Khanh Quan Nguyen

Bachelor of Design (Architecture)

A Vietnamese international student and recent graduate with a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Architecture, from Swinburne University of Technology. As an architecture student, I see myself as a lifelong learner, drawing inspiration from everyday life, past projects, my peers, and each step I take. I am ambitious and visionary, always finding opportunities in my surroundings and expressing this passion through architecture. Over my three years at Swinburne, I have honed skills across a wide spectrum, from visualization to computational design. Check out my other works here: khanhquannguyen.myportfolio.com

Studio 3: Playground +

"The project’s vision was to transform senior housing into a vibrant, engaging space that combats the isolation often felt in later life. Inspired by the joyful spirit of playgrounds, I sought to redefine senior housing through playful, inviting spaces where residents feel part of a shared experience, actively connected to each other and the surrounding community.

Playground +65 reimagines what senior living can be—a place of connection, joy, and energy in the twilight of life. With whimsical architecture, meandering corridors, and inviting communal spaces, this design promotes daily social interactions, encouraging seniors to rediscover a sense of play, belonging, and vitality. Each corner is crafted to inspire movement, interaction, and a collective sense of living that brings warmth and purpose to residents’ days.

Studio 5: Multisensory museum of Newport

Hero shot

Located in Newport, Melbourne, our goal for the project is to reimagine the suburb’s heavy industrial heritage, transforming it into an urban architectural forest. We aim to reshape Newport’s image by creating an inclusive space where art is accessible to all, engaging multiple senses to ensure that everyone can experience art. The museum’s design is divided into three layers: the “Cloud,” hosting inspirational art galleries by not just common artists but disabled artists and art for the disabled and mental health patients; the “Forest,” where columns houses the programs and connects the community by urban space and communal services; and the underground, offering an immersive multi-sensory experiences taking visitors on a journey into another universe. Apart from the museum, our project also aim towards providing education and and well being treatment for mental health patients and people with disability, creating a community truly for all.

Studio 5: Multisensory museum of Newport

Sectional perspective

Located in Newport, Melbourne, our goal for the project is to reimagine the suburb’s heavy industrial heritage, transforming it into an urban architectural forest. We aim to reshape Newport’s image by creating an inclusive space where art is accessible to all, engaging multiple senses to ensure that everyone can experience art. The museum’s design is divided into three layers: the “Cloud,” hosting inspirational art galleries by not just common artists but disabled artists and art for the disabled and mental health patients; the “Forest,” where columns houses the programs and connects the community by urban space and communal services; and the underground, offering an immersive multi-sensory experiences taking visitors on a journey into another universe. Apart from the museum, our project also aim towards providing education and and well being treatment for mental health patients and people with disability, creating a community truly for all.

Studio 4: Symbi(Oasis)

Water filtration and electricity generating system

Symbi(oasis) is a waterfront development ( including student housing as the brief outlined ) locating in Docklands that demonstrates the opportunity of form finding in architecture which was focused in the first half of Studio 4. Symbi(oasis) goals are
1. Creating connection between people and water which is being avoided due to the pollution of water
2. Preserve and foster the growth of communities which is shrinking as lands are being taken for profitable developments
3. Bringing greenery to the site where lands are being exploited for profit

BIM: AMDC Retrofit

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.