I was first introduced to this project through an invitation to perform a contemporary Indigenous song and dance and provide insight into the local Aboriginal youth of the Northern Beaches area. I felt honoured to be provided the opportunity to share my perspective and experiences regarding the issues we have faced in our local community to secure low-cost spaces for meetings, community events, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth groups. Those initial conversations after my performance and speech at that site visit are when I began to dive deeper into the layers of the brief and came to appreciate how complex and personal this studio is.

I quickly jumped on board with the students’ journeys, volunteering my time to visit the studio, answer messages, and share resources to support deep conversations and consideration for the multifaceted aspects of community, healing, truth-telling, and regenerative futures. I became invested in the powerful learning this brief provided as I witnessed perspectives shift to reflect inclusive design ideas that showcase wholistic understandings of the unique, contemporary cultural practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living on the Northern Beaches. I was also a juror at two of the students’ progress presentations which allowed me to further provide feedback and work with the students to develop their ideas into complex architectural designs that meet the diverse needs of the Northern Beaches Aboriginal community.

Throughout the journey from my first discussions at Billabong Reserve to the final studio exhibition, I have been so grateful to have Catherine’s support in assisting students in questioning colonised and western approaches to design and architecture. The personal journey I have taken while co-envisioning the project has been eye-opening and healing as I have engaged with many successful architects who have learnt to deeply reflect on cultural perspectives, histories, and pathways for regenerative futures.

I would like to thank all participants in this studio. You have deeply explored your individual perspectives and approaches to architecture and have travelled a personal journey to understanding truth-telling, regeneration, and learning about historical complexities for Aboriginal people on the Northern Beaches. Your commitment to embracing new perspectives and designing works that invite conversations about contemporary Indigenous culture, reconciliation, and truth-telling is to be commended.

Each one of the projects in this studio has developed throughout the design process and has been carefully dissected and re-designed on multiple occasions after reflection and consideration of western perspectives and stereotypes of Aboriginal culture in Australia. As a young Aboriginal woman living on the Northern Beaches, it is so fulfilling to see the participants in this studio question and re-question their thought processes to produce final designs. I am proud to see that each project represents the local Aboriginal culture on the Northern Beaches and its complex forms that result from the intergenerational impacts of a damaging colonial history.