Grounded

How can architecture exist as a binding occurrence where multiple histories can be shared and celebrated, while posing as an unrestricted platform for our First Nations people to engage with and contribute to from the outset?

GROUNDED is a project that responds to this question by asking the profession how we might reconsider the persistent architectural trends of exclusivity and permanency that are endemic in our cities, and rather invert these modern-day implications to become more inclusive and commemorative of the unceded lands in which they are sited.

The project invites and demands non-Indigenous designers to take accountability and unite with Indigenous knowledge holders, with the intention of perpetuating these connections to stimulate a process of continual evolvement and expansion. It presents itself as a framework for our traditional owners to leave their mark and tell their story and prioritises the architecture as a facilitator rather than a monument. This enduring condition will not only engender inclusive and unrestricted opportunities for all and disseminate a required urban agenda, it establishes an everlasting outcome – a work in progress of what could facilitate a re-grounding of sorts, not just of the landscape but of the people too.