Architecture

A new garden established at the University of Tasmania’s recently completed Inveresk campus has resulted in a reflective, native landscape that is rich in First Nations identity and culture. The Riawunna Garden at River’s Edge, designed by Wardle, T3D Studios, and Aspect Studios, is located near the university’s north-eastern entrance. The garden features native plants, a performance space, and four artworks designed by Tasmanian Aboriginal artists Genie Battese and Lynne Spotswood. Battese and Spotswood were commissioned to convey and embed First Nations stories throughout the garden, a vision that was brought to life through the design of outdoor screens, seating, a shade shelter and fire pit cover.
Collaborating with the university’s design team, the artists developed works that showcase earthly elements, as well as represent the spirits of Aboriginal people, those from the past and those still living. The spirits are depicted as moving through the landscape and connecting with Country.
Family and community, as well as native reeds and grasses are illustrated on the metal garden screens, and have been achieved through a laser cutting process.
The element of fire is visible on the fire pit lid with the word ”patrula” (fire) inscribed directly underneath. Etched into the pavement are the words “kanamaluka” (Tamar River), “laykila” (North Esk River) and ”plipatumila” (South Esk River), giving recognition to the context of the site and its connection to freshwater.
“We were walking along laykila/the North Esk River looking at all the reeds, the grasses and the river flow, all the noises and the smells, and just listening. That’s when we got the idea that we’d have the theme of rivers and reeds in our artwork,” Spotswood said.
“Freshwater is also essential, and so is fire, so we incorporated those two elements in the commission along with our community connections and palawa kani – our language.”

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The shade canopy comprises nine sections, with each section symbolising Tasmania’s nine Aboriginal Nations. Image:

Courtesy of University of Tasmania

The seat and shelter were inspired by the traditional practice of basket-weaving. The shade canopy comprises nine sections, with each section symboliszing Tasmania’s nine Aboriginal Nations. The shelter will eventually house woven artwork displays crafted by Aboriginal people.
“I imagine visitors of the Riawunna Garden will feel very peaceful and relaxed as it’s where people will be sitting down and yarning, and they might go and explore and hopefully reflect on the old people who would have once been walking through the freshwater and hunting and gathering there,” Spotswood said.
Amanda Kay from T3D Studios said their practice met up with Genie and Lynne over a period of three months to assist with transforming their ideas into physical artworks.
“Through a series of workshops, we worked with Genie and Lynne who spoke of their cultural heritage and identity, sharing personal stories and experiences which both informed and enriched the three artworks for the garden. I have been empowered by this exchange and connect deeply with the work,” Kay said. More

Individuals and practices who have made significant strides in improving the built environment for the betterment of society have been recognized at three separate state honours announcements made by the Australian Institute of Architects.
The Institute’s NSW, Victorian and Tasmanian chapters have each announced a suite of awards, with each award highlighting the remarkable work being undertaken across the nation.
In NSW, 30 practitioners and organizations were presented with Prizes and Honours Awards. Three Prizes for Reconciliation were each awarded to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community social enterprise Gujaga Foundation, architect and educator Dr Michael Mossman, and the Heritage NSW and Heritage Council of NSW.
The NSW Land and Housing Corporation and the Blacktown City Council jointly received President’s Prizes, with the NSW Land and Housing Corporation lauded for delivering high-quality social housing, and Blacktown City Council for advancing their community through the facilitation of projects such as Woodcroft Neighbourhood Centre by Carter Williamson Architects and Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre (BARC) by Sam Crawford Architects.
The David Lindner Prize for graduate and emerging architects was received by Isabella Reynolds for her research proposal on how the built environment can better respond to issues faced by individuals suffering from invisible chronic pain and illness.
The Christopher Procter Prize was presented to emerging architect Andrea Lam for her project that sought to rethink and reimagine Australia’s urban Chinatowns through a study trip to San Francisco’s Chinatown, one of the oldest in the western world.
Catherine Lassen, senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, won the Marion Mahony Griffin Prize for her unwavering and passionate commitment to not only advancing the field but mentoring and educating others.
In Tasmania, the 2023 Barry McNeill Graduate Prize was presented to graduating student of the University of Tasmania’s Master of Architecture program, Jessie-Anne Pankiw.
In awarding Pankiw, the jury commented that she is a “committed and highly competent designer,” whose “enthusiasm and desire to consider challenging concepts will continue to inform her future in architecture.”
Pankiw’s accomplishments include serving as the president of the DArchside Student Society, as well as contributing to organization the 2024 Ground Matters Australasian Architecture Student Congress.

Her graduate project, “Procession” challenged the human inclination toward frailty when confronted with death, through the proposal of a quarry as the site for funerary functions.
“The selection of a functioning quarry to house a funerary operation is a macabre choice, the committal process enabling site rehabilitation through the use of decomposing bodies to fertilise the landscape. Precariously placed upon a series of slender columns, the primary building is an exquisite, captivating study in the power of subtractive tectonics, the mass carefully carved to let the play of light animate the subterranean incised spaces within,” the jury said.

“The operation is analogous to the way the quarry empties material from the earth, also amplifying the insecurity of the quarrying process. While the tension between the architecture and the terraced ground can be further explored, the project successfully establishes an unsettling dialogue with these diverse extractive processes, across scales.”
Students shortlisted for the 2023 Barry McNeill Graduate Prize include Taj Allen, Jing Xian (Jax) Cheng, Dylan Gardner, Mellisa Lee Hue Lau, and Steph Papastavrou.
In Victoria, senior associate and lead Indigenous advisor at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects, Sarah Lynn Rees was honoured with the President’s Prize, while Simon Robinson was the recipient of Robert Caulfield Graduate Research Scholarship. More

Entries are now open for the 38th Dulux Colour Awards, encouraging architects, interior designers, specifiers and students to submit interior and exterior, residential, commercial and public projects that demonstrate an innovative use of Dulux colour.
The categories for this year’s awards include commercial interior – workplace and retail, commercial interior – public and hospitality, commercial and multi-residential exterior, residential interior, single residential exterior, temporary or installation design, and student – for architecture and interior design students who are currently undertaking or have recently completed a course.
The judging panel comprises founder of Carter Williamson, Shaun Carter; co-founder of Wowowa Architecture, Monique Woodward; director of Pac Studio, Sarosh Mulla; founder of Studio Prineas, Eva-Marie Prineas; and co-founder and director of Technē Architecture and Interior Design, Nick Travers.
Dulux colour and communications manager, Andrea Lucena-Orr said the annual awards provide an opportunity to inspire industry-wide colour ambition in built environments and recognise emerging and established design talent.
“The Dulux Colour Awards celebrates the creativity of design practitioners who use colour to transform spaces. In 2024, we’re excited to further this celebration of colour with the introduction of the new Temporary or Installation Design category, which aims to showcase the use of paint finishes in temporary, installation, exhibition and brand promotional experiences,” Lucena-Orr said.
“The level of sophistication and constraint exercised by architects and designers never fails to impress our panel, and we look forward to seeing how the judges appraise this year’s entrants.”
The winner of each major category will be awarded $1,000 in prize money, while the student category winner will receive $500. Projects must have been completed between 1 September 2022 and 31 December 2023 to be eligible. Entries close on Friday 23 February 2024 with winners announced at the 28th Dulux Colour Awards on Wednesday 29 May 2024.
To find out more, visit the Dulux website. More

A heritage-listed former TAFE campus in Tasmania’s Launceston is set to be transformed into a mixed-use lifestyle facility named Reunion, in a $95 million redevelopment that seeks to increase visitation to the riverside city. The project, designed by DKO Architecture, has received rezoning and development approval. Proposed for the site at 10-16 Wellington Street is […] More

Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary has announced the shortlist for its annual Word of the Year contest, selected from new words added to the dictionary online.
The word of the year often reflect the zeitgeist of the time, with past Words of the Year including “doomscrolling” and “rona” (2020), “strollout” (2021) and “teal” (2022).
The 2023 shortlist includes “hostile architecture” and “YIMBY,” both from the social interest category, Macquarie Dictionary editors told ArchitectureAU.
“While examples of hostile architecture are now encountered by the public on a daily basis, very few of us have been aware of the mostly undisclosed ‘why’ behind the introduction of the measures until recently,” the editors said.
Hostile architecture often takes the form of anti-homelessness spikes in public areas, but it can also include anti-skateboarding fins or even arm rests between seats on public benches.
“The term itself, once confined to discussions within the realms of councils and planning, is now spilling over into general language as more people become aware of the motivation behind it. In many cases, awareness is accompanied by a healthy dose of outrage. We’re now seeing petitions to ban the practice and rid our public spaces of such design features – the resistance not just local, but worldwide.”
YIMBY is a “direction reaction to “NIMBYism,” Macquarie Dictionary editors said. “The use of either term often instigates volatile debate, descending quickly into a free-for-all. The promotion of high- and medium-density housing is a big part of YIMBYism, in response to the current housing shortage and the implications of high cost-of-living figures.
“Both hostile architecture and YIMBY are in the arena of serious social issues such as homelessness, the cost-of-living crisis, and the housing shortage.”
In fact, cost of living features heavily in the 2023 shortlist with its shortened colloquialism “cozzie livs” and “skimpflation” also in contention for Word of the Year.
The words on the shortlist provide a snapshot of the sort of language, practices, fashion and phenomena which have become established enough in Australian English to warrant an entry in the dictionary,” the editors said.
The Macquarie Word of the Year 2023 will be announced on 28 November. More

The City of Melbourne has opened a new three-storey library and family services facility at the Munro precinct, adjacent to the Queen Victoria Market.
Designed by Six Degrees and Bush Projects, the $15.7 million facility accommodates the first ever dedicated children’s library in the City of Melbourne, as well as reading rooms, study areas and computer spaces.
The facility has been named “narrm ngarrgu,” which means Melbourne knowledge in Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung language. It contains a collection of 30,000 new print books, an extensive digital book collection, audiobooks, magazines, music and film.
The library also has a dedicated maker space, with paint and photography stations, sewing and embroidery machines, 3D printers and laser cutters, as well as a sound studio for podcasting and recording.
A 960-square-metre outdoor terrace which overlooks the historic sheds of the Queen Victoria Market. The terrace features native plantings, an outdoor play area and an interactive six-metre-long tunnel in the shape of an eel trap.

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A 960-square-metre rooftop terrace at narrm ngarrgu overlooks the historic sheds of the Queen Victoria Gardens. Image:

Courtesy City of Melbourne

The library has a collection of 80 artworks, including newly commissioned works by Aboriginal artist Maree Clarke, a Mutti Mutti, Yorta Yorta, Boon Wurrung and Wemba Wemba woman, who created the carpet artwork in the children’s library.
As well as the library, the facility also include family services for child and adult immunisations, family support and counselling, parenting services, and child and maternal health support services.
“narrm ngarrgu is a remarkable new facility which will make it easier than ever for Melburnians to access essential family and health services, books and information,” said lord mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp.
“In the last financial year, our collection of libraries welcomed nearly 1 million visitors – and we’re expecting this patronage to nearly double with the opening of narrm ngarrgu.” More

Nightingale Village is once again being recognized for human-centred, environmentally conscious design after earning the Industry Leader accolade in the Sustainable Places category at the 21st Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards. Designed by six different architecture practices – Architecture Architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball, and Kennedy Nolan – the six buildings constructed […] More

The Parramatta Aquatic Centre, designed by Grimshaw, Andrew Burges Architects and McGregor Coxall opened to the public on 25 September. The 40,000 square metre facility contains a 50-metre, 10-lane heated outdoor pool encircled by a perimeter ring, a 25-metre, 8-lane indoor pool, a learn-to-swim indoor pool, an indoor splash play area, as well as a […] More