2016 Field Tour: Dunedin

During the semester break students and two staff from SOLA travelled to Otago for the annual BLA field tour.  As part of the 5 day tour students collaborated with professionals attending the NZILA annual conference, through design workshops exploring design responses to climate change, based on a series of sites around Dunedin. The interactions enabled students to learn new skills and gain confidence in sharing ideas in a professional setting. Design responses ranged from city wide spatial strategies for protection, retreat and adaption, to site specific design innovations. The situation in South Dunedin was particularly reminiscent of challenges faced in Eastern Christchurch, where a socially diverse community with modest material resources is dependent on local networks of support services, but already suffering from the effects of rising water levels. Students learnt that landscape responses are often more about social processes than formal design solutions. Subsequent visits to Port Chalmers, Aromoana and Tunnel Beach enabled everyone to also connect with heritage and natural values, while a harbourside steam punk café made of Corten steel was a special designers treat on the trip back.