“Upside down Country” is when men dig down into the earth’s core to extract its riches. Aeons of geological and ecological evolution is flipped on its head. Lands occupied by countless generations are covered by structures built on hollow foundations. Coined by Dja Dja Wurrung peoples, “upside down Country” describes the colonial extraction and transformation, in all directions, of their entwined culture and unceded lands.In a full redesign of the Kangan Institute’s Bendigo campus, SBLA Studio scourred back new surface additions, allowing Country’s true nature to reveal itself. Planting has been returned to 80 per cent endemic species – bull mallee, paper daisy and kangaroo grasses – showcasing a prototype for Bendigo’s future restoration.
SBLA Studio engaged the TAFE’s student body across its curriculum and identities – First Peoples students, tech entrepreneurs and developers, hairdressers, new migrants and barbers, among others – who identified the TAFE as a location of safety in their lives. Fortifying that sense of safety through open, nurturing design became a guiding principle. Hostile architecture, including chain link fencing and window bars, are gone; warm brick replaces grey concrete; and new gathering areas are seeding grounds for community building, on thriving Country.
Project Data
Landscape architecture: SBLA Studio
Address: 23 Mundy St, Bendigo VIC 3550
Client: Kangan Tafe Institute
Dates: 2021 – 2024
Team:
Simone Bliss
Colin Chen
Haiku van Keuk
Kate McCracken
Full Team:
Thunda, Paul Aburrow and TAFE Art Cohort
Architect and Six Degrees
Kane constructions
Thunda
Lorraine Brigdale
Annie Brigdale
Gabrielle Gamble
Erin Penrose
Sandy Owen
Dianne Turner
Sue Allengame
Trina Dalton-Oogje s
Photo Credit: Pier Carthew
