Louis Ryan

Bachelor of Design (Architecture)

Hi, my name is Louis Ryan. I am in my penultimate year of a Bachelor of Architecture at Swinburne University.

Throughout my studies, I have actively sought out opportunities to continuously improve my technical production skills and cultivate my creative problem solving. Alongside architecture, I am particularly inspired by exploring interior and industrial design, and brand and identity design. I believe good architecture should draw on historical, social, and economic factors relative to a project. I have been particularly inspired learning about these across our historical context’s units at Swinburne.

I have enjoyed taking on new opportunities to further my knowledge and experience, in 2019 participating in a traveling study tour in Chennai, India, to further develop my understanding in social housing infrastructure at Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Through a variety of group projects, and numerous field trips we examined the production of compressed stabilised earth blocks at the Auroville Earth Institute.

Currently, I am completing a professional internship program where I have been participating the production of a concept pop-up store with a design focused on the use of mycelium elements. This opportunity has allowed me to gain understanding about the production of mycelium and how it can be applied in the built environment.

Dragon's Nest

Seed + Sprout Store

Sail

Stations

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.