Irina W Tepavcevic

Bachelor of Design (Architecture)

Hi, my name is Irina and I am a third year Architectural Design student at Swinburne University. During my time at Swinburne I have dedicated my design

processes to create unique structures with carbon fiber, examining form making and providing a sequenced scheme using grasshopper coding's and python scripting. Using the skills gained from my experiencing gave me the opportunities to design to the best of my abilities.

After about 3 years in academia I have also gained the confidence in industry standard programs such as Rhino, Revit and BIM, creating projects such as Project 'Senso' where I collaborated with team members to create a master plan development at Docklands, 'Project Dulili', a performing arts and community center aiming to provide Aboriginal people a sense of place within Melbourne CBD.

Within all the projects I have been in, all have provided a unique conceptual journey, through modeling and rendering in Enscape that I find most interesting about in everyone of my projects. I have also gained additional skills in adobe programs that helped communicate my concepts throughout projects . However, I am still working forward to improving my skill set after university as I hope to find my passion in design, more specifically in sustainability and environmental design.

Project Senso

Project Dulili

Under Floor Air Distribution System: Identifying Issues and Providing Solutions

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.