THE MIDDENS
Gamay Rganers Station Tutor : Chris Fox Jiaji Shi | 500176517
BAEN3002 Design Integration Lab: Capstone
I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of this land and pay my respects to the Elders both past and present.
INTRODUCTION
The design takes the Dharawal language as a starting point and explores the relationship between the indigenous, nature and middens. As a functional architecture complex, it takes on the role of a gamay ranger station, while at the same time in the perspective of an oral history, reminds people of the hidden importance of middens, emphasizing the persistent presence of aboriginal culture.
01 THE RESEARCH 06 16 24 30
history timeline analysis vegetation analysis climate & accessibility analysis gamay rangers aboriginal country general site analysis
02 THE CONCEPT 03 THE
design concept collage design concept | geometry logics design concept | spiritual visions middens significance & connection campsite & middens
PRECEDENT
project landscape design concept project overlay design concept dot panels design concept
office building design concept
04
THE DESIGN
site plan
site section architecture plans architecture sections architecture elevations vegetaion analysis shading panel analysis renderings axonometric diagram
REFERENCE LIST
THE RESEARCH 01
ABORIGINAL COUNTRY
First nations as the owners of this land have their own unique cultures and languages. While there are significant differences between communities, there are also many cultural commonalities among Indigenous Australians.
Yarra Bay is located on the land of Dharawal, one of the Aboriginal Australian countries. The Dharawal language is critical to decrease the risk of further diminishing the rich aboriginal cultural heritage.
The Dharawal people lived mainly by the produce of local plants, fruits, and vegetables and by fishing and gathering shellfish products, leaving a large number of shell middens around the southern Sydney area. Through these middens, a glimpse of the Dharawal lifestyle and culture can be drawn, which are much more than just kitchen rubbish.
GAMAY RANGERS
The Gamay Rangers undertake natural and cultural resource management activities on cultural areas within Botany Bay and on conservation land owned by the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council.
To support their daily work, the proposed station needs:
- office area for office work and visitor reception;
- workshop area for vehicle parking and workbench;
- research area for the marine science laboratory;
Gamay Rangers icon, La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council.
GENERAL SITE ANALYSIS
VEGETATION ANALYSIS
LOMANDRA LONGIFOLIA XANTHORRHOEA POSIDONIA AUSTRALIS
Integrate with the UNSW course Marine Field Ecology for Managers & Researches
BANKSIA
Indigenous plants are essential to the land, serving as an important link in the local biological chain.
Protecting and recording indigenous plants is one of Gamay rangers’ daily work.
For indigenous people, it is an essential food or shelter resource and also a part of culture.
BEFORE 1788
Aboriginal People have a long association with whales. Rock engravings and contemporary stories show the strong relationship between local Aboriginal People, whales and The Dreaming. Some of these rock engravings and paintings are estimated to be over 1,000 years old.
Around 1500 Aboriginal people were estimated to have lived between Broken Bay and Botany Bay before the British settled here.
HISTORY TIMELINE ANALYSIS
1788
Aboriginal people’s presence was recorded by Arthur Phillip and the French expedition led by Lapérouse who arrived within six days of each other in January 1788.
The First Fleet ship HMS Supply carrying Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. The anchorage was named "Phillip Bay", which was eventually renamed "Yarra Bay" based on its Aboriginal name while the suburb has retained the original European name.
1903
Yarra Bay House was built in 1903 as an addition to the Cable Station at La Perouse. When a second cable was laid in 1890, extra room was needed to house the workers.
1917
When the Cable Station became obsolete after 1917, the house was home to various government depart ments including the Director of Public Instruction (later the Education Department) and the Department of Youth and Community Services.
1985
In 1985, the title was given to the Aboriginal Land Council. It is the administrative headquarters of the Land Council and a base for community organization, services and activism.
2019
An all-Indigenous outfit, Gamay Rangers, has joined a push to better protect natural assets of the Botany Bay. The program provides employ ment and training for young Indigenous Australians and opportunities for the rangers to utilize their unique cultural knowledge of the land and sea to care for Country and the community.
THE CONCEPT 02
The middens always indicate Aboriginals gather in the as their oral history
“NGURRA”
CAMPSITE
Aboriginal art symbol of campsite
Appears in many different Aboriginal languages across Australia including the Dharawal as the “campsite”.
indicate the campsite, where the nugurra and tell stories besides the midden.
MIDDENS
Middens concept sketch
MIDDENS SIGNIFICANCE & CONNECTION
a. Middens at Yarra Bay, photographed 24/08/2022.
Yarra Bay: has numerous midden remains from Indigenous life in the past, but without proper attention currently.
b. Shells for reburial, photographed 24/08/2022.
Aboriginals: one of the Gamay rangers’ jobs is to use shells to rebury people who were originally buried under the middens.
c. Aboriginal story telling, photographed 24/08/2022.
Oral history: history in the form of Aboriginal stories were told generation to generation alongside the middens.
DESIGN CONCEPT | SPIRITUAL VISIONS
Yarra Bay: to introduce middens and raise aware ness of middens protection in the wider community through architecture.
b. Aboriginal art symbol of human track
Aboriginals: to accommodate Gamay rangers and provide a campsite for indigenous people to feel a sense of cultural belonging.
Oral history: from the perspective of middens, evoking the indigenous memory of this land, remembering history and carrying on culture
DESIGN CONCEPT | GEOMETRY LOGICS
Transform from seashells and middens.
a. b.
DESIGN CONCEPT COLLAGE
b. Behavior settings
THE PRECEDENT 03
- circular exterior form & free interior space
- programmatic functions & cylindrical volumes
- invite landscape into atchitecture, break the boundary
PRECIDENTS STUDY 01
OFFICE BUILDING DESIGN CONCEPT (inspired from CULTURE AND CONFERENCE CENTRE
)
Culture and conference centre, Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects.Grace farms, SANAA.
- make the architecture of the River: become part of the landscape
- transparent and invite people to engage with the natural surroundings
PRECIDENTS STUDY 02
PROJECT LANDSCAPE DESIGN CONCEPT
(INSPIRED FROM GRACE FARMS )
- thousands of shells arranged in a bed of ilmenite
- explores cement production connected to the early lime burning industry which ruined massive Aboriginal middens
- “a form of Aboriginal architecture” as the mounds are cultural sites and specific place markers in the landscape
- a whole formed by the overlap and accumulation of individuals
