Anna Nasioulas

The Unconventional Experience is a one month recurring residency in the Yallourn open cut. It exposes participants to otherwise restricted mining land, giving agency back to the people and away from private companies. It invites people of all backgrounds, disciplines and age groups to collaborate and immerse themselves in the foreign landscape, prompting groups to propose their own solutions for its redevelopment.

The Unconventional Experience was inspired by a sense of duality felt on site and through aerial imagery. There was an extreme contradiction between nature and the artificial environment created by the mining industry. This project aims to act as a critique of the capitalistic mindset and its destructive permanence.

A series of interventions have been introduced on site exploring the themes of permanence and adaptability to allow users to experience different aspects of the open cut as it changes through time.

The Portal is the first intervention along a route of formal and informal interventions. It acts as the first moment that users experience the expansive nature of the Yallourn open cuts. Its internal design is extremely controlled and recreates the ‘chute’ typology used within coal conveyor belts. Its form was inspired by the extreme drop in topography at the edge of the open cut, framing the open cut internally and externally.

Specific moments within each intervention have been captured by 360 degree views and can be viewed by the QR codes within the images. Scan these QR codes with your phone to be taken into the foreign landscape of the Yallourn open cut (best viewed in horizontal mode)

The Conveyor Transport utilises existing coal conveyor belts for human transport around the open cut and follows the route of existing/pre-existing conveyor belts. Users are supplied with accordian chairs that attatch and detatch from the converted conveyor belts and activate the outdated infrastructure.

The Module intervention is the least permanent architecture that is proposed. It was adapted into three types: the amenities module, the housing module and the solutions hub module. Each module has varying levels of formality and permanence depending on its function and is arranged on site according to these characteristics.

"Drawing off the contradiction between nature and the built environment that I experienced within the site visit, I started to further explore this through a lens of architectural permanence. These colossal pieces of infrastructure found within the Latrobe Valley have such a demanding presence, yet will all become redundant within the coming years. This extreme sense of permanence made me ponder the idea of adaptability within architecture as a response. How can we design for change and resilience for generations to come, as opposed to creating buildings that only remain relevant for short periods of time?"

View full video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=K32nymvcU5E