Monash University
The environmental consequences of Melbourne’s rapid urban expansion and planning scheme will come under the spotlight at a new exhibition at the Collingwood gallery 3553, from 30 October to 1 November 2025.
The group exhibition will showcase three Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) projects that challenge the city’s current patterns of development:
- Land Use Inequality examines how Melbourne’s urban sprawl is encroaching on agricultural, ecological and culturally sensitive land. It is currently on show at the 25th International Milan Triennale, titled ‘Inequalities’.
- 1075 Houses and 3225 Trees reveals how urban vegetation is being replaced by larger single-family houses that leave no space for mature trees. The exhibit focuses on how planning approvals in a middle-ring suburb of Melbourne led to the demolition of more than 1,075 habitable detached houses, and with them, at least 3,225 mature trees.
- ReUse challenges the assumption that Melbourne needs a significant supply of new buildings, by drawing attention to the thousands of vacant buildings in the city that could be repurposed to meet housing demand.
Available to comment:
Professor Louise Wright, co-director of Monash Urban Lab at Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA)
Contact: +61 403 785 097 or louise.wright@monash.edu
Comments attributable to Professor Wright:
“Now Australia’s most populous city, Melbourne continues to expand outward, demolishing buildings, privatising public land and harming the environment.
“This exhibition portrays a city undergoing rapid transformation, driven largely by economic forces rather than the environmental and social equity that planning policy should also ensure. The current housing crisis has further accelerated land consumption, with limited regard for Melbourne’s ecological future.
“The removal of urban and suburban vegetation increases the local effects of climate change, increasing heat, loss of habitat and biodiversity.
“Vacant commercial buildings in inner and middle ring suburbs in Melbourne number in the many thousands due to various reasons that disincentivise their reuse. Meanwhile, we continue to expand our industrial zones along waterways, across grasslands and agricultural land. We are also in need of buildings for housing. The exhibition Land Use Inequality reveals the need for a renewed approach to planning.”
Exhibition details:
Date: Next open on 30 October, 31 October and 1 November from 11am-3pm
Location: 3553 Gallery, 35-53 Emma St, Collingwood VIC 3066
ASSETS AVAILABLE
Images here
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