Zahra Baradaran Khalkhali
Applying a BIM-based Approach in Designing Lifetime Housing in Auckland
In designing a house usually it is common to be focused on the current needs of clients and users, but soon these initial needs will change for several reasons like family growth, ageing, and changing lifestyle. Different solutions for this issue have been suggested such as flexible housing, open building, and adaptable housing which all support the idea of a lifetime house. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an almost new approach in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Applying BIM potentials in design process could help the architect to make better architectural decisions in the first place as there are enough quantitative data to support the cost-benefit analysis of the design. This research aims to design a lifetime house using a BIM supported design process which will be done in the form of a detached house in Auckland. According to Auckland’s plan 2050 the housing sector confronts different issues such as affordability crisis and population ageing. Lifetime housing as a relatively new approach in design which considers different factors such as flexibility, adaptability, affordability, and accessibility might be a notable solution for Auckland in coming years. To achieve the purpose of this research which is designing a lifetime house applying BIM approach, first, according to the literature review the main features of a lifetime house will be determined. In the next stage, the needs and lifestyle of a typical Aucklander family in different stages of its lifetime will be defined based on recent census information and then with the criteria of lifetime housing as the building’s program will be considered in a BIM-based design process.

Guanghui Jiang
The Urban Regeneration of Declining CBD Periphery Zones-The Study of the Strand Station Area in Auckland
Due to an increasing number of people’s agglomeration in large cities, the realm of urbanization of these cities is growing larger than before. CBD periphery zones (CBDPZ) which are the edge areas along city centres between the CBD and the suburbs are faced with several problems by this urban growth. This research by design project will analyze the issues in order to identify a number of approaches to address the current urban problems such as poor land use, low quality public spaces, functional isolation due to heavy traffic roads in CBDPZ. In addition, the land is expensive especially near city centres, and CBDPZ are of high value for urban regeneration because of the location when large cities are swallowing adjacent urban spaces. 
This research aims to investigate potential approaches to regenerate those CBDPZ in large cities. After background reading and literature review, a number of methods will be employed including using case study, undertaking SWOT analysis and developing a research by design process. The research investigation will look at the Strand Station area which is run down. The site on the north-east edge of Auckland City has similar problems to the defined CBDPZ and a great deal of potential for transit-oriented urban regeneration as well. This design project aims to identify urban redevelopment approaches for the Strand Station. Ultimately, the proposed research not only seeks to improve Auckland urban form through redeveloping CBDPZ but also seeks to help other big cities around the world to make strategic plans for the urban regeneration of CBD periphery zones.

Wenjin Zhan
Childrens space in the city
With the acceleration of urbanization and the aggravation of population problems, urban planning and development are faced with several problems, especially the planning and design of urban space for children. The reduction of public space reduces children's access to nature and has an impact on children's physical and psychological health. In addition, the decrease of children's independent mobility and the concept of the child-friendly city cannot serve children well. This series of problems affecting childhood have attracted more and more attention. As adults becoming increasingly aware of children's current and future role as rights-holding city dwellers
Coupled with an increasing boilerplate approach to creating child-friendly cities. The ‘Lookout’ project is one approach has tried to improve people’s awareness of the city by a shared dialogue between children and adults. It is an opportunity for children to reflect the city in a different way. 
This research project aims to investigate a different approach through shared dialogue between children and adults for designing urban environments that are more inclusive of children. It hope to use the shared dialogue between children and adults in a different way to provide increased nature experiences and more equitable urban environments for children.

Teng Sun
Sponge City
Under the expansion urbanization and climate change, many cities are suffering flood disaster nowadays. The conception of sponge city has shown up in recent years, it aims to build the whole city on a sponge to keep absorbing rainwater to slow or even stop the flood. To resolving flooding problems, this research focus on how to retain flood through sponge city as a landscape architecture design to reduce urban damage. Base on the temperate marine climate and irregular terrain in Auckland, I’m going to design a sponge city project in New Lynn area which is analyzed by GeoMaps data. Through the data collected, it is easy to find the places where have current flood issues or potential problems, then use landscape technique to design park, wetland, ponds to absorb flood in different water branch. There are number of cases around the world, which aims use flood and terrain to redesign and create different functions and landscape. This research includes the data integration solutions in Auckland, and show the evaluated effects.

Meng Zhang
Low-impact, climate-resilience urban design: renew inner city’s harbour 
The challenges of managing stormwater run-off, which partly caused by climate change, have always been receiving highly attentions from all around world. However, due to stormwater been discharged into the harbours, which undoubtedly not only causes seawater contamination, also increased risk of people’s illness and intensify marine species’ loss. In this stage, it is most important to purify the rain flow before it run into sea.
My personal research will explore how to develop a design project which mainly focus on effectively keeping catchment water being clearer in order to prevent harbour environment. At first, I attempt to entirely analyse what design approaches, based on the framework of low impact urban design, also climate-resilience theory, may act on both mitigating catchment contamination and controlling over-flooding. Then, to consult with the previous project, I intend to choose a several coastal cities which also suffer from similar stormwater issues, and find what design approaches they used and whether they can effectively work. Finally, my expectation of this research is to address the Cox Creek catchment’s pollution to maintain and return Cox’s Bay being animated and recreational.

November critics

Dr Curtis Bristowe
I am a PhD Communications Studies graduate with a keen interest in all facets of education and leadership, communications strategy and transparency, strategic planning, management, process and application. I possess a positive and professional attitude and am competent in dealing with people throughout an organisation at different levels, departments and backgrounds. My experience in working for numerous nationally reputable organisations and institutions has provided a unique, varied and valuable skill set. Such as the abilities to lead effectively, operate strategically and think creatively. To develop and sustain strong and healthy relationships which engage, equip and empower others to succeed. To work alone and under pressure and to always achieve stated objectives at a high level of professional and academic proficiency. I am also proudly and strongly bicultural, possessing a fluent knowledge of Te Reo and Tikanga Māori being a graduate of tribal driven Wānanga (whaikōrero/whakapapa/karakia etc.) and can therefore stand confidently and effectively in the valued cultural interface of both worlds.

Sara Zwart
I have over 18 years of experience in architecture, landscape architecture and urban design. Since graduating with an honours degree in architecture, I have worked on a wide range of projects across these disciplines in Wanaka, Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland.
My projects seek to engage and align multiple internal council and external stakeholders around a common purpose and vision for urban regeneration of green infrastructure. I specifically work on the Awataha Greenway in Northcote and the Puhinui Stream in Manukau.
Prior to joining Panuku, I was Studio manager and a Landscape Design Lead at Jasmax for ten years. During this time, I worked on a range of landscape architectural projects. In recent years focusing largely on the areas of transport, green infrastructure and campuses.
I have an ongoing passion for sustainable and regenerative urban and landscape design and am actively involved in promoting this both through my project work and involvement with a network of regenerative design practitioners.
I believe that effective integrated design practice, and early stakeholder engagement is instrumental to the success of place-based and regenerative design outcomes. This interest has been further enriched by my understand and respect of Te Ao and Te Reo Māori. I value close collaboration with mana whenua and believe we all share a role of kaitiakitanga for this precious land.

Helen Mellsop
Helen has over seventeen years’ experience as a Landscape Architect and prior experience as a technical journalist and landscape contractor. She holds a degree in landscape architecture from Unitec Institute of Technology and has been an associate member of the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects since 2004 and a registered member since 2010.
Helen is a generalist landscape architect but has particular skills in landscape planning, public open space design, environmental design, client liaison, and public consultation. She has excellent written communication abilities, is well organised and efficient, and has a creative approach to design problem- solving. Some of her personal strengths include an ability to work well with others, a high level of integrity, and a positive attitude.
Landscape and visual assessment work is one of Helen’ s specialist areas, and she has considerable experience as an expert landscape witness in Council hearings and the Environment Court. Project work has included design and project management for parks and reserves, town centres, residential and commercial developments, stormwater facilities, ecological restoration projects, rural subdivisions, educational facilities and residential gardens.

Jonathan Moores
I have a diverse range of expertise including environmental hydrology, water resource management and stormwater research reflecting a career as both a researcher (now) and resource management practitioner (previously). I have led inter-disciplinary research to develop a planning tool to evaluate the effects of urban development on waterbody-related environmental, economic, social and cultural well-being indicators. I also lead studies investigating the sources, fate and treatment of contaminants in urban stormwater. These include: field-based source characterisation studies (e.g. to evaluate differences in the emission of metals in relation to traffic behaviour); macro-scale predictive modeling studies to guide future urban development; and studies into the effectiveness of contaminant control measures (treatment of urban sediment runoff, roadside stormwater treatment devices). Previous experience gained at Auckland Regional Council (1996-2005) included contributing to the development of statutory plans (such as the ARC’s Air, Land and Water Regional Plan), regulatory responsibilities (for instance the consenting of major public infrastructure works) and public liaison and education in relation to water resource management.