“It started from a series of text messages from Michael Mossman and I. The EOI for Venice Architecture Biennale went live by the Austrlian Institute of Architecture and it was something we were interested in. Given the political landscape following the Voice Referendum, and the movement of ‘Designing with Country’ within Australian architecture that this presented an opportunity for First Nations voices to be heard in a space that has largely excluded our voices. However, the future of architecture, and other disciplines is not just about our voices, but all voices.

So as a collective of First Nations practitioners to be the first to deliver at the Venice Architecture Biennale in the Australia Pavilion, we asked, what can we offer on the international stage? Carlo Ratti had a provocation – ‘One place, one solution; if every country brings one success to the table, together we can assemble a global kit for adapting to the future’ – To answer this, as a team we conceptualised that our way of being and practicing as First Nations people is an offering to the ‘global kit for adapting to the future’,  for all voices to be heard, to connect again as people, to share our stories with one another breaking down heirachies and giving agency and custodianship to people working on projects.

Globally, collectively as people, from various backgrounds, lived experiences, knowledges, cultures, and so on, we can curate collaborations to answer the questions for improved and more sustainable futures. How could this not draw you in!”

“The team came together through existing relationships and wanting to put together a deadly First Nations team to showcase blak excellence. People brought their skills, stories, and unique lived experience and perspective into the project. We shared yarns late at night, voice notes, and quick calls while juggling our own work and family lives. We kept checking in, asking who needed support, and respecting each person’s way of working. Ultimately, we shared a vision of HOME demonstrating care through relationality.”

“As a team we all have unique skills that contributed to the physical build. From experience in joinery, building, landscaping, labouring, painting, sculpture, and hands on prototyping we have the skills we needed to build HOME. Being on the ground to build every element of HOME with our own hands was critical to our connection with eachother, and to the materials we specified.

Venice is one of the logistically hardest places in the world to work. It’s a niche place to work where you need support of a local contractor – Renato who has lived in Venice his whole life, and only works in Venice guided us through the way this island operates. Renato is a friend of the Australia Pavilion, having also built Archie Moores exhibition in 2024 and others prior, he’s someone we can rely on, who has the connections required when urgency and problem solving is required.

Being on the ground was intense. The challenges unexpected and unpredictable – There’s a reason you need to engage with local Venitians to deliver in a place that operates in it’s own unique ways that’s like nowhere else in the world. Challenges range from delivery delays, to lack of machinery requiring raw human energy, to battling over the single service canal as every other pavilion is also fighting to meet deadlines, and struggles to find hardwares and materials that are being exhausted for other builds resulting in innovating solutions to finish particular tasks. It’s all part of the fun and experience working in Venice!

You can imagine the challenges of a group of people spending weeks together in a single room for 12+ hours a day in stressful, intense circumstances. However, all the beautiful, emotional, moments that we spent together, the memories we created as a family, the stories we told, the dances we had at 4am in the morning turning the pavilion into a disco while strobing the RBG lights that surrounded the space made it all worth the energy. The opening was highly emotional and full of energy, the crowd felt the emotion and spirit within the space as they cried with us as we spoke about what HOME meant to us, what the exhibition was about, and as we shared this space with the world.”

“We chose earth and plaster because they ground people in place. They’re tactile, they have a texture and way of forming that are difficult to replicate. They’re grounding but always unique. Sand underfoot slows people down. Plaster holds the lines and patterns from the making process, showing every hand that helped shape it. These materials aren’t abstract or representative of motif or of ambiguity - they’re embedded with knowledge. We believe that they remind people that architecture can hold memory and connection, not just form. It was about creating a space where people could sit, reflect, and feel the presence of the stories held in the walls, not just view them from a distance.”

“The team identified atmospheric lighting critical to the success of exhibition experience and also its role in influencing memories. One of my favourite words in my language, Gathang, is Barrangga, meaning ‘in the red’, a time in the sunset during a particular season which speaks of atmospheric qualities of time and place. In relation to the multisensory experience we developed in HOME, lighting plays an important role in this part of peoples memories. Lighting also brings a warmth to HOME, which the textures in the materials of earth and plaster of Paris picks up and reflects, capturing every groove that was crafted with our hands.”

“The students and their contributions and generosity were a crucial part of the process. Their willingness to share and learn from a framework that centred culture, and reflected their unique connection to place meant that the exhibition demonstrated the types of cross-cultural, relational learning with a practical, tangible outcome. They helped carry the story of the project and took away an understanding that design is relational. Seeing them connect with the work, and for them to get to exhibit their work at the Venice Biennale, was one of the best parts of the project.”

“I hope visitors walk away understanding that HOME is an invitation to slow down and listen. To sit together, to touch walls that hold these stories, and to remember that place is not just a location, but a relationship. Anthony Bourdain would say be a traveller, not a tourist. I hope people see that architecture can be made with care, with Country in mind, and with community at its heart. And that they leave with a sense that design can be about connection, not just consumption or extraction.”

“Coined as ‘After-Venice thinking’ by Adam Haddow in an article he authored prior to Venice, we hope the project will influence the way all people who experienced HOME practice within their disciplines. Personally the learnings will continue to develop the way I engage with all collaborators in the future, learning more about the people, their stories, values, empowering everyone involved in the team to give a shared sense of agency within the work we develop together. Now more than ever it’s so important that we learn to engage as people again, put down our egos, and embrace relationships. It’s within this practice that people learn to LOVE their practices, and what drives true innovation and collaboration for better futures.”

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