Simone Cooke

Hi! My name is Simone Cooke, and I’m a 22-year-old who has recently completed a Bachelor of Design (Architecture) at Swinburne University of Technology.

After studying Visual Communication Design as a subject at school, I found my passion for design which then led me to study architecture, and I have enjoyed it ever since. Exploring how the design of spaces can influence the users experience in terms of emotion inspires me, as well as the sense of accomplishment of turning an idea into a physical building in which people can use and experience for themselves.

Forest Museum I Studio 5

Located in Newport, 'Forest Museum' is designed to bring people together through shared experiences around nature, community and culture. The form of the museum reflects that of a leaf native to Newport, and features a nature exhibit and a wide range of lighting elements to guide people through the space and educate them on Newport's local flora.
In collaboration with Chloe O'Hara

Still-Wharf Oasis I Studio 4

Located in North-Wharf Docklands, 'Still-Wharf Oasis' is a retreat that focuses around health and wellbeing. Despite being in close proximity to the city, the building acts as a quiet, relaxing escape from the work hustle.
In collaboration with Katherine Lodkowski

Multigenerational Residence I Studio 3

Located at 74 Freeman Street, Fitzroy North, this house accommodates for three generations of a family to live comfortably together. Through analysing public and private spaces, this house offers a space where people are able to save cost by living with others, while still living close to the city and maintaining their own privacy.

Multigenerational Residence I Studio 3

Ashram Village I Studio 2

Located in Latvia, 'Ashram Village' is a Yoga House that reconnects land, community and spirit through combining vernacular Latvian farmhouse design with Indian temple design. Unique construction materials were also incorporated through the use of cork bricks and peat moss.
In collaboration with Daniel Zeleznik-Pina

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.