SPEAKERS

 CPD Event | 10 Formal CPD points | 14-16 FEBRUARY 2024 | NIPALUNA (HOBART)

AJ King

Ochre Rain

Aj King

Bigambul / Wakka Wakka cultural practitioner

Topic: Embedding First Nations cultural knowledge and practice into planning and design work  

AJ is a founder of Ochre-Rain, supporting businesses owned by First People.

 

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Aleshia Lonsdale

Creative Australia

Aleshia Lonsdale

Topic: Fruition through multidisciplinarity - The Corridor Project.

Aleshia is visual artist, curator and arts worker based in regional New South Wales (NSW). Lonsdale is a Wiradjuri woman from Mudgee, NSW, who works for Arts OutWest as the Aboriginal Arts Development Officer. She is an alumnus of the National Gallery of Australia’s (NGA) Wesfarmers Indigenous Leadership Program.

Aleshia is the Chairperson of the Mudgee Local Aboriginal Land Council. This Council focuses on protecting, maintaining and sharing country, cultural heritage and cultural practices within its region.

As a multidisciplinary artist, Lonsdale creates works which respond to place, time, cultural values and traditions and contemporary issues of First Nations peoples today.

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Bianca Scaife

Cooper Scaife Architects

Bianca Scaife

Topic: Architecture as interpretive device - making cultural landscape legible for all .

Bianca is a director of CSA (Cooper Scaife Architects), a small practice she co-founded in 2003. She lives and works on Gunditjmara Country in southwest Victoria and is committed to making an authentic contribution to the natural, cultural and built environment of this region. Bianca’s learning about the Gunditjmara, their culture and connection to Country is ongoing. It has led to new friendships and new projects, but most importantly, new ways of seeing the landscape that she grew up on.  

As a rural practice CSA takes on a wide variety of project typologies, from private housing, to schools, healthcare and public buildings. By far the most rewarding project they have undertaken is the design of tourism infrastructure on the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, for Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, a project that spanned over 7 years. 

The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape project won a Commendation in the 2023 Architecture AU Award for Social Impact. The project has also been referenced as a case study by institutions including the Government Architect of NSW and researchers at Monash University as demonstrating ‘best practice’ principles for working on Country, engaging with Aboriginal communities and representing indigenous knowledge and culture. 

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Charles Solomon

Garawana Creative

Charles Solomon

Presenting with James Gilliland Topic: Architecture as interpretive device - making cultural landscape legible for all .

Charles Solomon is professionally trained in Conservation Land Management and is the owner and operator of Garawana Creative. 

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Craig Kerslake

Nguluway Designinc

Craig Kerslake

Craig Kerslake 

 Wiradjuri Architect, Managing Director, Nguluway DesignInc  

Topic: Case study: The Indigenous hand – Country centric narratives as vernacular expression 

‘It is our collective human fascination with our continual relationship with the natural world. Ultimately landscapes ground us and bring us back to who we really are.’ Craig Kerslake 

The world is realising that the original Custodians of our lands hold many answers as to how we view ourselves within the landscape and with each other. This most definitely informs the making of our built environment and most of all our identity.

As a Wiradjuri Architect, Craig draws upon his cultural heritage, community and knowledge of what Aboriginal people refer to as ‘Country’. Within a team setting, he brings this forth with spirited innovation to inform spatial design and architectural form with unique expression that finds resonance with all Australians. His cultural overlays often draw design thinking to the unexpected and provide positive outcomes focused on Aboriginal centred qualities, spatial unity and scales of social engagement.

Often this is achieved through a uniquely enriching process Craig refers to as ‘Designing From Country’ where design narratives come from the Aboriginal understanding of Country. With cultural engagement with Aboriginal community members and Elders, clients are taken ‘Back to Country’ on an experiential journey. By following traditional cultural practices, overlaid with architectural thinking, clients feel welcomed to the landscape, and often find their understanding and perspectives transformed. The experience is both grounding and many say they find strong bonds and a sense of connection to “place” and identity in the process. Beyond this, an often restructured brief is gained, informed by ideas of ‘Belonging to Country’. 

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Daniel Boyd

 presenting with Edition Office

Daniel Boyd

Topic: Case study: Artist-architect collaboration  (with Edition Office) 

Daniel Boyd is considered one of Australia’s leading artists. A Kudjala, Ghungalu, Wangerriburra, Wakka Wakka, Gubbi Gubbi, Kuku Yalanji, Bundjalung and Yuggera man with ni-Vanuatu heritage, he now lives and works on Gadigal/Wangal Country, Sydney. His work reinterprets Eurocentric perspectives on Australian history and the ethics of colonisation by drawing from historic photographs, art-historical references and his own personal and cultural history.

 

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Aaron Roberts and Kim Bridgland

Edition Office 

Edition Office

Case study: Artist-architect collaboration

Edition Office is an architecture studio encompassing cultural, social and technological research, enabling exploration of material expression, form and spatial practice. The experiential qualities of their work enable projects which re-articulate relationships between communities and place.

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James Gilliland

Clarke Hopkins Clarke Architects presenting with Charles Solomon

James Gilliland

Topic: Case study: Designing a paradigm for Indigenous social housing 

“As architects, we're in a privileged position, shaping the lives and health of people and habitats. We have a responsibility to make sure we're changing things for the better.” 

James is the great-grandson of a proud Yorta Yorta man and a leader of Clarke Hopkins Clarke’s Indigenous Design Group (IDG), a team of 30 people in every sector of the practice working to embed meaningful engagement and co-design with Traditional Custodians and other First Nations stakeholders on our projects. A highly respected senior architect and project leader in our Multi-residential team, James is responsible for a project’s progression through all stages of design and delivery. His broad experience includes Indigenous social housing and community facilities, and diverse residential and hospitality projects including ESD exemplar Lt Miller-NGBE, winner of PCA and UDIA awards in 2021 for innovation and excellence. 

One of only a handful of First Nations architects in Australia, James understands and advocates for Country-focused design principles and opportunities on our projects and is central to our practice’s mission to Impact Tomorrow.

He is currently leading one of Aboriginal Housing Victoria’s first multi-residential apartment developments, which through close collaboration with Indigenous landscape designers, RMIT design students, the client and tenants is helping to reimagine Indigenous social housing In Australia. Culturally significant landscaping including productive gardens create opportunities for tenants to practice and share culture. Considered architectural forms and materials and a prominent Elder residence create space and focus for cultural leadership. 

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Jefa Greenaway

Greenaway Architects

 

Jefa Greenaway

Topic: Biennale showcase: Process and journey – speaking to identity and culture though architecture 

Jefa Greenaway of Greenaway Architects is a nationally recognised architect, academic (University of Melbourne), design advocate and a regular design commentator on ABC Radio Melbourne. As a registered architect in private practice in both NSW and Victoria, he seeks to reveal layers of history and memory through connections to place, demonstrating the value of people centred design which interrogates one’s own philosophical or ethical underpinning and design responsibilities. Over two decades he’s also championed Indigenous led design thinking, particularly through the International Indigenous Design Charter, as Regional Ambassador (Oceania) of INDIGO (International Indigenous Design Alliance) and sits on numerous boards that intersect with art, architecture and cultural heritage. 

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Professor Julian Worrall

University of Tasmania

Julian Worrall

Topic: Biennale showcase: Unsettling Queenstown – The future of the open archive

Professor of Architecture, Head of School, School of Architecture and Design, University of Tasmania

Julian Worrall is an architect whose activities span scholarly research and teaching, critical writing, and design practice. His career has been animated by a multi-faceted inquiry into ‘alternative modernities’ in architecture and urbanism, notably including a deep engagement with Japan. He is presently Professor and Head of the School of Architecture and Design at the University of Tasmania. He has contributed to major institutions and exhibitions of architectural culture internationally, including at La Biennale (Venice); MoMA (New York); V&A Museum (London); MAK (Vienna); Strelka (Moscow); Shibaura House (Tokyo); and Festa (Christchurch).

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Kevin O’Brien

BVN

Kevin O'Brien

Topic: Uncovering Country and accumulating richness from palimpsests

Kevin O’Brien is a Brisbane-based architect. Kevin’s expertise over the past 25 years – in cultural, educational, health and commercial projects – generated his reputation for achieving meaningful architecture and authentic outcomes for communities and clients. Numerous projects have been recognized through the Australian Institute of Architects’ awards in regional, state and national categories. 

Even though Kevin has been a passionate leader of BVN’s Designing with Country strategy, he urges every architect to learn the tools to lead this approach. He values the opportunity to lead large, collaborative, multidisciplinary teams for the opportunity they present to extend beyond what was thought possible. 

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Marni Reti 

Kaunitz Yeung Architecture

Marni Reti

Topic: Balancing act – meeting community needs, satisfying NCC and planning requirements

Born and raised on Gadigal land, Marni Reti is a proud palawa and Ngatiwai woman – palawa being the First Nations people of Tasmania, and Ngatiwai being the Indigenous people from the Northland Region of New Zealand.  
 
Marni is one of the first recipients of the prestigious Droga Indigenous Architecture Scholarship at the University of Technology Sydney where she completed her Master of Architecture degree. She currently works at Kaunitz Yeung Architecture who have been widely recognised for their projects working with and for Indigenous communities. 
 
In 2021 Marni Reti received the NSW Architects Registration Board 2021 Architects Medallion. This is awarded to one NSW architecture graduate each year. In its unanimous decision, the Jury's Citation noted Marni's exceptional talent ‘as creative thinker who is deeply committed to engagement with Indigenous communities, bringing a breadth of experience and insight that is rare in a person so young.' 
 
Additionally, Marni recently received the 2022 Sustainability Award for Best Emerging Architect/Designer.  
 
Already operating within strongly defined ethical boundaries, Marni has a clear vision of her future purpose as an architect and the extra cultural dimension she has to offer as a proud palawa and Ngatiwai woman.

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Michael McMahon

Wardle

Michael McMahon

Topic: Linking material culture to country 

Michael has worked across civic and educational projects such as the Bendigo Law Courts and the University of Tasmania’s Willis Street project located at the Inveresk precinct. Michael also contributed extensively to the Castlemaine Art Museum masterplan for Wardle. Michael is Wardle’s First Nation’s Leader, utilising his considerable research skills and insight he supports project and management teams on decision making surrounding First Nations issues. He is committed to investigating how First Nations expertise and communities can be embedded in our built environments.

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Dr Michael Mossman

University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning 

Dr Michael Mossman

Topic: Ngurra Design Competition

Michael Mossman is a Kuku Yalanji man, born and raised in Cairns on Yidinji Country. He now lives and works on Gadigal land and is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Sydney School of Architecture Design and Planning where he has just been awarded his doctor of philosophy with the topic of his thesis: ‘Third Space, Architecture and Indigeneity. He is also a registered architect who champions Country and First Nations cultures as agents for structural change in the broader architectural profession at educational, practice and policy levels.

He completed his doctor of philosophy in April 2021. His dissertation, ‘Third Space, Architecture and Indigeneity - Stories of Designed Environments and Cultural Narratives in Australia’ explores the process of communication and exchange in architecture through the dialogue of First Nations and colonial-influenced ways to realise transformative design outcomes.

His previous position at the NSW Government Architect's Office focused on the inception, planning, design and delivery of architectural projects. Projects ranged from Indigenous specific community places to large scale projects such as new schools.

With a passion of architecture, Michael constantly strives for new professional challenges and opportunities to further develop his architectural skills, and pass on a quality knowledge base to communities, students, colleagues and prospective new engagements.

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Poppy Taylor and Matt Hinds

Taylor + Hinds Architects

Poppy Taylor and Matt Hinds

Topic: Case study: Wybalenna 

Poppy Taylor: With 15 years of Industry experience, Poppy has been involved in number of high-quality private sector tourism, heritage and residential projects.  In 2011 Poppy received the Institute's Tasmanian Chapter Emerging Architect Prize. Her acute sensibility as a practitioner is defined by her capacity to clearly communicate spatial ideas and to understand the technical means by which ideas are made into built outcomes.  

 

Mat Hinds

Mat received his architectural education in both Tasmania and abroad, and registered as an architect in Tasmania in 2011. In 2018 he was awarded the Tasmanian Emerging Architects Prize for his contribution to the profession. 

Driven and committed to a high-quality design outcome, Mat works closely with our clients. He has a nuanced and technically astute architectural mind, and seeks sensitive, rigorous and affordable design outcomes. He has held teaching and associate lecturing and examiner positions at the University of Tasmania for over a decade, and has taught in a number of institutions internationally.

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Rodney Dillon

Aboriginal Heritage Council

Rodney Dillon

Tour: Murrayfield Station, Bruny Island 

Rodney is the Chairperson of the Aboriginal Heritage Council and has extensive understanding and knowledge of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1975 . He has been a member of numerous high-level boards including National Oceans (5 years), Australian Heritage Council (6 years), Stolen Generations (4 years) and Commissioner for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission (8 years). 

Rodney established the Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance (TRACA) to provide a mechanism to engage and advise Government at all levels regarding affairs affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Tasmania.  

Rodney Dillon is Amnesty International's Indigenous Campaigner and Chair of the National Reference Group for Repatriation of Australian Indigenous Remains. He is also a proud palawa man.  

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SAMANTHA RICH

walumarra studio

Samantha Rich

Samantha Rich is a Wiradjuri woman, a Graduate of Architecture and she is dedicated to embedding First Nations worldview into the design of buildings and the broader built environment. Samantha has a focus on addressing systemic housing needs facing many remote and regional communities. She has been working with the community-led partnership called Yuwaya Ngarra-li for the last few years looking at multiple housing needs in the Walgett community

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Sarah Lynn Rees

Senior Associate + Lead Indigenous Advisor at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

Sarah Lynn Rees

Sarah Lynn Rees

Topic: Protocol Project

Currently working as an Associate and Lead Indigenous Advisor at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects, Lecturer at Monash University, MPavilion's Program Consultant for the BLAKitecture series, Co-Chair of the Institute's First Nations Advisory Working Group.

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SHANEEN FANTIN

People Oriented Design (presenting with Uncle Peter Hyde)

Shaneen Fantin

Shaneen Fantin

Topic: Indigenous architecture and intercultural design 

Shaneen is a designer, writer and innovator. She sits on the Queensland State Government Urban Design and Places Panel and is a member of the Australian Institute of Architects First Nations Advisory Working Group. Shaneen has authored eight book chapters on Indigenous architecture, placemaking and intercultural design, and has published many articles on tropical architecture, urban design, housing and health projects.

Shaneen has a rare combination of ability and experience that includes architecture, project & program management, community engagement, research and teaching. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and James Cook University, and is a member of International Association for Public Participation. 

Shaneen holds a PhD from the University of Queensland on the relationship between design and culture in Aboriginal housing and has applied this research knowledge on many Indigenous housing and health projects in Queensland, the Northern Territory, New South Wales, South Australia and Canada. Shaneen is a regular contributor to Architecture Australia, Houses and Sanctuary Magazines and is the author of many journal articles and book chapters. 

Shaneen lives on a farm near Cairns with her husband and two children. She cooks, reads, gardens and propagates native plants

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SIMONE BLISS

SBLA Studio

Simone Bliss

Topic: Case study: Bendigo Kangan Place - Landscaping with Country 

Simone Bliss is the creative director of SBLA Studio and panel member of the recently implemented City of Melbourne Design Review Panel.

She has eighteen years' experience designing and project managing nationally and internationally award-winning projects.

Simone has a creative vision with the ability to materialise colorful conceptual ideas into functional spaces. She is an active member in the discussion of green field development, high and mid density housing and Melbourne’s housing shortage.

She has led a series of multi-residential housing projects that are undertaking alternative models to business as usual. She has worked closely with a number of developers and architects who are pushing the urban density and middle ground housing outcomes

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TROY CASEY

Blaklash

Troy Casey

Topic; Partnering with practice - Indigenous perspectives and curatorial innovation

Troy is passionate about harnessing economic opportunities to create positive social change for First Nations Australians. He comnines his extensive community engagement experience spanning the government, not-for –profit and higher education sectors with his curatorial practice, working collaboratively with communities to ensure First Nations voices are embedded across projects within public art, placemaking and urban design.

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Uncle Peter Hyde

UNCLE PETER HYDE

 

Uncle Peter Hyde

Uncle Peter (Bumi) Hyde (presenting with Shaneen Fantin)

Gimuy Walubara Yidinji elder and traditional custodian

Minister for Police, Yidinji Sovereign Nation

Topic:  Indigenous architecture and intercultural design  

Uncle Peter (Bumi) Hyde was born in 1953 and spent his early childhood on Country in Redlynch camping near the Barron River and Freshwater Creek near Cairns. He moved to Yarrabah when he was about five years old and lived at Buddabadoo south of Yarrabah with his family.

Uncle went to primary school in Yarrabah and is an alumnus of Cairns State High School. He has worked on sugar cane farms, as a painter and police aide in Yarrabah, as a teacher’s aide at Parramatta Park and Cairns West schools, as a bus driver for Wuchopperen Medical Service, and as a volunteer at the Salvation Army. Uncle supports many schools in the region with cultural activities and for NAIDOC celebrations. He is a leader at the Frontier Wars memorial celebrations and during ANZAC day ceremonies. Uncle Peter is a ceremonial leader, elder and educator.

He is committed to educating people about his Country, culture and history. He has worked alongside many architects on projects in the Cairns area and providing education to students at the University of Qld, University of Newcastle and the Sydney University.

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The Institute

The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.

We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.

We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.

© Australian Institute of Architects

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