The design speculation and action research assemblage: ‘transit for all’ and the transformation of Melbourne's passenger rail system

ABSTRACT

The planning problems of neo-liberal cities require theories and methods that are adequate to the task of engaging as well as understanding their fragmented opacity. This paper reports on research that combines well-established processes of action research and design studio teaching with more recent interest in assemblage theory. ‘Transit for All’ was a recent industry–university research collaboration investigating railway station design in Melbourne. The project illustrates ‘the design speculation action research assemblage’ as a tool for creative as well as critical thinking. Framed by the need to find ways to achieve significant modal shift toward active transport in a car-dependent city, the project brought 15 industry partners from state and local government, transport companies and the design sector together around a series of architectural and urban design studios for real sites. The outcomes of the project allow a deeper understanding of how transformative the focus on the relationship between network planning, urban renewal, interchange design and the removal of level crossings could be in bringing Melbourne's 19th century rail system into the 21st century.

KEYWORDS:

• Assemblage
• design research
• rail
• stations
• grade separations
• Melbourne

Acknowledgements

The research drawn upon by this paper was developed partly from funding provided by the Carlton Connect Initiatives Fund (CCIF) of The University of Melbourne, in partnership with financial and in-kind contributions from 15 Industry Partners of the collaborative research project ‘Transit For All: better station design and access infrastructure’ (2013-14). The industry partners were: VicTrack; VicRoads; Public Transport Victoria; Victorian Department of Transport, Planning, and Local Infrastructure; Metro Trains Melbourne; The Cities of Melbourne, Moreland, Yarra, Darebin and Hobsons Bay; Grimshaw; MGS Architects; Cox Architecture; Caldis Cook Group; Urban Circus; The Metropolitan Transport Forum. The Investigators holding the CCIF grant were: Chris Hale, Ian Woodcock, John Stone and Kim Dovey. Studios 1 and 3 were co-taught by Ian Woodcock and Simon Wollan (MGS Architects), studio 2 was taught by Ian Woodcock. All three studios, a public exhibition at Chapman & Bailey Gallery and catalogue were funded by the Melbourne School of Design. The author also wishes to acknowledge the helpful feedback from two anonymous reviewers, Crystal Legacy, Melanie Lowe, Rachael Cole-Hawthorne, Elizabeth Taylor, Trivess Moore, Carla Taines and Flavia Marcello. Particular thanks are due to Cait Jones and Penelope Somers for key industry guidance, and to John O’Connell, John Hearsch, Lorrae Wild and Jim Dolkas for their insights and advice.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Ian Woodcock http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2957-6778