Blueprints for success

The Melbourne School of Design must be doing something right.

Two postgraduate students from the University of Melbourne have had their research projects recognised and awarded on the international stage by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Hannah Robertson and Milinda Pathiraja were presented with their awards in a London ceremony.

The award-winning research of both students rests on a foundation of community engagement and a desire to use their architectural expertise to assist the greater community, both in Australia and internationally.

Dr Pathiraja received the 2011 RIBA President’s Award for Research for his PhD thesis, which examined the contribution architects can make to labour policy and supporting developing economies through construction projects.

This research could provide some significant insights into how the construction industry can better work with the informal and unskilled labour force.

Ms Robertson received the 2011 RIBA President’s Student Dissertation Medal for her Master’s Dissertation, Bush Owner Builder, which investigates ways to improve housing for Indigenous Australians.

For this project, she consulted and worked with members of the community at the Billy Boil homeland site in Hope Vale, Far North Queensland, to deliver designs and construct buildings to suit the needs of an Indigenous family.

In order to understand the homeland housing needs and aspirations of her clients, Ms Robertson conducted a number of face-to-face interviews with community members. She also undertook a model-making process with one family, facilitating discussions and workshopping their ideas into a feasible design.

“Working with the community was an incredible experience,” says Ms Robertson. “I was fortunate enough to speak to a number of community members, in particular, those of the elder generations, who had a wealth of stories and knowledge to share.

“The kinds of houses many Indigenous families live in are not designed for the day-to-day requirements and patterns of these families. The housing may not be suitable for the cultural practices or climate, and the structures may not accommodate extended family visits.

“The houses used by families in the area I looked at are often not used for the purposes they were designed for. For example, living rooms become bedrooms, verandahs become living areas and so forth,” Ms Robertson explains. “This is largely due to the fact that the designs used do not take into consideration the needs of the people they are intended to house.”

The project not only addresses issues that are of importance to the national agenda and come into play for Australian policymakers, but also addresses issues faced internationally. The award given by the Royal Institute of British Architects is a testament to this project’s global relevance and potential to be applied in a number of settings.

This is not Ms Robertson’s first encounter with the international architectural scene. “As a Masters student I have been very fortunate to tailor my course according to my personal interests of social engagement and community work,” she says.

She went on exchange to Berlin while a Masters of Architecture student at the University of Melbourne, and has also participated in travelling studios in Mexico and Papua New Guinea, where she was involved in community development projects.

“These experiences have helped me formulate my own ideas of how community projects should be undertaken,” she says.

Professor Philip Goad, the supervisor of Ms Robertson’s dissertation, says the RIBA President’s Dissertation Medal, one of the world’s most prestigious student awards, is fitting international recognition of Ms Robertson’s outstanding and important collaboration with the Indigenous community in Hope Vale.

“Her work demonstrates the excellent calibre of students within the Melbourne School of Design and this award demonstrates how detailed design research undertaken locally can have global significance.”