Valentina Alvarado Torres

Bachelor of Design (Architecture)

My name is Valentina Alvarado Torres, I am a third-year architecture student studying at Swinburne University of Technology. Architecture has always been a passion of mine, as well as other design disciplines including art, fashion and photography.

When choosing a career path I gravitated to a design focus course as the idea of creating and gradually seeing my creations come to life excited me, I chose this path as architecture allows me to do so at a large scale. Before studying architecture, my interest stemmed from traveling to different parts of the world and seeing distinct styles. Although, only whilst studying architecture I realised the love I have for it, this degree allows me to explore and challenge my creative thinking, thus influencing the way I view spaces around me, it has also improved my attention to detail and persistence.

My educational journey so far has influenced my fascination of how a space can impact a person’s feelings, and especially how nature plays a big role in human wellbeing. My designs within this course have explored this, and my future projects will as well be centred on this idea.

In the near future I hope to gain industry experience, as well as enter my master degree and travel for architecture.

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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.