Conflict and Harmony in the Landscape

Australian Landscape Conference
18-22 September 2015. Melbourne.

Fireworks and fun at the September Conference!
 

There will be fireworks and fun at our Conference this year because we have secured some truly outspoken, brilliant and controversial speakers, commented Warwick Forge, Director, Australian Landscape Conference.

Warwick is really thrilled about the cutting edge 2015 conference which has resulted from investigative tours overseas.   Perhaps the most provocative is landscape designer Martin Rein-Cano who denounces English gardens as boring and derivative of outmoded models.  He is a brilliant conceptual thinker bursting with ideas!  Martin was Argentinian and was influenced by Martha Schwartz and Peter Walker in California.  He settled in Berlin where he established Topotek 1 – a remarkably successful conglomerate of some forty young designers working in a converted warehouse - all keen to make a mark for themselves.

A recent award has honoured Rein-Cano’s work at Superkilen, a public park in Copenhagen consisting of 30,000 m² - planned to celebrate the diversity of its residents (50 nationalities).  Benches, swings, plants, fountains and even manhole covers (from Zanzibar) come from all around the world.

Xavier Perrott is another colourful designer who is famous for his art works and installations in Europe.  His partner Andy Cao explains, we want to make places for dreaming, whimsical gardens and outdoor installations, which conjure drama from hybridised materials. It’s not about nature, but about alternate worlds.

In total contrast, Phillip Johnson from Melbourne’s Dandenong Ranges is passionate about designing with native flora and fauna.  The ebullient Johnson, still fresh from Chelsea triumphs, remains enthralled ... with the power and joy that nature brings.  

But we have a whole swag of brilliant speakers this time, commented Warwick Forge.  James Basson is a wonderful plantsman who takes a gentle path with his Mediterranean gardens in France, working with regional seasons and flora and with minimal intervention.

The Athenian Thomas Doxiadis also displays profound sensitivity for the natural flora and his timeless landscapes of the Greek Isles.

And from Colombia in South America, the passionate Diana Wiesner devotes her life to providing green networks connecting and dissecting the great megalopolis of Bogota.

And for another contrasting approach – this time from Adelaide – the enigmatic outsider Viesturs Cielens reveals the connections between gardens and owners and their evolution over time.

Crystal Cloud, Crystalline Garden, Austria, by Cao Perrot Studio, largest of its kind in the world.

There are twelve presentations with ten by international speakers.

There are also sixteen workshops (non-delegates can attend) – for all those seeking interaction, practical knowledge and personal discussion.

And there is the ever-popular Garden Tour which journeys to the Dandenong Ranges.  Amid the awe inspiring magic of mountain ash forests (the world’s tallest) the tour features the stunning Cloudehill; Phillip Johnson’s garden at Olinda; the revamped Art Moderne Burnham Beeches; Robert Boyle’s award winning Ivanhoe riverside garden and a plant driven Andrew Laidlaw family garden in suburban Hawthorn.  It’s a horticultural feast providing a fabulous precursor for our Conference weekend.

Other important events include a river cruise on the ‘Royal Barge’ to the special Speakers’ Dinner and a free tour to Warner’s Nursery – a leading Australian plant grower and our Major Sponsor currently celebrating its Centenary Year.

For further information visit www.landscapeconference.com  You may also contact:

Warwick Forge, Director: Media, Speakers and logistics. 03 9804 8915 warwick@bloomings.com.au
Sue Forge, Director:  Registration, financial.  0438 181 578 sueforge@icloud.com
Jenny Wade, Conference Manager.  Garden Tour, Dinner, Workshops, Sponsorship and Venue  0409 000 089  jennywade@bigpond.com