PRS Australia PhD Examination - James Melsom (School of Architecture and Urban Design - RMIT University)

Join us for the PhD examination of School of Architecture and Urban Design candidate, James Melsom.

9:30am - 11:30am, Monday, 20 October

Investigations beyond the surface: Developing the depth of territorial data

James’ research combines landscape architectural analysis with environmental sciences, geomatics, and computational methods to propose deep surveying as a critical and projective approach to territorial investigation.

Accelerated transformations from climate change, anthropogenic pressures, and infrastructural interventions have widened the gap between environmental complexity and the agency of spatial design disciplines. While digital tools and computational frameworks proliferate, their standardisation often oversimplifies processes, producing models unable to capture territorial dynamics, hydrological systems, and socio-ecological interdependencies.

The challenge is not only to adopt technologies, but to critically re-engineer them into adaptive, site-responsive methods that confront uncertainty, variability, and layered intelligences.

His work formalises deep surveying as a practice ecology that expands landscape architecture’s investigative capacity, engaging uncertainty as a productive design condition and offering a critical foundation for landscape analysis in an era of environmental volatility.

Please note no entry will be permitted after commencement of this examination. Please aim to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. 

RMIT Design Hub Gallery
Building 100, Level 2, Project Room 1
Corner Victoria & Swanston St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Access
This exam will be recorded, but not live-streamed.
The Level 2 Project Spaces are accessible via lifts from the street entry located at the corner of Victoria & Swanston Streets.