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Regenerating and reconnecting recreational and cultural facilities

  • Maribyrnong Park Bowls and Croquet Club 195 Holmes Road Moonee Ponds, VIC, 3039 Australia (map)

Maribyrnong Park Bowls and Croquet Club, the venue for this event, is an example of a community facility in need of renewal.

Presented by the Festival of Urbanism,  MADA and Incinerator Gallery.

This event explores regenerative approaches to revitalising ageing and often unviable recreational facilities. Held on site at the former Maribyrnong Bowls Club, the session includes presentations of case studies that showcase renewed community infrastructure. These are followed by short presentations around strategic approaches to the regeneration of community facilities that support community cultural and social needs, local ecologies and respond to the realities of contemporary urban life. The event concludes with a keynote lecture by These Are The Projects We Do Together, operator of Brunswick's recently opened Balam Balam creative hub, about transforming challenging or underutilised sites into socially vibrant, inclusive places through architecture, curation, education and ongoing operations.

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Panel 1

Built Projects: Renewed community buildings

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Chair

Dr Timothy Moore is Associate Dean (Engagement) at MADA , Monash Architecture Senior Lecturer, a founder of Sibling Architecture, and Curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Panel

Nicholas Braun is co-director of Sibling Architecture, an innovative practice that includes designing for the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, delivering outcomes that are grounded, responsive and socially engaged. He will present the Darebin Intercultural Centre, a community building that aims to foster meaningful and constructive inter-racial, inter-cultural and inter-faith relations.

Bradley Kerr is a Quandamooka man, a director of design studio Winsor Kerr on Wurundjeri Country, and lecturer at Monash Architecture. He actively contributes to the profession through roles on the Australian Institute of Architects’ First Nations Advisory Working Group, the AACA Accreditation Standing Panel, and the 2025 Architecture Venice Biennale curatorial team. He has been recognised for his contributions to the profession as the 2024 Victorian Emerging Architect Prize recipient. As Director of Winsor Kerr, he works closely with communities and stakeholders to develop integrated design responses appropriate to place, Country, Peoples and culture. Bradley will talk about this process in relation to recent civic building works.

Suzannah Waldron is the co-founder of SEARLE x WALDRON Architecture, an architectural practice that designs across scales, focused on inventive public, community and education projects, including the award-winning  Maidstone Tennis Pavilion, which improved accessibility and functionality through a  thoughtful addition to an existing building.


Panel 2

Strategic Approaches: connecting facilities, people and ecologies

5:00pm - 6:00pm

Chair

Catherine Murphy, Associate Professor, Monash Urban Lab and Course Leader, Master of Urban Planning and Design. Her research focuses on integrated approaches that are place-based and prioritise ecological systems.

Panel

Professor Nicole Kalms, MADA Associate Dean (Research), a Professor in the Dept of Design, and founding director of the XYX Lab, investigates underrepresented communities through the lens of Gender and Place. She will present the Women's Safety Audit on the Merri Creek and the importance of including 800 local women to share their perceptions, experiences and advice for the area.

Dr Michaela Prescott, landscape architect and Monash Informal Cities Lab Research Fellow. Her practice-based research relates to the urbanisation of water- and river systems, the impact of infrastructure on neighbourhoods and communities. She will present ways of  improving and linking access and amenity through the Moonee Ponds Master Plan. 

Valentina Tansley,  Head of Festival and Events at Moonee Valley City Council will present the work of  Art in Surprising Places , a pillar of the 23-27 Moonee Valley Arts and Cultural Strategy ‘Igniting Creativity’ that aims to support local artists, foster community engagement and leverage existing cultural assets.

Dr Liz Taylor,  Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design at Monash Architecture. Often using spatial and historical perspectives, her research develops understanding of long-term urban change and the role of policy. She will present recent research on public swimming pools as community spaces.


Keynote / in-conversation

Transforming Underutilised Sites: These Are The Projects We Do Together

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Chair

Professor Mel Dodd is the Dean of Monash Art, Design and Architecture, an award-winning architect, urban practitioner and academic leader. Her practice is underpinned by productive collaborations with industry, government and communities, contributing to inclusive and sustainable urban environments.

Panel

These Are The Projects We Do Together, led by Joseph Norster and Millie Cattlin, are Melbourne-based designers renowned for transforming "problematic" or underutilised sites into socially vibrant, inclusive places through architecture, curation, education, and ongoing operations. Their latest project Balam Balam Place is a purpose-built creative and community precinct located in the heart of Brunswick on Wurundjeri Country. The original site was purchased in 2010 when it was home to an old school with large buildings, a heritage house and public open space. In 2016 the Merri-bek City Council appointed These Are the Projects We Do Together, to manage the site as ‘Siteworks’. This activation provided the vision for the future of the site. In this presentation, followed by a conversation with Professor Mel Dodd, The Projects will talk about their approach to site through case studies from their practice.


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Live performance, placemaking and the arts; creative industries and precincts for regenerative urbanism

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