Studio Beta/Earth
Type: Community garden
Subject Coordinators: Leire Asensio-Villoria and David Mah
Senior Tutor: Kate Corke
Tutor: Matko Matkovic
Date: Semester 2, 2020
THE PROGRAM BRIEF
The pleasure garden
For the Beta/Earth studio, the task is to
develop a design proposal for a
new community pleasure garden in
Melbourne’s suburbs.
A local example of a pleasure garden is
the Ripponlea Estate in Elsternwick, a
suburb in Melbourne’s southeast
The Ripponlea estate was originally
built in 1868 and functioned as the
suburban estate and residence for
the politician and businessman: Sir
Frederick Sargood and his family. The
mansion and its extensive pleasure
gardens is now owned and managed
by the National Trust, who have made
it accessible to the public, hosting a
range of regular events for the wider
community.
The gardens are part of a largertradition of the picturesque landscapeand pleasure garden, a type thatemerged during the eighteenth tonineteenth centuries.
The pleasuregarden, as a type, is a precursor to themodern amusement park and served arole as sites for public entertainmentthat typically integrated a wide range ofspectacular attractions. These publicgardens first emerged in London, UK during the eighteenth to nineteenthcentury with the Vauxhall gardensbeing among the most renowned.Melbourne’s own Cremorne gardens(established in 1853 and closed in1863) was an infamous pleasure gardenon the Yarra banks with a
cyclorama,fireworks and menagerie amongst itsmany spectacular attractions.
The task will be to develop a small
and unmistakably contemporary
version of a pleasure garden for
Melbourne’s suburbs. In the same
way that the Ripponlea estate now
offers a range of social spaces for
local residents, the proposal should
be designed to provide a spectrum
of spaces and experiences for the
community.
* if you are on the phone, please click here to view the portfolio
or click here to view the design journal