Undoubtedly, Wangayarta will become a seminal piece of landscape design in Australia. Navigating the sensibilities of the repatriation of 134 Kaurna remains, the Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation, the Kaurna Community and Oxigen have illustrated the power of true co-design and the value of meaningful and extensive consultation. The scheme creates a series of burial mounds that envelop a grassed gathering space, supported by carefully choreographed journey lines that draw people toward this highly charged site. Nestled within a bushland setting, key markers support the process of repatriation: a firepit, shelters and carefully organized planting. This highly tuned response meets the needs of Community while reinforcing the primacy of Country. A considered, understated, yet powerfully evocative project, Wangayarta delivers an exemplar that privileges restraint and care while balancing cultural weight and meaning. This is a significant national project, demonstrating landscape architecture in Australia at its very best.
Wangayarta is built in Evanston South, South Australia o the land of the Kaurna people.
Project credits
Design practice Oxigen Client South Australian Museum Collaborators Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation (KYAC) and the Kaurna community; Adelaide Cemeteries Authority Landscape contractor Consolidated Landscape Services Images Brad Griffin (top left), Oxigen (top right), Haidarr Jones (bottom)
To view all the winners of the 2022 National Landscape Architecture Awards, go here.
