Awakening to the Aboriginal Design Movement

Australia | Thursday, 12 November 2020

As we celebrate NAIDOC Week 2020, Michael Hromek (Yuin) WSP Technical Executive, Indigenous (Architecture) Design and Knowledge, discusses bringing Aboriginal design into the essence of place and what this means for both our clients and Community.

“During the 1980s through to the 2000s there was a gradual assembling of knowledge in Aboriginal design – decolonialisation – by great academics including Dr Russell Kennedy, Dr Meghan Kelly, Jefa Greenaway, Professor Brian Martin and Elly Chatfield,” Michael explains.

“Their work resulted in the Australian Indigenous Design Charter (and now also the International Indigenous Design Charter) which is a protocol document providing guidance for respectful representation of Indigenous culture in design practice and education. Our Core Principles are based on the set of ten points outlined within this charter.”

WSP Indigenous Specialist Services – Core Principles:

Indigenous Led – Indigenous people (designers, elders etc.) should be leading or co-leading the Indigenous elements in the design.
Community Involvement – Getting the local Indigenous community engaged in the design process is key to success. For example, can we use existing culturally-significant patterns or can we have some designed?
Appropriate Use of Indigenous Design – All Indigenous design elements must be approved by relevant Indigenous people, community and Elders. If approval is not given, the knowledge will not be used in the project.

“The aim of our Core Principles is to enable the incorporation of Aboriginal design by making it a practical process through all stages of a project,” says Michael.

“We follow them when delivering our services, taking our clients and stakeholders through the journey and also lead with these principles when talking with Traditional Owners. Elders are looking for our understanding, seeking involvement and want to know if we are going to get it right.”

Project Examples

Incorporation of Indigenous knowledge and culture in design is shown within the following three projects:

Special Activation Precincts

WSP is engaged on three Special Activation Precincts (SAPs) in NSW – Moree, Wagga Wagga and Parkes. SAPs are regional towns selected for economic development through business hub revitalisation, creating jobs, attracting businesses and investors, and supporting local industries. Precinct development includes masterplanning, permitted land uses and the identification of specific principal standards.

Prior to design of the masterplans, our Indigenous Specialist Services were engaged to provide cultural context mappings and advise on how they should respond to cultural practices. The aim of our involvement was in the understanding of Country – highlighting high level opportunities for Aboriginal involvement, design and engagement.

Michael expanded, “This is no different to other stakeholders, for example community groups or chamber of commerce or arts associations, who are all wanting their requirements to be considered in the planning. We are just providing this from a local Aboriginal point of view, but the Indigenous perspective is often neglected.”

Southern Program Alliance

The Southern Program Alliance (SPA) is one of five alliances responsible for delivering the Victorian Government’s promise to remove 75 of Melbourne’s most dangerous and congested level crossings by 2025. SPA is currently undertaking works to remove level crossings and build new train stations along the Frankston Line as part of an AUD $3 billion upgrade. The program alliance consists of WSP, the Level Crossing Removal Project, Metro Trains Melbourne, Acciona Construction Australia (formerly Lendlease Engineering), and Acciona Coleman Rail.

WSP co-designed many of the spaces in an iterative process in which Traditional Owners had direct input into the architects’ decisions. The project was structured with an urban design reference panel that embraced the idea of reflecting local Aboriginal design into the built environment, allowing input into elements outside the initial scope such as walls, lights and landscaping. The aim is to create a ‘songline’ of spaces and design that connects the whole project together thematically with the notion of Country. This includes adding design elements such as a yarning circle at Carrum, message sticks, and welcome mats in station precincts.

SPA also embedded cultural values and principles on the project with more than 500 team members participating in some form of cultural activity including attending awareness training, NAIDOC Week activities, smoking ceremonies, and tours of traditional lands.

WSP’s Indigenous Specialist Services have now also been engaged across all of the rail line areas identified for level crossing removal. Our role is to facilitate with the multiple Aboriginal tribes on whose land the rail lines and railway infrastructure has been constructed.

Michael outlined, “Our role includes talking with Traditional Owners from the four different tribes through which the six main rail lines traverse. This involves authentically connecting theming that has been established to a songline for each area. For example, a rail line with an existing train station for refurbishment together with the addition of a new community park – both of which are to include Aboriginal design elements. Our role is to ensure the Aboriginal design is correct and consistent with that appropriate to each geographic area.”

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WSP’s Brisbane Workplace

We engaged local Indigenous artist Ailsa Walsh from Wulkuraka Designs to bring an Aboriginal narrative to 900 Ann Street, the 2019 project which saw 600 people from multiple locations co-locate into a four-level, centrally located office in the heart of Brisbane.

Ailsa is connected to the Kullili and Lardil nations via tribal bloodlines and the Yuggera nation through family. Her unique background permits her to use a variety of art styles and techniques in her work. Our interior design partner, Hassell, collaborated with our Indigenous Specialists Services team and Ailsa to integrate and extend Indigenous knowledge and designs throughout the office fitout including: lift lobby wraps; colour palettes of flooring, wall colours and soft furnishings; Indigenous patterns throughout meeting spaces; and a yarning circle in the communal staff area.

“It was important that we made sure our 900 Ann Street office connected strongly with the land of the Yuggera people. By engaging a local artist like Ailsa we were able to incorporate her art into a modern office environment in a contemporary way. This is shown in the yarning circle which allows for a different type of gathering, subtle arrow patterning in the lighting and in the blockwork, woodwork in furniture carpentry, and rock stencils in the frosted privacy glass for meeting rooms,” said Michael.

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Seeking Aboriginal Knowledge for Places and Spaces

“There is an awakening to the Aboriginal design movement and a broader appreciation of Aboriginal design in general,” Michael explains.

“Indigenous design is developing a movement whereby through various iterations of a traditional element, for example the dot or a line, the design itself is being reimagined into a modern design identity.

“Clients look at the design, liking and accepting it because of its contemporary look and feel without necessarily understanding its aboriginality. As such they are looking at it without the conscious or unconscious bias of ‘Aboriginal art’ but with acceptance of modern design that just happens to be Aboriginal.

“The art itself is growing into a new or ‘true’ Australian design vernacular which is something we have never seen before.”

Two contemporary Aboriginal artists that are leaders in this new design vernacular are Jonathan Jones and Reko Rennie.

“Jonathan Jones and Reko Rennie look to the old and translate it for the new,” continues Michael. “Jonathan Jones works in a range of mediums, creating site-specific installations that use light and the repetition of shape. Reko Rennie merges traditional diamond-shaped designs, hand-drawn symbols and repetitive patterning. Both explore Aboriginal identity in a contemporary way within urban environments.”

When an Image is Used, Ideas Stick

“When we use design to visualise a space for projects, there is better understanding for both our clients and communities,” says Michael.

“In many ways Aboriginal design is a style. Through our culturally appropriate stakeholder engagement processes, Elders understand that the design has been inspired by the local art and pool of inspiration from which the design is derived. Our Design Guidelines also help to develop understanding for our clients, the complete project team and external stakeholders.

“An example of this was when WSP was engaged on the initial concept design for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge connecting Victoria Park to the city of Perth via Heirisson Island. Co-designing with a working group, the design envisioned gigantic boomerang-shaped pylons supporting a gently curved bridge. It was warmly embraced by both the elders of the Whadjuk Noongar people as well as the Western Australian government as it took inspiration from the stories of two key figures associated with the island history.”

Employment and Training Opportunities

WSP hires Aboriginal people because it is a core part of our firm’s principles as included in our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). We also support the creation of a professional network for our Indigenous staff.

“WSP was the first engineering consultancy to establish a RAP in 2010,” says Julia Carpenter, Director of Indigenous Participation. “We have an important and continuing role to play in promoting and protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples. We have a responsibility to include and consider Indigenous Peoples’ values and knowledge in the work that we do, in the design and development of place.”

Our RAP has a number of CSR commitments including the long term partnership between WSP and QUT, the Science and Infrastructure Development School which focuses on closing the gap in education outcomes for Indigenous Australians, the Indigenous Engineering Summer Schools in Perth and Sydney and the South Australian Governor’s Aboriginal Employment Infrastructure Cluster.

In addition, the Koori Job Ready Program established with one of our diversity partners Tribal Warrior, aids Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to join WSP in a technical field. Tribal Warrior, a not-for-profit community organisation initiated and directed by Aboriginal people with Aboriginal Elders, works very closely with local families, services and employment agencies to identify potential candidates before introduction to WSP.

“Finding Aboriginal people who are studying design is difficult, but we need young Aboriginal people to be leading the Aboriginal design movement,” says Michael. “As clients, stakeholders and the broader community awakens to Aboriginal design through embracing its contemporary transformation, young people need to believe they can achieve a strong career path within the STEM field. So, we were very excited and pleased to have appointed our most recent recruit, second-year architectural student Patrick Garlett from Perth, a proud Whadjuk Noongar man.”