YERN-DA-VILLE
A North Melbourne/Naarm Investigation

Delia Teschendorff

Studio Ballot Video

Studio Description

“Just as trees, mountains and rivers contain stories, the design of new places, objects and systems can be a purposeful extension of Country and imbue meaning and story into them, so that as we engage with them over time, multiple narratives are strengthened. If the stories are rooted in cultural values that reinforce our relationship to nature and compel us to care for it, then this will ultimately become our collective and cultural identity”. Alison Page, First Nations, artist, designer and filmmaker.

This studio responds to the need for more well-designed, affordable, and alternative forms of medium density housing in Melbourne’s established inner urban areas. Following a series of key exemplar precedent studies, field work, and set design tasks, students will have the opportunity to design a medium density, social and affordable housing project for a real site in the inner-city suburb of Yern-da-Ville*. The housing will be designed for future residents from a range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, including First Nations, elderly and young families, with a diverse range of needs.

Students will be challenged to consider how Country can be used as a premise for design and how architecture might be used as a tool to improve the health and wellbeing of place. Site analysis and critical mapping exercises will explore understanding and ‘finding’ Country through walking, observing and investigating the deeper history of site, including waterways that once flowed through the area, former ecologies, geologies and consider how these might inform a more enriched design response.

Country is a term used by First Nations peoples to refer to the lands, waters and skies to which they are connected through ancestral ties and family origins.

The studio will also include a walking tour, investigating some exemplar local medium density affordable housing precedents (key lessons from both past and present projects) near the project site, that sensitively balance built form and landscape and include areas for community interaction

*Yern-da-Ville is the Woi Wurrung language name for North Melbourne

Studio Outcomes

Over the semester students will explore new affordable medium density housing models that can be flexible, adaptable and provide a greater sense of community.

• Students will learn the importance of detailed site analysis and exploring precedents to inform their work.
• Investigate environmental and climate responsive design, that considers the landscape and resources.
• Investigate medium density housing typologies including flexible and adaptable household types.
• Understand concepts of Caring for Country and Connecting to Country in an inner urban context and ways to design architecture that is for and of place.

This is a live practice project. Students will have the opportunity to undertake on-site research and fieldwork and interact with key stakeholders, including gaining a deeper understanding of First Nation perspectives.

Studio Leader/s

Delia founded award winning practice, Delia Teschendorff Architecture Studio in 2009. She has taught design and construction studios at Swinburne University, RMIT University and Monash University and she is a Lecturer in Architectural Design, Creative Practitioner at Melbourne School of Design, Melbourne University. Committed to the belief that design thinking can improve our built environment, Delia completed a design research PhD at Monash University in 2022.

For more info: https://www.deliateschendorff.com.au/ Instagram: @deliateschendorff

Readings & References

To be announced in class.

Schedule:
Tuesday 9am-12pm, MSD 241
Thursday 9am-12pm, MSD 241


Off-site Activities:
North Melbourne

Contact Handbook