Bouncing back : the role of design and making in understanding and dealing with adversity

The Bouncing Back Project, which began after the Queensland flood event in January 2011, has organically grown through a number of reiterations as per the diagram above. In the August 2011 it resulted in the physical construction of an Emergency Shelter [designed by GreenLeaf Engineers] in Sydney at the Customs House in Circular Quay and a conference paper publication at the AASA conference. To date this research has progressed without any research grant funding and has resulted in significant media interest. During the construction of the Emergency Shelter we collected a wide range of multimedia data which is being compilled into a documentary focusing on the architecture students’ experience throughout the iterations of Bouncing Back.

Bouncing Back : Recovery through Design + Making

Architectural education is beginning to recognise the potential of a more intensive relationship between the tasks of designing and building (Erdman et al., 2002) within a work integrated learning environment. The Bouncing Back Project, began after the Queensland, Australia floods in January 2011, and has organically grown through a number of architectural student exhibitions, initially displaying flood responsive designs. In September 2011, 10 Queensland University of Technology architecture students travelled to Sydney to work together in helping to construct a shelter in the Emergency Shelter Exhibition, at Customs House in Circular Quay. The construction and making of the shelter, was filmed. This film documents the student experience, of making, working with industry professionals, community engagement and it reveals how this activity promotes informal work integrated learning in a real world context.

Fluid Infrastructure : A response to a natural flood disaster in Brisbane

Fluid Infrastructure: Landscape Architecture Exhibition: This exhibition showcases the work of 4th Year undergraduate landscape architecture students in response to the 2011 Queensland floods through five installations: Systima Fluid Flux Flex Fluid Connectivity The Floods Verge Fluid Evolution The focus of these installations is the post-flood conditions of Brisbane’s riverside public infrastructure, within a scenario of flood as a normalised event. It recognises that within this scenario, parts of this city cannot be described as definitively ‘land’ or ‘water,’ but are best described as ‘fluid terrains’(Mathur, A. and Da Cunha, D. 2006). The landscape design propositions within the five installations include public transport diversification (RiverRats) schemes, greenspace elevations, ephemeral gardens and evolving landscapes, creative interpretation and warning devices and systems. These propositions do not resist fluid conditions, but work with them to propose a more resilient urban river landscape than Brisbane currently has. This QUT exhibition was developed as part of the 2011 Flood of Ideas Project (http://www.floodofideas.org.au) in partnership with Healthy Waterways (Water by Design), State Library of Queensland (The Edge), Brisbane City Council, Australian Institute of Architects, University of Queensland, Green Cross Australia, Stormwater Industry Association.

Making sense of purpose, direction and innovation : an embedded design led innovation case study in the Australian mining industry

The mining equipment technology services sector is driven by a reactive and user-centered design approach, with a technological focus on incremental new product development. As Australia moves out of its sustained mining boom, companies need to rethink their strategic position, to become agile to stay relevant in an enigmatic market. This paper reports on the first five months on an embedded case study within an Australian, family-owned mining manufacturer. The first author is currently engaged in a longitudinal design led innovation project, as a catalyst to guide the company’s journey to design integration. The results find that design led innovation could act as a channel for highlighting and exploring company disconnections with the marketplace and offer a customer-centric catalyst for internal change. Data collected for this study is from 12 analysed semistructured interviews, a focus group and a reflective journal, over a five-month period. This paper explores limitations to design integration, and highlights opportunities to explore and leverage entrepreneurial characteristics to stay agile, broaden innovation and future-proof through the next commodity cycle in the mining industry.

Lane filtering and situation awareness in motorcyclists : an on-road proof of concept study

In Victoria, as in other jurisdictions, there is very little research on the potential risks and benefits of lane filtering by motorcyclists, particularly from a road safety perspective. This on-road proof of concept study aimed to investigate whether and how lane filtering influences motorcycle rider situation awareness at intersections and to address factors that need to be considered for the design of a larger study in this area. Situation awareness refers to road users’ understanding of ‘what is going on’ around them and is a critical commodity for safe performance. Twenty-five experienced motorcyclists rode their own instrumented motorcycle around an urban test route in Melbourne whilst providing verbal protocols. Lane filtering occurred in 27% of 43 possible instances in which there were one or more vehicles in the traffic queue and the traffic lights were red on approach to the intersection. A network analysis procedure, based on the verbal protocols provided by motorcyclists, was used to identify differences in motorcyclist situation awareness between filtering and non-filtering events. Although similarities in situation awareness across filtering and nonfiltering motorcyclists were found, the analysis revealed some differences. For example, filtering motorcyclists placed more emphasis on the timing of the traffic light sequence and on their own actions when moving to the front of the traffic queue, whilst non-filtering motorcyclists paid greater attention to traffic moving through the intersection and approaching from behind. Based on the results of this study, the paper discusses some methodological and theoretical issues to be addressed in a larger study comparing situation awareness between filtering and non-filtering motorcyclists.

Turbulence in an inundated urban environment during a major flood : implications in terms of people evacuation and sediment deposition

Floods through inundated urban environments constitute a hazard to the population and infrastructure. A series of field measurements were performed in an inundated section of the City of Brisbane (Australia) during a major flood in January 2011. Using an acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV), detailed velocity and suspended sediment concentration measurements were conducted about the peak of the flood. The results are discussed with a focus on the safety of individuals in floodwaters and the sediment deposition during the flood recession. The force of the floodwaters in Gardens Point Road was deemed unsafe for individual evacuation. A comparison with past laboratory results suggested that previous recommendations could be inappropriate and unsafe in real flood flows.

Paper-based mixed reality sketch augmentation as a conceptual design support tool

This undergraduate student paper explores usage of mixed reality techniques as support tools for conceptual design. A proof-of-concept was developed to illustrate this principle. Using this as an example, a small group of designers was interviewed to determine their views on the use of this technology. These interviews are the main contribution of this paper. Several interesting applications were determined, suggesting possible usage in a wide range of domains. Paper-based sketching, mixed reality and sketch augmentation techniques complement each other, and the combination results in a highly intuitive interface.

Constrained control design for dynamic positioning of marine vehicles with control allocation

In this paper, we address the control design problem of positioning of over-actuated marine vehicles with control allocation. The proposed design is based on a combined position and velocity loops in a multi-variable anti-windup implementation together with a control allocation mapping. The vehicle modelling is considered with appropriate simplifications related to low-speed manoeuvring hydrodynamics and vehicle symmetry. The control design is considered together with a control allocation mapping. We derive analytical tuning rules based on requirements of closed-loop stability and performance. The anti- windup implementation of the controller is obtained by mapping the actuator-force constraint set into a constraint set for the generalized forces. This approach ensures that actuation capacity is not violated by constraining the generalized control forces; thus, the control allocation is simplified since it can be formulated as an unconstrained problem. The mapping can also be modified on-line based on actuator availability to provide actuator-failure accommodation. We provide a proof of the closed-loop stability and illustrate the performance using simulation scenarios for an open-frame underwater vehicle.

Re-framing planning decision-making : increasing flood resilience in Jakarta

Purpose – Rapid urbanisation, fragmented governance and recurrent flooding complicates resolution of DKI Jakarta’s chronic housing shortage. Failure to effectively implement planning decisionmaking processes poses potential human rights violations. Contemporary planning policy requires the relocation of households living in floodplains within fifteen metres of DKI Jakarta’s main watercourses; further constraining land availability and potentially requiring increased densification. The purpose of this paper is to re-frame planning decision-making to address risks of flooding and to increase community resilience. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a preliminary scoping study for a technologically enhanced participatory planning method, incorporating synthesis of existing information on urbanisation, governance, and flood risk management in Jakarta. Findings – Responsibility for flood risk management in DKI Jakarta is fragmented both within and across administrative boundaries. Decision-making is further complicated by: limited availability of land use data; uncertainty as to the delineated extent of watercourses, floodplains, and flood modelling; unclear risk and liability for infrastructure investments; and technical literacy of both public and government participants. Practical implications – This research provides information to facilitate consultation with government entities tasked with re-framing planning processes to increase public participation. Social implications – Reduction in risk exposure amongst DKI Jakarta’s most vulnerable populations addresses issues of social justice.

Community engagement for disaster resilience : flood risk management in Jakarta, Indonesia

Understanding dynamics of interactions between community groups and government agencies is crucial to improve community resilience for flood risk reduction through effective community engagement strategies. Overall, a variety of approaches are available, however they are limited in their application. Based on research of a case study in Kampung Melayu Village in Jakarta, further complexity in engaging community emerges in planning policy which requires the relocation of households living in floodplains. This complexity arises in decision-making processes due to barriers to communication. This obstacle highlights the need for a simplified approach for an effective flood risk management which will be further explored in this paper. Qualitative analyses will be undertaken following semi-structured interviews conducted with key actors within government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and representatives of communities. The analyses involve investigation of barriers and constraints on community engagement in flood risk management, particularly relevant to collaboration mechanism, perception of risk, and technical literacy to flood risk. These analyses result in potential redirection of community consultation strategies to lead to a more effective collaboration among stakeholders in the decision-making processes. As a result, greater effectiveness in plan implementation of flood risk management potentially improves disaster resilience in the future.

Performative digital asset management: To propose a framework and proof of concept model that effectively enables researchers to document, archive and curate their non-traditional research data

This cross disciplinary study was conducted as two research and development projects. The outcome is a multimodal and dynamic chronicle, which incorporates the tracking of spatial, temporal and visual elements of performative practice-led and design-led research journeys. The distilled model provides a strong new approach to demonstrate rigour in non-traditional research outputs including provenance and an 'augmented web of facticity'.

Rockhampton's Resilient Future Design Charrette

The QUT Centre for Subtropical Design conducted a design-led interdisciplinary collaborative workshop (charrette) to develop some initial ideas for how innovation in research and practice can be applied to the complex problem of resilient future-focussed urban renewal in Rockhampton’s flood-prone suburbs and core grid. Three creative teams explored a range of scenarios for Rockhampton’s resilience in built form over the longer term. A large number of sketches, drawings and text were produced over two days. This report identifies themes, principles and strategies which emerged from the charrette. Each group proposed multiple guiding principles that fell into three strategic approaches: defend (through construction of a levee); adapt (by designing with flood in mind); retreat (a long term view to relocate populations in flood-prone areas). All three groups identified the importance of design that accommodates art, heritage, recreation, sustainability and tourism, and proposed these as principles to guide future strategies that mediate between Rockhampton’s broader ecological landscape and urban living to accommodate more affordable housing options, demonstrate sustainability and be climate responsive to predicted increased extreme weather events including flooding. The charrette outcomes pave the way to investigate wider issues and solutions to Rockhampton’s resilient future, beyond a levee as an isolated structure.