Projects underpinned by care must reflect and build an understanding of how architecture can respond to both tangible and intangible qualities of place and people and move across and between place and people at various scales; this is at the core of Country-centred design. Carefully developed design principles provide a framework for thinking through the potential of design in a non-didactic and strategic manner to capture values and ethics in architecture that can be persuasively communicated through succinct text and diagrams to describe design moves and motivations as interventions and strategies discernible to a broad audience.

Each student was required to develop a suite of design principles to embed Country and reframe how housing is often perceived in Australia, as a means of building wealth to a fundamental human right. Together we unpacked what it means to feel safe and understand the qualities of spaces that bring us joy, dignity, and empowerment. We abstracted our understanding of personal experience to expand and capture stories from listenings and readings of women and children who’ve been victims of domestic violence and/or homelessness into design principles of care.