Creating Liveable Cities

Huge shifts of thinking are required in order for Melbourne to reduce its ecological footprint, most importantly in how we consider the functionality of our city. Green Grid compares the water use per person in different cities around the world, giving us a starting point to consider Melbourne’s position and possible new directions.

Utilising a range of proposals from around the world, Green Grid is an active case study, presenting a range of options for the future from Philadelphia (USA), Havana (Cuba), London (UK), Ahmedabad (India) and Melbourne. The grid, constructed from lasercut plywood and turf encases the exemplar project on screens and puts a human scale to the ecological footprint.

Green Grid explores many of the key themes of our future city as identified in the 2009 think tank, including: the idea of catchment-based communities, which harvest, use and reuse water locally for their food and health requirements; redefining urban planning policy, placing more value on environmental rather than economic benefits; waterways and the urban heat island, which highlights the value that green spaces, green roofs, and healthy waterways have in cooling the local climate and returning the city to a more natural state; and adventure and real innovation, encouraging ‘out of the square’ thinking to achieve flexibility and new approaches to water management.

Climate change and increased urban density within the Melbourne presents new opportunities and challenges for water management. Right now is a crucial period for the development of new approaches that will result in a future liveable city that is climate-resilient, while maintaining its sustainability and prosperity.

I-N-D-J

Ian Douglas Jones is a young British architectural designer dedicated to the pursuit of all aspects of creativity. His practice is concerned with embracing progressive design solutions from all over the globe, with a vision for an ecologically secure future.

Following his graduation as a Master of Architecture from the Royal College of Art London in 2009, Douglas Jones was the recipient of the Conran Foundation Award and the New London Architecture Prize, nominated for the Royal Institute of British Architects Presidents silver medal, and promptly founded I-N-D-J Architecture & Design.

Since its inception, the company has been involved with a broad range of projects; commissions by the London Design Festival, an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum and a forthcoming Ice Hotel in Sweden.

For further information visit i-n-d-j.com.