What is your role at Lend Lease? (Tell us about some of your projects and your roles in these projects)

Lend Lease is one of Australia’s largest and most respected developers. I was attracted to them because they have a strong commitment to developing sustainable practices in the construction industry and have a reputation for being innovative in their business approach. In my role as Graduate or Architecture/Urban Designer, I contribute to the master planning and implementation of several new suburbs across NSW and in the ACT. My work involves everything from writing building and siting guidelines to documentation and design, yield and feasibility studies to public art strategies.

 What do you ‘love’ most about your work?

I love the exposure to all sides of the construction business. In the development industry, architecture is only one very small piece of any solution. Having to demonstrate design imperatives to joint venture partners as well as finance, marketing and community managers helps to add richness and a real sense of feasibility to your ideas.

Thinking back, what inspired you to study architecture?

I was always very good at design subjects and thought that it would be an excellent cross between science and art.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learnt from the BArch degree?

Being a good designer takes time. If you are true to yourself and push your own ideas as far as you can then you will not only win the respect of those around you, but will begin to develop a considered and personal approach to solving design problems that will help you learn for life.

You have also been involved in part-time teaching. It can’t be easy to add teaching commitment to full-time work. Why do you do this?
I find the process of teaching extremely reflexive and therefore very enjoyable. Each student has a unique way of approaching creative problems and witnessing this helps me to develop my own ideas and practice. I also believe that as practitioners, we have a responsibility to share our knowledge and expertise with students in order to nurture and push the industry forward.

In the article that Victoria wrote for the UNSW website, you said your goal is to become “a leading thinker in urban design analysis and sustainable land use”.  This sounds like a change away from Architecture (design of buildings), is that right?  If so, why?

Throughout my undergraduate degree, I was always interested in projects that involved an understanding of architecture within a wider political, economical, and social context. Specialising in urban design is therefore a perfect next step as it requires an in-depth understanding of built-form but also deals with a greater number of interrelated concerns, including increasingly, sustainability.

What will be the focus of your masters degree at MIT and what do you plan to do afterwards?

The focus of my degree at MIT is born out of a belief that traditional approaches to urban design must evolve in order to be relevant for a sustainable future and that we can do more to harness the power of computer technology in order to understand and test potential solutions for the sustainable growth of our cities.
The United States is already at the forefront of using programs such as GIS in order to aid spatial and development decisions and it is therefore a perfect place to further my learning. On completion of the masters, I intend to consolidate my skills by working in the United States before returning to Australia to facilitate the use of digital systems when land-use decisions are being made.