Article written by Terren Shi

Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070 opened in August 2024 at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV Australia). This landscape architecture exhibition invites eight Australian landscape architecture and design firms (ASPECT Studios, Bush Projects, McGregor Coxall, Office, Openwork, Realm Studios, SBLA and TCL) to reimagine the water and land of Birrarung from now until 2070. Supported by the Birrarung Council, the program asks designers to look beyond the ecological, social and cultural, and political issues.
Each firm selected a segment of this 200km river, from Melbourne city centre to the upper catchment in the Yarra Ranges. The teams showcased both speculative and real-world solutions for the river’s better future. Diverse media were used, including maps, diagrams, models, videos, drawings, objects, embroideries, and even costumes, to present their visions of Birrarung in 2070.

Understanding landscape architecture in the Australian context
Landscape architecture in Australia has profound connection with Country. First Nations peoples, custodians of the land for more than 65,000 years, possess knowledge systems deeply embedded in the Australian landscape. In a settler society like Australia, respecting First Nations culture is essential when designing landscapes. Landscape architects must listen to and learn from Indigenous knowledge holders, engendering a culture of care and respect.
Uncle Dave Wandin explains, ‘We (Aboriginal people) do have intimate knowledge, intimate connection, intimate culture, that is still going today, and has gone for a long time (with Country). Whilst we are not academics ourselves, with PhD’s and doctorates, we can talk about Country in a way that other people have never realised.’ Landscape Architects have the responsibility to take Country’s values into account- not with preconceived ideas, but with an open mind and heart.
Understanding Birrarung, the Yarra River

Rivers hold special cultural and spiritual meaning in Australia beyond their role as part of the ecosystem or infrastructure (in the contemporary sense). Birrarung, or the Yarra River as it is more commonly known, has provided for the Wurundjeri people for thousands of years. The Wurundjeri people did not own the land but belonged to it. Before colonisation, First Nation people had an intimate understanding of land: they camped on higher ground in winter to avoid the flood-prone areas, and in spring and summer, they moved around to hunt and gather food. Birrarung and its surrounding land offered gathering and ceremonial places for trading, marriage, yarning, and settling disputes.
The colonial framing of terra nullius imposed a false notion of separation between Indigenous people and their land. ‘A land belongs to no one,’ it denies the custodianship of First Nations people and their deep connections to Country. Dispossession and disconnection occurred when the land was sold, vegetation was cleared, buildings and roads were constructed, and wetlands were drained. The false premise led to the division of landscape into ‘usable’ parts and parts that were seen as needing modification to become useful.
Living entity
To address the complex environmental and ecological conditions of the Birrarung, the Yarra River Protection Act 2017 has legally recognised the river corridor as a single living and integrated natural entity. Moving beyond the notion of rivers as mere sources for extraction, modification, and waste disposal, the landscape architects in the exhibition explored the idea that ‘if the river speaks itself.’ How can we shift away from human-centric conceptions and adopt more collaborative approaches to heal Birrarung and Country?
Shifting Infrastructure, Land, and Governance

Installation view of SBLA’s design in Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070. Photo: Sean Fennessy
A recurring theme in the exhibition is the changing conditions along the Birrarung, particularly the removal or repurposing of infrastructure and the shifting governance of land. Designers advocate for freeing up the space around and above the Birrarung to allow the river and its habitats to thrive. Some areas require the removal of structures, while others need a restructuring of governance. SBLA proposes using soft-scaped gardens and footpaths to transform the landscape to preserve the ecosystem. ASPECT Studios proposes the partial removal and repurposing of the South Eastern Freeway, while Openwork presents a bold gesture of seceding Birrarung from the state to become an autonomous territory.

Installation view of ASPECT Studios’ designs in Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070. Photo: Sean Fennessy
The involvement of Traditional Owners is frequently highlighted in the exhibition. Office questions the privatisation of land along the river, which has been converted into golf courses, vineyards, and farmland. They propose reintroducing traditional land management strategies, such as cultural burning, alongside the natural ebbs and flows of the Birrarung, to maintain the river’s health. Consultation, collaboration, and the reinstatement of Indigenous community and their cultural practice are seen as the key to a healthy environment and city.

Installation view of OPENWORK’s designs in Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070. Photo: Sean Fennessy
These provocative thoughts demonstrate that landscape architecture has the power to spark public conversation and engagement. Through exhibitions like this, landscape architects open a dialogue encouraging the public to pivot towards a healthier environment and community. With community and political will, these proposals could be feasible in the future.
Technology and Return to Human

Installation view of McGregor Coxall’s design in Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070, on display from 23 August–2 February 2025 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia Photo: Sean Fennessy
The exhibition showcases a broad spectrum of labours types deployed in their proposals. In the gallery, AI-generated texts, images, and videos can be seen. Using extensive data research, McGregor Coxall employs animation and dynamic mapping to illustrate the various impacts on the Birrarung, both past and the future. TCL combines AI-generated images with embroidered geological core samples to speculate on the future landscape. Beyond the representation, technology also becomes central to Realm Studios’ strategy, which proposes using autonomous robots to clean and monitor the river.


In contrast, Bush Projects transforms the Upper Yarra Catchment into a biodiversity zone accessible only by Traditional Custodians and River Rangers, emphasising the humanistic care embedded in the design. As a community volunteer working on Birrarung’s Herring Island, I have observed individuals’ limited power against the natural environment. Whether removing invasive species or planting native vegetation, nature operates on its scale and timeline. Yet the humility in the face of nature’s power underscores the value of humanistic care. Amid technological advancements and their challenges, observing the continued involvement of human conditions is reassuring. Our future should not be framed as an antithesis of humans and technology; rather, it will always be an entangled story of both.

As Kirsten Bauer, the director of ASPECT Studios, highlights, ‘The idea is not to go back to history (before settlers’ time) but to reveal the values and qualities of Birrarung.’ This exhibition demonstrates Australia’s dual spatial and cultural inheritance and the important role of landscape architecture and design in shaping the future. It is established that landscape architecture can and should be an act of post-humanistic care, rather than merely an instrumental means of environment salvation. Despite the site-specific nature inherent in landscape architecture, this exhibition still offers designers worldwide alternative ways of thinking.
Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070 is currently showing at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square, until 2 February 2025. Entry is free.
References
National Gallery of Victoria. “Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070.” Published July 2024. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/reimagining-birrarung/
National Gallery of Victoria. “Voice of the Birrarung River.” Published July 2024. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/multimedia/reimagining-birrarung-with-uncle-dave-wandin/
Yarra City Council in Partnership with Wurundjeri Tribe Land Compensation & Cultural Heritage Council. ‘An Aboriginal History of Yarra.’ Agora 48, no.4 (2013): 66-73.
Article written by Terren Shi