Unfolding space

How  a space unfolds into a place is a mystery. What ingredients are required to make our cities valued? We go about our daily lives and the things we touch and feel remind us of who we are and where we belong. For most of us the things we care about are actually small and […]

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Dis location – Survival of the local

The marketplace is clearly failing the landscapes and the towns we live in. Australian country towns are dying as the global economy seeks to extract the cheapest goods in the cheapest location. We live in a very large island with a small population and with inbuilt inefficiencies of distance and time to markets. Our standard […]

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Sunshine Coast Industrial Park

By John Mongard For Landscape Architecture Australia, No. 129, 2011 The following article is a review of contemporary industrial landscapes and corporate parks, focussing on the recently completed Sunshine Coast Industrial Park on the Sunshine Coast by Gamble McKinnon Green. Industrial estates are the parts of our cities which are normally the ugliest and most […]

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Gladstone City Renewal

Context Gladstone has been a City of extremely accelerated development in times past, and it is likely this rate of development will happen again.  It has some remarkable natural attributes including a deep harbour and substantial mineral resources, which will continue to provide enormous economic potential for the region, however these assets need to be […]

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Green Villages – Tooradin as a model for growth

Traditionally, Melbourne’s development has pushed out indiscriminately into the surrounding rural landscape.  As a result, local ecologies have been compromised and natural systems disrupted. Tooradin is a village strategically located at the only place where the South Gippsland Highway meets the waters of Western Port. The Village is located 65 kilometres south east of central […]

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The plant machine: between entropy and evolution

Designers: John Mongard, Landscape Architect/PoetSeth Remaut, Architecture GraduateBarbara Steiner, Landscape Architect/Environmental Artist Authors: Barbara Steiner, John Mongard Introduction Industrial landscapes are as much part of our cultural landscape as any highly aesthetic sculpture park, agricultural landscape or suburban agglomeration. Through the achievements of industry, science and technology, contemporary Western societies enjoy higher standards of living […]

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What do you mean by this place?

John Mongard Landscape Architects planned and designed public spaces in the seaside town of Mooloolaba over a period of four years. The infamous ‘Loo With A View’ was the first built project in an 18 million dollar masterplan, and this work recently won a BDP Urban Design award and the RAPI National award for Urban […]

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