Nicholas Milligan

Master of Architecture & Urban Design

Art and design have always played a huge part in how I view and interact with the world, if that is from my earliest memories of playing with clay or later in life where I would spend months taking photos of natural landscapes.

This passion for creative endeavours eventually led me to pursuing a career in architecture, a discipline that is multifaceted with a strong emphasis on unique expression in a realistic grounded way.

Projects I have been able to create during my time studying have nearly all explored design extremes; if that is changes in climate, far future scenarios and even substitutes for conventional materials like using coffee in plastic to create facades.

This has ultimately positioned by interest to focussing on the materiality of design, experimenting with new materials and considering how the life span of what we use can both provide hinderance and opportunity.

And for now is the avenue I plan on pursuing in my career, seeing what waste can be repurposed in present and future designs.

POOL'G Floor Plan (Middle Level)

Floor plan for a future food production facility situated in the middle of flood waters, designed to embrace a drastically changing climate.

POOL'G Floor Plan (Top Level)

Floor plan for the food production facility level that is above the increasing flood waters.

POOL'G Sectional Drawing

Detailed section highlighting one of the aquatic chambers, showcasing the filtration of toxic chemicals by aquatic life as a means to help provide sustenance to the plants being grown. (Hydroponic System)

POOL'G Graphical Detail

Initial conceptual journal for the project language, giving an alluring idea of the project themes in a minimalist way with simple ocean waves and ocean life.

POOL'G Conceptual Detail Internal Booklet

Ai rendering of aquatic facility concept, placed inside project booklet.

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.