Nicole Larkin – The Wild Edge ▶

‘We live by the sea because of the two mysteries the sea is more forthcoming. There is more bounty, more possibility for us in a vista that moves, rolls, surges, twists, rears up and changes from minute to minute. The innate human feeling is that if you look out to sea long enough, something will turn up…’  Tim Winton, Land’s Edge

Lecture > ‘The Wild Edge’ A Survey of Ocean Pools in NSW

Nicole is presenting her research into NSW ocean pools, The Wild Edge, funded by the  Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship.

The NSW coastline is home to the highest concentration of ocean and harbour-side pools in the world with over 120 in active use today. They are unique structures providing protected access to our beaches, bays and harbours, and are highly valued assets serving as effective recreational infrastructure for the community.

Ocean pools are iconic and powerful glimpses into the changing conditions of the coast because they sit at the frontline verge of climate change impacts. Effectively they are canaries in the coal mine. Future proofing ocean pools for resilience in the face of climate change will trigger the first major works to many of these structures since they were first built.

Workshop > Can coastal zones remain habitable?

Over the course of this workshop, Nicole is framing responses to improve the habitability of coastal zones, embracing the concepts of deep time and deep sustainability. Deep time relates to the temporal and spatial changes which occur on a vast scale, outside of human perception. Deep sustainability occurs when the community forms a strong affinity with a place or a landscape, they care for it into perpetuity. This in turn ensures it has an extended lifecycle and minimal carbon footprint.

How can architectural interventions make deep time evident in coastal spaces so that the community are intimately aware of the vast changes at play and adapt to them?