Landscape Architecture Australia Student Prize (National)

Xingyuan Chen, Master of Landscape Architecture graduate at RMIT is the recipient of the 2018 Landscape Architecture Australia Student Prize.

The Landscape Architecture Australia Student Prize identifies and shares the finest graduating projects produced in landscape architecture education across the country. Australian universities each nominate a student based on their end-of-year presentation. The projects are then blindly reviewed by an independent jury, which awards one student the national prize.

The jury commends Tasting Territory as it "“distils rigorous research into a compelling proposal that connects the human experience of food and its processes of production and consumption at the individual and domestic scales with larger territorial-scale strategies. Noteworthy for its ambitiousness, complexity and attention to detail, Tasting Territory reminds us that food and the design of our food systems can be an aesthetic, emotional and intellectual experience, as well as something purely of necessity.”

Xingyuan Chen

Tasting Territory

Tasting Territory is a flexible food system. It reimagines food production, distribution and consumption to address issues affecting society, the environment and human health caused by the phenomena of food homogenization, mass industrial food production and unhealthy urban food patterns. Rather than viewing food purely as sustenance, Tasting Territory proposes a collection of core drivers for the city that facilitate the local economy, promote cultural identity, protect the environment and secure the population’s long-term health.

Tasting Territory progresses through three stages – farm palace, food incubators and food stations – each designed to alter consumers’ perception of food. Promotion is an overarching strategy that runs through the entire system. Tasting Territory combines concepts of food and leisure, and space and activities to shape food culture. The project aims to gradually improve food security and accessibility, boost the local economy, regenerate farmland, provide a diverse native food supply, encourage healthy eating, reintroduce local food culture, spread knowledge, and shape behavior and lifestyle in a way that brings food and leisure together as a pleasurable experience.

In 2018 MLA Project A+B was coordinated by Bridget Keane, and Kyle Bush was Xingyuan’s Tutor for Project B