Practising Ngara in urban Country

A written article on Melbourne’s Docklands, on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. The article explores the possibilities of engaging with Country as a living entity in the built-up heart of the city. There is focus on Indigenous principles when immersing on Country including listening to Country and keeping Country healthy.

Ngarara Place, RMIT University

Ngarara Place is an addition to the cultural and campus life of RMIT University. The purpose of the built project was to establish visible presence and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and histories as connected among the lands of the Kulin Nation. The building design and landscape were influenced by Country, with culture reflected through motifs and contemporary art.

Native to the Nation: Disciplining Landscapes and Bodies in Australia

Focusing on Australia, this book examines the physical and narrative spatial practices by which people reclaim territory in the wake of postcolonial claims to land by Indigenous people and new immigration. Native to the Nation provides a multisited ethnography of two communities in Melbourne allowing us to see how bodies are managed and nations physically constructed in everyday confrontations and cultivations.

Lowitja Institute

The Lowitja Institute is Australia’s only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health research institute. The built project was designed with the priority of connection to Country.

Koorie Heritage Trust

The Koorie Heritage Trust is an organisation based in Melbourne that works to raise awareness and appreciation of the cultural diversity of Indigenous Australians, particularly in Victoria. They offer cultural resources including programs, training, family history and art services. The Koorie Heritage Trust building includes a public collection dedicated to Indigenous art and culture that includes artefacts, pictures and photographs.

Introduction: making Indigenous place in the Australian city

The essay Introduction: making Indigenous place in the Australian city written by Emily Potter explores Indigenous cultural centre design in settler-colonial Australia. It reviews concerns, acknowledging the small number of Indigenous architects in Australia along with the complex social, historical and political context of Indigenous cultural design against non-indigenous architectural and spatial practice.

In Absence Pavilion

In Absence Pavilion is a built project that invites audiences to understand the fallacy and ongoing legacy of the premise of Terra Nullius. The project sets out to combine contemporary architectural strategies and the semiotic potential of architecture, art and landscape to reveal resonant stories. Completed in 2019, it uses the context of the site and materials to celebrate Indigenous knowledge, heritage, culture and connection to Country.

Bunjil Place

A built project featuring diverse cultural facilities and community spaces under one roof. The design features central focus on interpretation of the land in the culture of the Traditional Owners and inhabitants, the Wurundjeri, Bunurong and Boon Wurrung people. Completed in 2017, the project features public theatres, gallery, library, exhibition and meetings spaces.