All that is public melts into air (2025) cover image

Research / Studios

All that is public melts into air (2025)

Semester 1, 2025 · Melbourne School of Design

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Studio credits & brief

Studio brief

Building on the 2024 investigation of the Atherton Gardens Estate, this expanded studio critically examined the Victorian government's plan to demolish all 44 public housing towers under the Big Housing Build. Fifteen students worked across sites in Fitzroy and Prahran with First Nations cultural advisors, integrating climate resilience, Indigenous knowledge systems, alternative housing models, and intergenerational space-making. The studio positions design research as a form of policy advocacy — contesting the erasure of public housing and the displacement of communities who have called these estates home for decades.

Convenor Prof. Janet McGaw, Dr. Kelum Palipane Tutors Bella Singal, Carey Landwehr Guest advisors Adriano Zarosinksi (TRACT Consultants), Nina Tory (Henderson), Suheri Purnomo (Blur Architects), Dr Alex Brown (MADA), Matthew Borg (OVGA), Tom Jones (ARM Architects), Julie Rabaud (Law Architects), Ripeka Walker (MSD), Mei Hesketh (ATIPMIA24 Cohort), Deanna Wu (ATIPMIA24 Cohort), Anas Basheer (ATIPMIA24 Cohort), Matthew Sandison (ATIPMIA24 Cohort) Cohort — 15 authors
Alec Gutteridge UntitledEmmanuel Theofanous To Become As OneFinn Hall MAYSARGabriela Ellis Nindeebiya Re-SungHannah Douglas UnboundedHaoJun Guan A Place to PauseHuidi Xiao A Place To Grow TogetherJessie Westblade Ngar-Go Theatre Co.Kevin Lee Still GroundMichelle Pranata Home of Healing & HeritageQamar Al-Hasani Between VisitsSerena Chin Justice for FitzroyYaszmin Zamroad Fitzroys Plant and PlateZack Wang ThereZhiqi Xu GMAR Community Hub