Country-centric design doesn’t seek to erase the post-settlement history of a site, but add to it. Demand is growing even with a skills crunch.
and Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria Contemporary project is outstripping the number of qualified people to do the work, a leading Aboriginal design figure says.
Australia would have “probably no more than 20” registered Indigenous architects and only half of those would be in private practice, he says.Country-centric design doesn’t seek to erase the post-settlement history of a site, but add to it. The university’s historic 1888 Building was restored and given a new sandy courtyard – to help absorb rainwater – and planted with native plants.An amphitheatre floor of local mudstone, granite and basalt rocks includes tracery – meandering patterns that continue as interior design themes through adjacent buildings such as the ERC Library – charting the path of ephemeral waterways that used to make their way across the area.
Old - and older: The university’s 1888 Building was renovated and its grounds remodelled to display local plants and absorb rainwater into the ground.The skills base is growing – Indigenous design content is a required part of accredited architectural degrees in Australia now – but so is demand. In July, NSW mandated Indigenous design consideration in major infrastructure and estate planning through its Connecting with Country policy.
Unfolding pattern: Tracery in the grounds of the Student Precinct reveal the paths of ephemeral water ways that used to cover the Carlton site.Consultation for the University of Melbourne project took 18 months. Time is money in development and that is a change that designers and clients need to understand.
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