Krystal Murray

Bachelor of Design (Architecture)

I'm currently a student at Swinburne University of Technology in my final year of my Bachelor of Design (Architecture).

Over the years of my study, I have further developed my interest in design and architecture and helped develop my skills.

One thing I find particularly interesting is how passive design and the built environment can impact those who use these spaces and how it can improve and contribute to the comfort and wellbeing of the intended users.

I've also noticed a great improvement in my skills overall over the course of my education, in particular the improvements I've made in my diagraming skills and my ability to clearly communicate my design narrative and intentions as technical and construction drawings have usually my stronger points, and I look forward to continuing learning skills and refining my existing skills in the future.

Design Studio 3 | Beyond Living

Individual Project

As proposed response to The Beyond Living Design Competition the Suspended Activity Centre & Retirement Living provides both apartments and dormitories for the elderly residents as well as various craft and activity rooms in the form of suspended structures within a larger enclosed space, where the enclosed space which encloses the activity centre featuring a garden underneath the suspended rooms.

Design Studio 2 | Peat House

Individual Project

As part of the Yoga House in a Bog Design Competition The Peat house used peat, a material abundant in the bogs across Latvia, where the house was situated, as the main building material taking inspiration from tradition peat/turf houses, which allows for the yoga studio to blend in with the surrounding landscape with the exception of a few extruding sky lights, the front entrance and the large feature window on the south facade which opens up to allow the yoga studio to access views of the surrounding forest.

Design Studio 4 | Sea Farer's Place

Group Project | Krystal Murray, Megan Vorster

This project required us to use form finding techniques to lead the design process, in our case a combination of tensile structures and sand and gravity, which we used to influence the circulation, both horizontal and vertical, which as seen in this model, gave us a series of overlapping bridges in the centre, and H-shaped floor plates which allowed for better access to sunlight.

Design Studio 4 | Sea Farer's Place

Group Project | Krystal Murray, Megan Vorster

The main purpose of this building was to provide student accommadation, however we also wished to include programs to encourage people to visit the North bank of the Yarra River in the Docklands where this project was located. As part of this a water interaction deck, sports facilities, a cafe, study spaces and a multi use roof top featuring gardens, seating and a roof top bar as seen in this render.

Design Studio 5 | The Vestige

Group Project | Krystal Murray, Sokvattana Chhun

This project looked to upgrade the existing Newport Railway Museum and create a building which you help engage the people by creating an appealing building. The main focus is a ramp that wraps around the inside of the main building which allows for all the trains can be displayed with room for future expansion which creates a central courtyard, but there's also a variety of retail spaces, a gift store by the entrance as well as a connected building featuring community spaces, a cafe, offices, event spaces and a roof top bar and resturaunt. This attached building can be better seen in the elevations at the bottom image showing the West, South and East elevations from left to right respectively.

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.