SAY IT LOUD
SAY IT LOUD Naarm–Melbourne was a headline exhibition during Melbourne Design Week 2022.
The exhibition celebrated the work of 111 diverse designers from across Australia.
Supported by:
Australian Institute of Architecture, National Gallery of Victoria – Melbourne Design Week, RMIT Interior Design, Designers Institute of Australia, ArchiTeam, Authentic Design Alliance, Bates Smart, City of Melbourne, Fender Katsilidis, Hassell, Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria, Hayball, Lyons, The National Association of Women in Construction (Victoria), Plus Architecture, Studio Badu, SJB, Woods Bagot.
Location:
No Vacancy Gallery, Naarm-Melbourne
Date:
March 2022
Role: Exhibition designer and curator in collaboration with Sandra Githinji, co-curated with Pascle Sablan (Beyond the Built Environment)
fundraising, curation, exhibition design
exhibition concept creation, identifying and engaging supporters, identifying exhibitors, creation of exhibition videos, exhibition design and installation, programming curation and coordination.
Designers Australia Award 2022, Interact Category Winner
SAY IT LOUD aimed to elevate voices and work that are often marginalised in the built environment — foregrounding designers whose identity, background or lived experience brings different ways of seeing and making space.
By gathering a wide range of designers — architects, interior designers, furniture makers, planners, and others — the exhibition redefined what “design excellence” means: not only as technical output, but as a tool for spatial equity.
Projects were presented through visual displays, video, objects, and storytelling — offering multiple ways to engage with the work. This multimedia, inclusive approach aimed to reflect the breadth of practice among the contributors and to make the exhibition accessible, vibrant, and meaningful.
SAY IT LOUD Naarm offered a new public platform for women and diverse designers in Australia — elevating underrepresented voices and creating visibility for practices often excluded from mainstream architecture discourse.
SAY IT LOUD Naarm was the first iteration in Australia of a global exhibition series originating in New York, giving it historical significance and marking a milestone in representation within the Australian built environment.
The contributors — BIPOC (he/she/they) and women (of any ethnicity) — came from a range of disciplines including architecture, interior design, furniture and object design, urban planning, and academia.
Grounded in the nuances of the local context, the selected projects were presented through visual displays, video, objects, and storytelling – offering multiple ways to engage with the work.
Over 1,100 people visited the space, which was further activated through:
– A public talk on Indigenous knowledge in the built environment with Kirstine Wallis, Jefa Greenaway, and Allen Kong.
– A session for youth (high school and university age) about becoming a built environment professional.
– A six-month mentorship program pairing over 20 emerging designers with established professionals.
Participants:
ELEMENTS /Plus Architecture/ Candice Ng, Shannon Winsor, Xiaoying Liu, Erica Chen, Laura Brennan, Ian Briggs
voco® SOUTH MELBOURNE AND VIVERE
APARTMENTS /Plus Architecture/ Jessica Liew, Ivona Golubovic, Mei Yang, Sarah O’Halloran, Thom Huihao Shen, Dominic Versace, Ian Briggs
226 FLINDERS LANE /Plus Architecture/ Nigel Mak, Sunshine M Laudiano, Carolina Rodriguez Perez, Yarly Elvi Susanto, Elizabeth Duong, Ian Briggs
ELEVATED PUBLIC REALM /Plus Architecture/ Naa Atswei Adjei, Gabriel Mendoza, Nick
Antoniou, Ian Briggs
ORYGEN YOUTH HEALTH /Billard Leece Partnership/ Tonya Hinde
405 BOURKE STREET /Woods Bagot/ Clement Nyanja
GULULU DHUWALA DJALKIRI: welcome to the Yolŋu foundation /Catseye Bay/ Sarah Jamieson
(WHERE) FORM FOLLOWS /Woods Bagot/ Sarah Garba
YARRA ONE /Fender Katsalidis/ Nidhya
Sakathevan
SAINT MORITZ /Fender Katsalidis/ Syireen Ismail, Elisa Varela, Rebecca Lim
THE GRACE ALBERT PARK LAKE /Fender Katsalidis/ Jess Lee
KOORIE HERITAGE TRUST /Lyons in collaboration with IAD/ Fiona Lew
AUSTRALIAN UNITY / Bates Smart/ Rachael McCarthy
ADELAIDE HEALTH AND MEDICAL SCIENCES /Lyons/ Diana Jones
TWEED VALLEY HOSPITAL /Bates Smart/ Johan Hermijanto
HILTON MELBOURNE /Bates Smart/ Karen Wong BLACK DIASPORAS /Culture as Creative afrOURban/ Kholisile Dhliwayo
MELBOURNE CITY MISSION FRONTYARD /Fender
Katsalidis/ Jess Lee
55 SOUTHBANK BOULEVARD /Bates Smart/ Celine Herbiet
THE CLUB STAND VICTORIA RACING CLUB /Bates Smart/ Jan Eastwood
MELBOURNE METRO CBD SOUTH /Hassell/ Tam Dao
THE EASTBOURNE /Bates Smart/ Claudia Fleuter
THE FIRST BUILDING /Hassell/ Dr Danièle Hromek (Budawang/Yuin), Liz Westgarth
MELBOURNE METRO CBD NORTH /Hassell/ Bisi Ashiru-Smiles
SEEK /Hassell/ Ingrid Bakker, Laura Vallentine
ONE HEART VILLAGE /Designed in collaboration Hassell w+ CHC/ Alix Smith
CRT+YRD NIGHTINGALE VILLAGE /Hayball/ Ann Lau, Bianca Hung
PROJECT 100 TRINITY COLLEGE /Hayball/ Ann Lau, Bianca Hung
WUNGGURRWIL DHURRUNG – Aboriginal Community Centre /Gresley Abas Architects/ Emily Cox
RESILIENCE STUDIO /IADV & University of Melbourne/ Kirstine Wallis
ODYSSEY HOUSE FAMILY THERAPY UNIT /Allen Kong Architect/ Allen Kong MARRI NGURANG /
blackandwhite creative and mili mili/ Nicole Monks
RE-MAKING INDIGENOUS PLACE IN MELBOURNE Fiona Johnson, Janet McGaw, Nadia Combe
DALES PARK PAVILION / k20 Architecture/ Anthony Uahwatanasakul, Joy Saikasem, India Mitchell
OLCH PRIMARY SCHOOL /k20 Architecture/ Anthony Uahwatanasakul, Joy Saikasem and India Mitchell LAUREL GROVE /Kirsten Johnstone Architecture/ Kirsten Johnstone
CASCADE HOUSE /Atelier Red+Black/ Sonia Sarangi
ROYD CLAN’S AUTONOMOUS HOUSE /Samaha Design and Construction/ Nadine Samaha
PARC VUE /Map Architecture/ Joshua Muyambo, Sagar Shirodkar
INDIGO SLAM /Smart Design Studio/ Nicole Leuning
HOBART AIRPORT /K5 Furniture/ Lisa Cunningham
LALOR HOME /Architecture by Semu/ Semu Ntulume
17 UNION STREET /BKK Architects/ Kanyanta Chipanta
MIDTOWN CENTRE /Moldt/ Anna Moldt
SEXTOPIA /Honours Project/ Diana Espiritu
THE BLOCK /gastudio/ Guled Abdulwasi
OUTDOOR LIVING Atong Atem (Artist), Electric Confetti (LED design and manufacturers), Justin Tolliday (Electrician), Happy Decay (Muralist)
CAMPUSES ON COUNTRIES Carroll Go-Sam
THE CREATIVE SPINE OF BRUNSWICK /Urbis/ Sika
Ella Manteaw
TAKING REFUGE Alexis Omwela
COLOMBO 1976 NAM SUMMIT MOTORCADE ROUTE /Univeristy of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Design/ Anoma Pieris, Dhanika Kumaheri
SITIO Y LENGUA /Univeristy of Melbourne, Melbourne
School of Design/ Kelum Palipane
VICTORIAN CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL / Greenaway Architects AUS/
MAJLIS – AUSTRALIAN PAVILION /Greenaway Architects AUS/ Jefa Greenaway
CONNECTION = COMMUNITY /Dean Norton and Sarah Hotchin/ Dean Norton, Sarah Hotchin
SHIMMER ROOM DIVIDER Bolaji Teniola
BIOSCAFFOLDS /BioLab Studio/ Natalie Alima
BLOOM /Sandra Githinji Studio/
YALINGUTH Elders: Aunty Rieo Ellis, Bobby Nicholls, Denis McGuinness, Rob Bundle, Uncle Colin Hunter. Contributors: Charley Woolmore, Graham (BJ)
Braybon, Janet McGaw, Kate Cawley, Larna Massari, Nicole Goodman, Pip Chandler, Rebecca McLean, Zoe Dawkins
CITY OF MELBOURNE /Binh Ly, Bronwen
Hamilton, Chelsea Chen, Danielle Jewson, Elisa Casagrande, Ella Gauci Seddon, Jocelyn Chiew, Joonmo Ai, Katie Cudal, Lavanya Arulanandam, Maggie Lokic, Skye Haldane, Tan Le, Truc Mai, Yijun Lu
ACMI (AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR THE MOVING IMAGE) RENEWAL/BKK Architects/ Deb Adams
WHITEHORSE PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE REDEVELOPMENT/BKK Architects/ Jennifer Salter
Team:
Co-curators and Design: Pascale Sablan (Beyond the Built Environment), Sandra Githinji (Sandra Githinji Studio), Kholisile Dhliwayo (Dhliwayo Architecture previously Culture as Creative)
Branding: Edem Badu (Studio Badu), Brett Danielsen, Yukako Iwamoto
Film: Kalu Oji, Abdullah Yusuf Harare Jr
Fabricators: Decals: Melbourne Frosted Glass, Plinths, stud walls and curtain fabrications: POD Museum and Art services, Reused electronic screens: Reboot IT, Printing: E Plot, Printing and Framing: Prism Imaging
Photography: Bonn Creative
This project took place on the unceded land of the Wurundjeri, and Boonwurrung of the Kulin Nation.