Sarah Lynn Rees
Sarah is a Plangermaireener woman from Hobart, Tasmania. She graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2012 with a Bachelor of Environments (architecture major) and is the first architecture student to be accepted into the Charlie Perkins Scholar program, where she is currently completing an MPhil in Architecture at the University of Cambridge, England.
While growing up, Sarah’s experiences impacted her choice to follow a career path in design.
“My father is a builder so I grew up around construction and spent many hours playing with the material samples in his office,” says Sarah. “I am sure this has influenced my decision to become and architect”
Sarah enjoyed her time at the University of Melbourne because of the range of topics she was able to study throughout her degree.
“I really enjoyed stepping outside of architecture to learn about the related disciplines then bringing the lessons from those fields back to my design work.”
Having Indigenous heritage can have a significant impact on designers and their work. Sarah reflects:
“I believe that everyone’s heritage influences the way they work as it is part of who they are and tied deeply into how they were brought up to see the world,” says Sarah. “Looking back at the design work I have delivered I realise now that the Indigenous aspect of my heritage influenced my work more than I was aware of at the time. Both actively in the actual content produced and subconsciously relating to the way I considered each aspect of a project.”
By completing her studies at the University of Cambridge, Sarah hopes to create change for the future of housing in Australia.
“My research looks into Remote Indigenous housing which came about because I wanted to study something that was real and meant something. So many Australians are unaware of the living conditions and lifestyle of these remote communities so I hope by studying this topic I am able to bring some attention to the reality of it.”