Parallax Landscape Re-Imagines a Low-Carbon Future for a Coal-Dominated Australian City

<a href="http://outr.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/first-prize-winner-transiting-cities.html" target="_blank">Parallax Landscape</a>, an urban design collaborative, recently was named winner of the <a href="http://www.transitingcities.com/" target="_blank">Transiting Cities</a> design competition, sponsored by the <a href="http://outr.org/" target="_blank">Office of Urban Transportation Research</a> (OUTR) at <a href="http://www.rmit.edu.au/" target="_blank">RMIT</a>, a university in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Transiting Cities challenged urban designers around the world to re-imagine a low-carbon future for Latrobe City and the surrounding region. Latrobe has long been dominated by coal-fired electrical generation, but that high-carbon character is slated to disappear by 2030 as Australia transitions to a cleaner economy. Called <a href="http://outr.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/first-prize-winner-transiting-cities.html" target="_blank"><em>Reassembling Flows</em></a>, the winning design “aims to change this paradigm by repurposing existing infrastructures, optimizing resource utilization, and structurally integrating ecosystem services into design processes across multiple scales,” according to Parallax Landscape's presentation.

Re-imagined urban landscape at Latrobe.

Reassembling Flows proposes the restoration of natural areas in Latrobe Valley.

Existing coal-fired power station

Existing coal mine

Existing paper mill

Latrobe pasture land

Proposed pumped hydro energy storage facility

Re-imagined socio-economic systems in Latrobe -- energy, agricultural, water management, cultural

Proposed transformation of Latrobe's energy landscape

Site plan for Latrobe under the Reassembling Flows vision

Layered mapping of production, mobility, natural resources, and ecologies under Reassembling Flows

Terrain section illustrates land use under Reassembling Flows

Overall plan for reclaiming Latrobe

Proposed hydrogen and anaerobic digestor facilities