Sam Millar

Master of Architecture & Urban Design

Sam graduates from the Swinburne Master of Architecture after previously completing his Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Tasmania.

Across the masters program, he has interrogated design interventions that engage with the multi-cultural condition of contemporary Australian society. Other design interests reflected in his projects include integrated sustainable and landscape-oriented architecture and urban design solutions to the increasing densification of our cities.

He formerly worked in sustainability policy for the City of Melbourne where he helped shape council’s approach to greening of the private realm.

He also holds a double Bachelor of Social Science (Environment)/Environmental Science from RMIT

'Breaking Heaviness' - Transforming Richmond Social Housing Estate

This urban design proposition proposes the introduction of a contemporary micro-retail space to transform and activate the ground plane of the North Richmond tower estate. In doing so it aims to provide an important 'third space' for residents and the broader community, with opportunities for cultural and social connection as well as economic opportunity in the form of street stalls, kiosks and market shops.

'Breaking Heaviness' - Transforming Richmond Social Housing Estate

The architectural concept centres around the idea of introducing lightness, colour and vibrancy as a counter-point to the weight of the existing brutalist materiality and heavy site condition. The transformed atmosphere seeks to uplift the site's residents, many of whom have experiences of seeking asylum, fleeing violence, substance abuse and mental health challenges.

Wearing Cultural Pluralism - Box Hill Civic

The proposed design draws on the cultural context of Box Hill to celebrate Melbourne's social landscape of many cultures living side-by-side. It envisions a new civic centre with an external skin that can wear and celebrate the cultural textiles and motifs of Melbourne's diverse communities.

Hammock House - Boyd Foundation Competition Entry (Finalist)

Hammock House seeks to tackle key issues of affordability and sustainability impacting domestic architecture. Hammocks are deeply integrated with the microclimate around them. They are lightweight and highly affordable. And they sit within the natural landscape, leaving only the most minimal footprint on their setting.

Hammock House - Boyd Foundation Competition Entry (Finalist)

The proposition positions two dwellings above the ground plane, as if two hammocks hanging between the site’s existing trees. A natural swimming pond and brick landscaping regulates the site’s microclimate and forms opportunities for connection to the site.

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.