The Future of Housing and Urban Design on Gununa

Part of the exhibition Purpose Built: Architecture for a Better Tomorrow,
State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, 2 September–14 April 2024

Lead researchers: Carroll Go-Sam, Dr Kelly Greenop, Dr Kali Marnane, Dr Maram Shaweesh

Gununa, Mornington Island is facing a range of problems familiar to many in remote Indigenous communities: housing that is not fit for purpose, both culturally and environmentally, with too little housing for the community and energy security disparities.

Engaged by the Mornington Shire Council to provide guidance on a future development on the Island, the research team for this project began by surveying existing housing stock and infrastructure. They spoke with home occupiers to determine the current state of the built environment on the island and assessed the needs of the community for the future.

Survey participants were recruited using a pre-research community information campaign (video and flyers) followed by a snowballing technique. Flyers were printed and attached to the local Post Office and other notice boards. 

The surveys informed a report for the Mornington Shire Council, which aimed to guide the Council about how to improve current procurement practices and implement design for housing on the Island in a way that considers the community cultures and the environment. It includes a guideline called Gununaean Design Principles, and a Briefing and Procurement Model.

The aim is to produce dwellings that are economically sustainable for residents and government cost models, as well as climatically and culturally appropriate. Recommendations from the research project included siting dwellings with passive design principles in mind to maximise breezes, reduce sun exposure, and provide ample shaded outdoor spaces; offering greater diversity of housing options to allow for a range of family types and sizes; facilitating privacy; and supporting community interaction.

The design response recommendations also included improving the streetscape of Gununa through maintenance and beautification strategies, such as weed eradication, street planting, and provision of public bins and pavements.

Future research will integrate energy and climate experts to go beyond housing design and look at broader infrastructure and resource disparities on the Island embedded in the built environment.

Included in the exhibition were children's drawings of the island, created together with UQ researcher and architect Kali Marnane in 2022. These sat alongside children's drawings of the island created in 1975 as part of a series of some 3383 drawings and paintings on paper made between 1975–1977 by Aboriginal children from 70 schools across Australia. These artworks were collected by the Aboriginal Arts Board for potential use in The Aboriginal Children's History of Australia: Written and Illustrated by Australia's Aboriginal Children. The book, published by Rigby, Adelaide in 1977, forms part of the National Library of Australia catalogue, while the original artworks are held by the National Museum of Australia.

The drawings were displayed alongside video screens that showed interviews with residents and school children on Gununa. The videos demonstrate the strong connection residents have to family and each other, including the difficulties of living remotely in inadequate housing.

Read more about the project, how it came about and the research outcomes on the School of ADP website here.

Insights – Gununa residents

Insights – Gununa school students

Conversation

Rethinking Gununa housing – What would Indigenous-led design look like?
1 February 2024, State Library of Queensland

UQ researchers Carroll Go-Sam and Dr Kelly Greenop discuss Indigenous-led design and their work on the very remote island of Gununa, Mornington Island.

Interview – Carroll Go-Sam