Rebecca Baglow

Rebecca is a third year student completing her Bachelor’s in Design (Architecture). Throughout her journey within this course, she has learnt a wide variety of hard skills such as Revit, Grasshopper and Rhino programs. This has enhanced her qualities required for project management, organisation and interpersonal relations, learning that these skills hold an even higher importance than any program.

She has discovered that she thrives best in administrative roles within design teams (creating schedules/group discussion summaries etc) and has found a practical method of design effective within her design process. Overall she has found enjoyment in a tactile method of design exploration through methods such as massings, form-finding machines and experiments with mechanical systems (many of which you will find in the displayed folio).

The style/scale of design that she thrives the most is smaller-scale, intimate experiences such as residential living. She finds it is easiest to ground herself in these projects an analyse effective living arrangements that will benefit the overall comfortability of a private space such as the home.

Within the next stage of her career, she hopes to step away from the educational frame of design and observe the practical industry environment of a professional design studio. Believing that my practical and detail-orientated thought patterns will allow myself to thrive in the industry, the challenges of heavy restrictions and budgets are actually opportunities to overcome.

Waterfront Placemaking - Form Finding Machine - Studio 4

Analysis of compressed geometric patterns through a compressive scissor frame (timber, nuts and bolts) and a flexible membrane (3D filament printed onto tulle fabric)

AMDC Retrofit - LVL 8 Render - Building Information Management

This project consisted of a retrofit for the AMDC based on current needs of its users. Level 8 was assigned for staff and PHD needs, including larger lounge/kitchen spaces (shown above) that facilitate further social interaction.

Impact - Mechanical Facade Module - Architectural Communications 2

This project consisted on the analysis of a Dreamtime story and interpreting this in an mechanised architectural fit-out. Our group's chosen story was Enora and the Black Crane which held strong themes of causation and consequence. This was replicated mechanically through the system connected by a single axil. As a result when any of the gears was turned, the entire system would create a ripple effect.

Waterfront Placemaking - Spatial Form Development - Studio 4

This project allowed students to explore ways of breaking down the boundary with a waterfront site context. This diagram explains the steps taken to break down the riverbed of the Yarra River to enhance interaction.

Elderly Housing Project - Renders + Drawings - Studio 2

The "Conservatory of Knowledge" aimed to increase interaction levels amongst residents through intergenerational-learning and interactions with nature. Additionally the aim was to also create small "family" groups within the residents, reducing the overwhelm caused by large, crowded communal areas.

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.