Yitpi Yartapuultiku (the ‘Soul of Port Adelaide’) is located on Yarta Puulti (‘Sleeping Place’), an Estuarine Mangrove River System in Port Adelaide. It is a place for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to join and be immersed in Aboriginal culture, to promote a deeper understanding and respect for Country, and to remind us that everything is connected – land, water, sky, cosmos, flora, fauna, body, and spirit.

Kaurna cultural direction required the building should not separate but join. Trails, storylines, and local cultural sites are fluid within and beyond the site, including Tiilbruke, Taltaityai, Lartelare, the Mudlangga to Yertabulti track, and various totems. All trails arrive at the ‘joining place’, a central place at the heart of the site-wide cultural program. The building form is prised apart to form shelter and promote gathering. Seven woven skylights represent a range of key cultural narratives, including the Seven Sisters Dreaming. The long-axis of the building is aligned with ‘Karta’ (Kangaroo Island), and the curved northern end is oriented toward ‘Lartelare’. The portal structure frames views to key cultural reference points through and beyond the site.

participate.cityofpae.sa.gov.au/yitpiyartapuultiku