By imagining a new lookout over the Hazelwood coal mine, can we create a more positive outlook for the Latrobe Valley?
‘The Void’ was a design studio for 18 undergraduate landscape architecture students at RMIT University, run in the second half of 2022. Kyle Bush worked with the MLRA (Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority) and Engie Australia to deliver the studio, with input from Nina Burke and David Langmore (Great Latrobe Park), Tracey Anton (Friends of Latrobe Valley Water), Tim Leeson (Gippslandia) and PollyannaR (Coal Hole).
The studio investigated how public access to coal mines can shape ongoing mine rehabilitation in Latrobe Valley, Victoria. Students developed proposals for a lookout at Hazelwood coal mine that enabled a greater connection to the mine landscape and rehabilitation processes while celebrating the site's unique qualities.
"The rehabilitation of mine sites extends beyond the pit, and the uses and functionality of the surrounding land are also part of this rehabilitation process."
The Resilient Garden by Hanny Paing.
The lookout aims to intensify the processes of Hazelwood Mine’s biotic life in the form of plant and animal ecologies. By studying plant species uniquely suited to the strange and complex soil profiles of the lookout site, it reimagines the lookout as a starting point of a dynamic botanic garden. This would grow as the water rises, and as wind and biotic movement bring about seed to the site. In this way, the novel ecologies of the site would be revealed.
The process of establishing the botanic garden allows the site to become its own ecosystem, one completely unique to Latrobe Valley. This will allow tourism as well as the creation of a new workforce in charge of assisting and examining the development of unique ecologies in the lookout site and beyond. Over time, new species may be introduced to create completely different ecological pockets depending on the soil conditions and matter that the seed is planted into.
Unbinding Power in the Void by Tess Quilliam.
The Latrobe Valley region lends itself to a unique and beautiful hydrology; strong forces associated with energy production and weather result in a heavily modified and ever-changing environment.
The lookout celebrates the Latrobe Valley’s industrial history while also inviting reclamation and restoration of these unique hydrological landscapes.
Born to Die by Xi Yang.
This project explores the unique relationship between industrial activity, settlement and ecological systems in Latrobe Valley.
The lookout aims to register the processes of growth and decay in the site's flora and fauna. These processes have occurred over time on a big scale, and can be made visible on a small scale.
The End-Beginning of Cycles in Hazelwood by Nikolaus Tirtono.
Over centuries, huge changes have taken place in the Latrobe Valley landscape, with forests, swamps, rivers, homes and much more being reshaped or converted into new materials or energy.
The lookout becomes the resting place for demolition waste from the region, inviting visitors to traverse subtle depressions that collect water during rain events, and bringing them to an oxidised steel mesh boardwalk cantilevered into the mine void.
The Look In by Greta Hollows.
The rehabilitation of mine sites extends beyond the pit, and the uses and functionality of the surrounding land are also part of this rehabilitation process.
The ‘look-in’ encourages visitors to ‘look in’ to their understanding of the site, their own ideas of land management and how their community can be a part of the maintenance of the surrounding land.
Squelch by Kinnan Asdagi.
The Latrobe region is host to rivers, creeks, streams and dams that all make up its beautiful hydrology.
The lookout focuses on the smells, sounds and ground conditions underfoot, while seasonal weather patterns bring more or less water onto the site, changing how visitors interact with flooded or dry spaces.
—
For more information on this project, please contact kyle.bush@rmit.edu.au.