Biography
Dr. Beza’s scholarship and teaching aim is to understand the social production of space and its spatial realisation. This aim is achieved through meaningful knowledge exchanges with communities, academics and students in, for example, Colombia, Nepal, Mexico and Australia where the co-production of projects are key to producing outcomes. His latest outcomes demonstrating achievement of this aim:
-Urban Space: Experiences and Considerations from the Global South. An edited volume analysing and discussing the “appropriate, negotiation and reconfiguration of Urban Space in cities”.
-Development and realisation of a Sensory Urbanism (SU) design research studio investigating the multi-sensory/temporal aspects of (urban) place. This studio led to the development of a SU prototype, involving Industrial Design and Architecture students from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá, Colombia) and Deakin University’s Landscape Architecture, Architecture and Urban Planning PG students. The reporting of this SU prototype was published in 2019 and presented at the 24th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia. Currently, he is continuing this work with colleagues at the University of Sydney and Deakin University’s Mediated Intelligence in Design (MInD) Lab.
-Development & realisation of an intercultural design studio (Finding Common Ground) focused on urban redevelopment in Melbourne, Australia and Mexico City, Mexico as well as a conference paper and presentation at the International Urban Design Conference held in Sydney, Australia.
-Planning & realisation of a rural (urban) development and rebuilding studio. Since 2010 this studio continues to examine community self-help/self-organisation practices, in a rural urbanising community in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal. Outcomes related to this work include a journal article published in Planning Theory and Practice (see, 17(2)) and a chapter titled Placemaking in a world where spirituality and community development meet – the Junbesi Valley, Nepal (see above book).
The above support a research framework that uses concepts established by Heidegger (1962, 2008; 1971, 1975) (i.e. being and dwell) and Lefebvre (1996) (i.e. an oeuvre and autogestion) to establish a philosophical foundation to Dr. Beza’s work. That is, ‘being’ and dwell are used to structure arguments of the existence of urban space. This is extremely important when, for example, examining space created in informal settlements as these settings (in Colombia, Mexico) are largely considered not to exist in a formal planning/regulatory sense and are ‘overlooked’ by city officials. Lefebrvre’s concept then allows for the “[ ] exceptional social capital and self-organisation practices [ ]” that display “[ ] distinctive socio-spatial qualities and dynamics that result from” the social production of space to be articulated. Yet, as the design profession is an experience based field Dr. Beza also employs Dewey’s (1934) philosophical deliberations to explain “[ ] aesthetic transactions in human living”. Which, in essence, allows him to use Dewey’s work to provide a bridge to relate the above philosophies to that of the human experience of urban space; which can also be used to link relatively contemporary arguments of place established by Tuan (1971; 1977), Relph (1976), Whyte (1980), and Hayden (1996).
Read more on Beau's profileAffiliations
Registered Landscape Architect, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects
Units taught
- Urban Perspectives (SRA742/PG)
- Urban Dynamics and Change (SRP782/PG)
- Intercultural Dialogue Through Design (SRD767/PG)
- Built Environment Research Project (SRR311/UG)
- Landscape Design Masterclass (SRD768/PG)
- Thesis (Landscape Architecture) (SRR716/PG)
- Built Enviironment Study Tour (SRR367/UG & SRR767/UG)
Knowledge areas
Urban Planning,
Landscape Architecture,
Urban Design,
Perception,
Placemaking, and
Development Planning
Professional activities
Links to industry
2017 – Present: Member, National Accreditation Review Team (NART), Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture.
2018 - Present: Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture, VIC. Education Committee Member.
2013 – 2018: Director, Frueauf Village Falls Creek Alpine Resort.
2004 – 2015: Chair, Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal.
2007 – 2009: Environmental Design Guide Editorial Committee Member.
2003 – 2007: Editorial Advisory Board Member, Landscape Australia Magazine.
2004: National Jury Chair, 2004 AILA National Project Design Awards, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.
2003: Chair, Planning Jury, Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture Victorian and Tasmanian Design Awards.
Professional Appointments
2002 - 2004: Founding Director, Architects Without Frontiers, Melbourne, Australia.
1996 - 2000: Landscape Architect/Planner, EDAW (now AECOM), Melbourne, Australia.
1994 - 1995: Project Manager, Urban Planning & Landscape Architecture Department, The Spink Corporation, Sacramento, California, USA.
1990 - 1994: Landscape Designer, The HLA Group, Sacramento, California, USA.
Professional Associations
Registered Landscape Architect, Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture.
(American Society of Landscape Architects Eligible).
(Planning Institute of Australia Eligible).
Australian Karate Federation, Member (3rd Dan – Sensei of Karate - i.e. 3rd Degree Black Belt).
Research groups
Research Group Membership
Growing Up In Cities 2020: Project Lead, Co-ordinator & Researcher
Team Member of the Mediated Intelligence in Design (MInD) Lab
Research Team Member of the Live+Smart Research Lab
Researcher HOME
Competitive Grants/Awards/research consultancy and Prizes (Figures in Australian dollars) (Total from major awards 2010-2020: $1,736,000)
Endeavour Leadership Program grant, Australian Government Department of Education and Training (2019/20) $26,500. Title of project Informal Settlements: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Development, in collaboration with Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia and Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico.
Coastal scenario planning and assessment modelling research project (2019), $63,000. Through the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee, in partnership with Deakin University’s Live Smart Research Lab (2019).
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)(2013-2017) $1.4 million (Chief Investigator (CI) and team member/Category 1/ACIAR project code ASEM/2012/063). Research title: Improving the methods and impacts of agricultural extension in conflict areas of Mindanao, Philippines.
Places Victoria/RMIT University Placemaking Research Grant (2011-2012) $100,000 (Chief Investigator/Category 2/Proj. Code: 0200309090).
Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre Limited (2010-2012) $84,000 (Chief Investigator/ Category 4/Proj. Code: 0200307878)
Various other grants pre-2011 total $62,533 (e.g. World Expeditions Travel Grant (2011), World Expeditions Corporation; Design Research Institute Grant (2010); Lonely Plant Foundation Grant (2006), The Lonely Planet.)
Projects
Current Substantive Research Project
The most globally expansive research into young people’s contemporary urban life, Growing Up In Cities 2020 involves 12 countries and examines adolescent perceptions of urban space in order to better understand the impact the local environment has on their lives. The Growing Up In Cities (GUIC) 2020 project replicates two benchmark adolescent studies done in 1972 by MIT Professor Kevin Lynch and in 1998 by University of Colorado Professor Louise Chawla. Dr. Beza and Dr. Kreutz are the project’s lead researchers coordinating and directing the other international partners and the development of their respective studies. The GUIC 2020 project is intended to empower children, providing them with a voice that advocates for their health and wellbeing, in contemporary urban contexts in Australia as well as in Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, India, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the USA.
Self-Sourcing Research, Teaching &/or Co-Production Project Funding - From Intercultural, Development and Rebuilding Studios (Total income from 2010-2019: $495,000)
Nepal: Junbesi High School (Junbesi, Nepal)
Potable Drinking Water Co-Production Project (2019); Deakin University, Australia / Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology / Junbesi High School, Nepal / Junbesi Community, Nepal.
Junbesi High School Post-Earthquake Hostel Rebuilding and Co-Production Project (2016); Deakin University, Australia / Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology / Junbesi High School / Junbesi Community.
Student Hygiene Station Design Investigation and Co-Production Project (2012); Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia / Junbesi High School / Junbesi Community.
Nepal: Phungmoche Monastery & Sherpa Language Buddhist School (Phungmoche, Nepal)
Potable Drinking Water Co-Production Project (2018); Deakin University, Australia / Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology / Phungmoche Monastery & Sherpa Language Buddhist School.
Phungmoche Monastery Post-Earthquake Rebuilding and Co-Production Project (Phungmoche, Nepal) (2017); Deakin University, Australia / Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology / Phungmoche Monastery & Sherpa Language Buddhist School.
Incinerator Design Investigation and Co-Production Project (2010); Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia / Phungmoche Monastery & Sherpa Language Buddhist School.
Colombia
Informal Settlements: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Development (Bogotá) (2015); Deakin University, Australia / Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology / Universidad La Salle, Mexico / Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia / Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden.
Global Cities and Informal Settlement Investigation: Bogotá, Colombia & Mexico City, Mexico (2013): Deakin University, Australia / Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia / Queensland University of Technology, Australia/ Universidad La Salle, Mexico / Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia.
Mexico
Finding Common Ground: Creating Successful Places in the Redevelopment of Mexico City, Mexico and Melbourne, Australia (2014); Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia / Queensland University of Technology, Australia / Universidad La Salle, Mexico.
Publications
Coastal Scenario Planning Model: Point Impossible to Jan Juc Masterplan
Phillip Roos, David Jones, John Herron, Paras Sidiqui, Beau Beza, Aida Eslami Afrooz, Daniel Ierodiaconou
(2020), Geelong, Vic., A6
B Beza, J Zeunert, M Herron
(2019), pp. 228-237, Geelong?s changing landscape: ecology, development and conservation, Clayton, Vic., B1
Sensory urbanism and placemaking exploring virtual reality and the creation of place
A Globa, R Wang, B Beza
(2019), Vol. 2, pp. 737-746, CAADRIA 2019: Intelligent and Informed - Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia, Wellington, New Zealand, E1
Xiaofeng Shi, Beau Beza, David Jones, Dongxu Cui
(2019), pp. 1-8, ICOMOS - CIAV & ISCEAH 2019 : Proceedings of the Joint Annual Meeting & International Conference on Vernacular & Earthen Architecture towards Local Development, 6-8 September 2019, Pingyao, China, Pingyao, China, E1
Food-sensitive urban planning: Australian perspectives
D Jones, B Beza
(2018), pp. 393-408, Routledge handbook of landscape and food, Abingdon, Eng., B1
The role of WSUD in contributing to sustainable urban settings
B Beza, Joshua Zeunert, Frank Hanson
(2018), pp. 367-380, Approaches to water sensitive urban design: potential, design, ecological health, economics, policies and community perceptions, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, B1
Place? Lugar? Sitio? Framing place and placemaking through Latin American contexts
Beau Beza, Cristina Garduno Freeman, Diego Fullaondo, Glenda Meja
(2018), pp. 19-42, Urban space: experiences and reflections from the global south, Santiago de Cali, Colombia, B1
Placemaking in a world where spirituality and community development meet - the Junbesi Valley, Nepal
Beau Beza
(2018), pp. 117-134, Urban space: experiences and reflections from the global south, Santiago de Cali, Colombia, B1
B Beza, J Hernndez-Garcia
(2018), Vol. 11, pp. 192-207, Journal of place management and development, Bingley, Eng., C1
Developing an open space standard in a densely populated city: a case study of Chittagong city
Beau Beza, Maharina Jafrin
(2018), Vol. 3, pp. 1-25, Infrastructures, Basel, Switzerland, C1
Urban Space: Experiences and Reflections from the Global South
B Beza, Jaime Hernndez-Garcia, Sabina O'Byrne, Adolfo Garca-Jerez
(2018), Urban Space: Experiences and Reflections from the Global South, Santiago de Cali, Colombia, A7
Lovability: The rise of the qualitative evaluation of place
Fiona Gray, Cristina Garduno Freeman, B Beza, Ursula De Jong, Matt Novacevski
(2018), pp. 1-13, Proceedings of the 2018 11th Liveable Cities Conference, Melbourne, Victoria, E1
Women and their roles in peace building in conflict vulnerable areas of Mindanao, Philippines
B Beza, M Johnson, A Fuentes
(2017), pp. 131-145, Community Engagement in Post-Disaster Recovery, Abingdon, Eng., B1
An owner-driven reconstruction in Bihar
M Vahanvati, B Beza
(2017), Vol. 8, pp. 306-319, International journal of disaster resilience in the built environment, Bingley, Eng., C1
Greening Chongqing enhancing 'double happiness' and mountain-city trails as an eco-city strategy
D Jones, G Liu, J Chen, I Martek, B Beza, J Zeunert, P Roos
(2017), pp. 1-17, EcoCity World Summit 2017, Melbourne, Vic, E1
Places for sustainability citizenship
B Beza
(2016), pp. 139-149, Sustainability citizenship and cities: theory and practice, Abingdon, Eng., B1
An Indigenous perspective on sustainability citizenship
D Jones, B Beza
(2016), pp. 150-162, Sustainability citizenship and cities: theory and practice, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Sustainability citizenship in cities
B Beza, R Horne, J Fien, A Nelson
(2016), pp. 1-14, Sustainability citizenship and cities: theory and practice, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Futures for sustainability citizenship
B Beza, A Nelson, R Horne, J Fien
(2016), pp. 209-215, Sustainability citizenship and cities: theory and practice, Abingdon, Eng., B1
B Beza
(2016), pp. 259-269, Esttica de los mundos posibles: inmersin en la vida artificial, las artes y las prcticas urbanas, Bogota, Colombia, B1
B Beza
(2016), Vol. 17, pp. 244-263, Planning theory and practice, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Sustainability, citizenship and cities : theory and practice
R Horne, J Fien, B Beza, A Nelson
(2016), Abingdon, Eng., A7
'Iconic development' : is there such a thing?
G Todaro, B Beza, D Jones
(2016), pp. 554-567, UHPH 2016 : Icons : The Making, Meaning and Undoing of Urban Icons and Iconic Cities, Gold Coast, Queensland, E1
Owner-driven reconstruction in India: a case-study of Kosi River floods in Bihar
B Beza, M Vahanvati
(2015), pp. 367-1-367-16, Proceedings ANDROID Residential Doctoral School : 5th International Conference on Building Resilience, Newcastle, N.S.W., E1
B Beza, J Veitch, F Hanson
(2015), pp. 1-18, Urban Design 2015: Empowering Change: Transformative Innovations and Projects : Proceedings of the 8th International Urban Design Conference, Brisbane, Qld., E1
The public city : a new urban imagery
B Beza, B Gleeson
(2014), pp. 1-11, The public city: essays in honour of Paul Mees, Melbourne, Vic., B1
Public transport: elements for success in a car-oriented city
J Stone, B Beza
(2014), pp. 90-105, The public city: essays in honour of Paul Mees, Melbourne, Vic., B1
Realizing design projects in the mountains of Australia: a repositioned problem-solving approach
B Beza
(2014), pp. 341-356, Mountains : geology, topography and environmental concerns, B1-1
Informal settlements and placemaking : The case of Caracoli barrio in Bogot
B Beza, J Hernndez-Garcia
(2014), pp. 1-14, UD 2014 : Proceedings of the 7th International Urban Design Conference, Adelaide, South Australia, E1
The aesthetic value of a mountain landscape: a study of the Mt. Everest Trek
B Beza
(2010), Vol. 97, pp. 306-317, Landscape and urban planning, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
Improving the methods and impacts of agricultural extension in conflict areas of Mindanao, Philippines Project - transfer in from RMIT
Dr Kenneth Menz, Mr Noel Vock, Prof John Flen, Dr Beau Beza, Ms Mary Johnson
ACIAR Grant - Research - Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
- 2016: $4,545
- 2015: $9,090
Supervisions
Joshua Zeunert
Thesis entitled: Multidimensional sustainability, landscape and food, and public urban agriculture in landscape architecture
Doctor of Philosophy (Architecture), School of Architecture and Built Environment
Jennifer Dearnaley
Thesis entitled: Wadawurrung Ethnobotany as synthesised from the research of Louis Lane
Doctor of Philosophy (Architecture), School of Architecture and Built Environment
Kenneth Taylor
Thesis entitled: Landscape, Culture and Heritage. Changing Perspectives in an Asian Context
Doctor of Philosophy (Architecture), School of Architecture and Built Environment
. Ni Made Yudantini
Thesis entitled: Bali Aga Cultural Landscape Challenges: Conserving the Balinese Traditional Landscape for Future Balinese Indigenous Villages (Bali Aga) and Communities
Doctor of Philosophy (Architecture), School of Architecture and Built Environment