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  • Kurongkurl Katitjin at Edith Cowan University

    The Kuongkurl Katitjin building on the Mount Lawley Campus at ECU

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The building

Kurongkurl Katitjin’s building is a purpose-built premise located on the  Mount Lawley Campus of Edith Cowan University. Completed in 2005, it is an iconic and colourful, three-storey, state-of-the-art building that houses research, teaching, and professional services.

The building design was part of an extensive consultative process between the architects Jones Coulter Young (JCY) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Eighteen months of consultation preceded the construction and involved staff and students from Kurongkurl Katitjin and members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community across the metropolitan and regional Western Australia.

Specific design features include:

  • The colours used throughout the building represent the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, as well as the Australian landscape.
  • Noongar words about place and family are etched into the outer facades of the building.
  • A constellation of the Southern Cross on the roof of the building signifies the link between Indigenous Australians and travelling the land.
  • Entry into the building is accessible from several directions, and the landscaping is visible from within, highlighting the Aboriginal connection with the land.
  • Five mosaic artworks were commissioned which represent the north, south,  east and west regions of the state. Located at a different point of the  compass, four of the five mosaic tiles are linked by story paths to the fifth mosaic, located at the centre of the building called “Our Place”.
  • Surrounding the building, the gardens have been designed to represent the six Noongar seasons.
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