INTENSIVE WINTER STUDIO
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
ARCH 9085
Broken Hill Michael Tawa (Architecture) Melanie Feeney (RARE) Cameron Logan (Heritage and Conservation)
UNIVERSIT Y OF SYDNEY ARCHITECTURE 2016
Students: Paolo Apostolides Benjamin Chen Paul Counsell James Ellis Eleanor Gibson Dominique Heraud Chakib Lawand Clare Leedman Andrew Perich Xiaoyi Shen Nathan Souriyavong Pearl Tan Nicole Thompson Jennifer Wang Miranda Wu
Between 2012 and 2015, collaborative studios were set up between Architecture, Heritage and Conservation, Business and Engineering at the University of Sydney; the Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health; the Broken Hill City Council; the Murdi Paaki Regional Council and the Broken Hill Department of Aboriginal Affairs to investigate innovative business and architectural propositions in the city and region. Over the years, students developed masterplans for the Broken Hill Film Studio site; designs for an Educational Rural Learning Campus; redevelopment plans for the iconic Palace Hotel; design propositions for a new town square and archive in Broken Hill, a food security project in Wilcannia and business plans that articulate and capitalise on an integrated approach to Australia’s only heritage-listed city and the region’s distinctive indigenous and non-indigenous heritage. In 2016, joint student teams from Business, Urban design and Urbanism, Urban and Regional Planning, Heritage and Conservation and Architecture worked on three projects in collaboration with the Broken Hill YMCA and three indigenous client groups: the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, the Broken Hill Local Aboriginal Land Council (BHLALC) and the Mutawintji Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC). Students worked together to frame these projects; to develop operational, business and marketing plans, as well as strategies for entrepreneurship and capacity building, and conservation of cultural, environmental and built heritage. Schematic designs were proposed within local and regional planning frameworks, and in response to cultural, community and environmental needs of the three client groups. The three projects were a new YMCA facility in Broken Hill City; a new administrative centre for the BHLALC on a town site in Broken Hill – incorporating offices for government and non-government agencies, teaching/training areas and a local Aboriginal museum/art gallery, cafe and shop and a new cultural centre at Mutawintji National Park – incorporating an arts and crafts shop, cafe, catering facilities, office accommodation and training areas for hospitality and tourism. These are real world projects, answering current needs, and providing students with the opportunity to work with indigenous communities on country, to learn about indigenous culture and cultural competence. The research that students carried out, together with the strategic/design propositions they made, will likely inform future development in the region and contribute to the ongoing service and engaged learning enterprise that the faculty is committed to. The project was supported by the Remote and Rural Enterprise Program (RARE) at the Business School, and the Wingara Mura Bunga Barrubugu Local Implementation Plan through the DVC Indigenous at the University of Sydney.
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