The 2023 Festival of Landscape Architecture, hosted in Adelaide by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) kicks off Thursday 19 October, featuring a program of speakers, workshops, tours and more.

A number of leading national and international landscape architects, specialists and designers will speak at the Festival, including TYRRELLSTUDIO Director and Western Sydney’s Southern Parklands designer, Mark Tyrrell, UTS Associate Dean Indigenous Leadership, Alison Page, University of Toronto Associate Professor Aziza Chaouni and Tectonics and Earth Systems Group (TES) leader, Alan Collins.

“Fifty percent of the world’s biodiversity is below the earth’s surface and yet, we’re in the midst of a biodiversity crisis and ecosystem collapse. We need to be more aware of the organisms that live within the earth and design our cities to support these organisms and human health,” says Festival Co-Curator Scott Hawken.

“Biodiversity is vital – without biodiversity and healthy soil, we can’t grow food. We need to be resourceful in the way we use and design our cities.”

2023’s theme, UN/EARTH, will delve into the physical and metaphoric soil horizons at the core of our planet, including the eroding, geologic, cavernous, mineral, and organic processes that have shaped our planet's crust. This will include everything from soils, fertility, geological strata, subterranean infrastructure, mineral excavations, fossil records, enduring practices for living on Country, and archaeologies.

Four streams of thought – DEEP EARTH, RAW EARTH, FERTILE EARTH and SUBTERRANEAN EARTH – will be considered throughout the festival.

Four landscape architects have curated the festival’s program, with each working and living on Kaurna Meyunna Yerta (Kaurna People’s Country): Lyndon Slavin, Tanya Court, Scott Hawken and Gemma Kleinig. 2023’s Cultural Advisors include Senior Kaurna Elder Uncle Jeffrey Newchurch and Kaurna Elder Aunty Merle Simpson.

The 2023 National Landscape Architecture Awards will also form part of the Festival, and will take place on Thursday 19 October. For more information regarding both the Festival and the Awards, click here.

Jarrod Reedie

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