2015 Landscape Architecture Australia Student Prize: Deakin University

Project statement

The site of Yollinko Park in Victoria is where the Wada wurrung balug clan of the Wadawurrung tribe (also called the Wathaurong tribe) of the Kulin nation lived, prior to European colonization of the Geelong region in 1827. At the confluence of Kardinia Creek and Barwon River, the site offered food in abundance and shelter from cold winds. In 1981, 780 artefacts (including axes, anvils, spear heads, blades, stone tools and three middens) were discovered on this site, dating back five thousand years.

This project aims to remember and respect local Indigenous history. Yollinko Park, opened in 1992, today does not achieve its original design intent of being a place of education, and has become a place that lacks spirit – a thoroughfare, not a destination point. Aboriginal people believe that as much as people need the land, the land needs people. Bringing people into the heart of the park would reactivate the spirit of the place. The restored Yollinko Park would guide people into the centre of the site for the very reasons that first attracted the Wadawurrung people to it, while also engaging in contemporary design. The project includes a daylighting renovation of Kardinia Creek to enhance the site’s environmental and biodiversity values.