Understanding the responsibility and obligations that come with knowledge should be the objective of all learning. Curtin University’s Yarning Circle is an excellent reminder of this for three reasons: first, because this was a student project created through an integrated and collaborative design approach; second, because of its siting along the Djiridji trail, which marks the physical and cultural entry to Curtin University’s Bentley Campus; and third, because in its design, its siting and its pedagogical function, it centres First Nation peoples’ knowledge. The Yarning Circle is exquisitely formed and detailed, with the planting based on the original vegetation complexes of the site. It is a simple place that asks people to respectfully engage with the landscape, with ideas, with culture, and with each other – and to learn through “yarning.”
The Curtin University Indigenous Learning Circle (Yarning Circle) is located in Bentley, Western Australia on the land of the Whadjuk people of Noongar nation.
Project credits
Design practice UDLA Collaborators Simon Forrest (Curtin University Elder-in-Residence at the time of project), Curtin University architecture students (Thomas Allan, Sam Chapman, Samuel Dawson, Ricardo Muller), Noel Nannup, Curtin Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin Properties, Facilities and Development, ACCORPP, ESC Lighting, Stantec, Hydroplan, HW and Associates Photographer Yvonne Doherty
To view all the winners of the 2022 National Landscape Architecture Awards, go here.
