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This perspective envisions a vibrant future for the Blacktown community, where people, non-human animals and nature are brought together in balanced harmony.

The Nest

Asha Friedman

BAE

Axonometric view of the Community Centre

Blacktown's Community Circle

Kenna Burrows

BAE

The residential building is to the left, and the community space to the right. The elevated pathway for easily accessibility is seen on the bottom left.

Thrive: Blacktown Haven

Aria Ravi

BAE

Ngurang: Meeting Place

Sienna Shearer

BAE

The market space on a busy weekend

There is an atmosphere of community which can be felt to radiate from this space with its contradictory enclosed yet open and natural feel.

Traders can showcase and sell local boutique goods and residents of the development can even offer their excess produce to the community.

The central community garden provides a calming nature to the space yet also brings an unavoidable attention to the urban farming occuring within the midst of this. Bringing attention and awareness to this movement aims to prompt other members of the community to participate.

Verdant – Blacktown Rejuvenation Precinct

Dylan Geoghegan

BAE

The Backbone

April Ta-Wong

BAE

Beneath the Canopy

Yubi Hwang

BAE

Axonometric Render of Blacktown Community Center

Blacktown Sanctuary

Wayne Ong

BAE

Thrive: Urban Agrihood (Urban Studio)

In a time of climate emergency, we need to use our resources meaningfully; we can’t do everything, we can’t do nothing, but we have to do something. With the aim of creating places for community to thrive, this studio challenges students to use a number of layered concepts based around sustainable design. These include participatory, passive and regenerative design, as well as social sustainability, material sufficiency and biodiversity. The project focus is to create a collection of versatile community facilities as a sustainable ecosystem for living, learning and growing together – all with a strong focus on empowering and supporting disadvantaged groups. At the heart of community centre activities will be food production. The program comprises three elements: a community centre with multi-purpose spaces for social, leisure and cultural activities; external spaces; and co-living spaces for individual and shared households.

The intricate web of connections that bind us to our environment and to each other form a focal point for reflection, enabling the design of spaces that foster community, collaboration and sustainable living. Projects explore the tensions between designing for privacy on one hand, and shared experiences and mutual support on the other. Meanwhile, the story, source and impact of every material choice on both the environment and human wellbeing is of central importance.

With thanks to the following contributors and critics:

Deborah Barnstone, ADP

Robery Cooley, Bidgigal, Gamay Rangers

Hannes Frykholm, ADP

Isabel Gabaldon, ADP

Adam Grice, ADP/officeadamgrice

Zie Liu, Woods Bagot

Jesse McNicoll

Stewart Monti, Atelier Ten

Michael Mossman, ADP

Michael Muir, ADP

Genevieve Murray, ADP

Valentina Petrone, Department of Communities and Justice, NSW Government

Mano Ponnambalam, ADP

Deepti Prasad, ADP

Lachlan Seegers, Lachlan Seegers Architect

Ben Slee, Blacktown Council

Chris L. Smith, ADP

Geoff Turnbull, Waterloo Human Services Collaborative

Neha Yadav, Atelier Ten