Alex Athan

Bachelor of Design (Architecture)

Hi, my name is Alex Athan and I've been studying Architecture for the past 3 years at Swinburne. For me, each building feels like a puzzle and I enjoy putting all the pieces together to create something unique in form and function.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!

Newport Railway Museum Reimagined

This project was completed for Studio 5, which took place in semester 2 of 2023. I was tasked with recreating the current site of the Newport Railway Museum. The site boasts almost 8000 square metres of museum show floor, as well as extra exhibition spaces above and a ground level restaurant.

The design revolves around balancing the colossal amount of space needed to house the train museum with creating a unique gathering space for museum visitors and locals alike.

The material choice reflects on the industrial past of the site, incorporating recycled brick, steel, glass and wood, whilst looking forward with a modern curved facade and entrance.

Newport Railway Museum Reimagined

In order to gain insight into how the site operates I reached out to the current owner. He told me that currently there are major issues with accessibility and the ability to move and house trains within the site. From this I was able develop a series of design goals to aid in my iterations.

All the vegetation on site was respected, and for any vegetation that was removed it was replaced elsewhere on the site.

Ataraxia

This project was completed for Studio 4, which took place in semester 1 of 2023. It was a joint effort by myself, Matthew Rehm and Phoebe O'Brien where Matt designed the large interior garden, Phoebe designed the function spaces and programs, and I designed the main pier.

The goal of this project was to design a new central pier in the Docklands. Our design focused on incorporating indigenous flora back to the site, and having this area as a space of respite just outside the busy Melbourne CBD.

Ataraxia

Our site lays quite low to make it visible from the multiple high rises that envelop the site. The entrance to the site includes a lot of water-based flora as well as taller trees for shade. There is a tunnel underneath a lookout that frames the interior garden as you walk through it, as it is the key attraction of the site. The site also reincorporates the old ferry terminal that used to be there, as well as a restaurant. The site aimed to be friendly for both locals and tourists, therefore the entire site is bike and pedestrian accessible.

Boyd House

This project was completed for Studio 3, which took place in semester 2 of 2022. I was tasked with redesigning Boyd House, a house designed by Robin Boyd in the 1950s. We were limited to using brick as our main material, and so I used this in conjunction with steel and wood.

The site was split into two units with a connecting backyard courtyard. In line with Boyd's teachings, none of the vegetation was removed and was instead worked around. Boyd also liked using rooms for multiple purposes, so in my design the bedrooms have a connecting wall that can be pushed back to join the rooms together.

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.