Designing with Country

Kevin O’Brien is a leading Australian architect who places Indigenous knowledge of Country at the centre of his practice. In 1997 he became a founding member of the Merrima Aboriginal Design Unit of the Government Architects Office of New South Wales and worked on institutional projects with NSW Aboriginal communities until 2001. In 2007 and 2008 he served as a Director of Architects Without Frontiers, a non-profit organization providing architectural services to disaster areas around the globe. Kevin established his own practice, Kevin O’Brien Architects, in Brisbane in 2006, which in 2018 merged with international firm BVN Architecture with whom he is now a Principal Architect. Kevin has also been a Professor of Design for the QUT School of Architecture and Built Environment, Professor of Practice at the University of Sydney and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney.

Alison Page is a Walbanga and Wadi Wadi woman and is an award-winning Designer and Film Producer whose career spanning 22 years links indigenous stories and traditional knowledge with contemporary design. She is the co-author of a new book Design: Building on Country which explores indigenous design, architecture and engineering principles as a blueprint for Australian design. Alison appeared for eight years as a regular panelist on the ABC TV show, The New Inventors and in 2015, was inducted into the Design Institute of Australia’s Hall of Fame. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Technology’s Design School and the founder of the National Aboriginal Design Agency. She is a Board member of the National Australia day Council, Councilor with the Australian National Maritime Museum and a Board member with Aboriginal research group, Ninti One Ltd. Alison sits on the Federal Governments Creative Economy Taskforce.

Craig is Nominated Architect and Managing Director of N G U L U W A Y DesignInc. 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.

Jefa is a founding Director of Greenaway Architects, a University of Melbourne Senior Lecturer, and an AILA Cultural Ambassador. He’s championed Indigenous led design thinking for 3 decades as a registered architect in NSW/VIC, as co-founder of Indigenous Architecture + Design Victoria, and as co-author of the International Indigenous Design Charter