Nandini Khithani

I am Nandini Naresh Khithani, and I'm now wrapping up my Bachelor of Design (Interior Architecture) (Honours) at Swinburne University of Technology. As I've studied, I've been really interested in creating environments that foster community, promote diversity, and provide meaningful experiences for the communities they serve.

Recent initiatives like Nexus Square and the MultiRoots Hub in Craigieburn have given me the opportunity to investigate issues of migration, community involvement, and belonging. In order to convey how people move, engage, and connect inside a space, I like using expressive forms, layered spatial planning, and architectural storytelling.

To realise my ideas, I confidently work with Rhino, Revit, Grasshopper, Enscape, and other digital modelling technologies. I also place a high importance on effective visual communication and take great care when creating my diagrams, drawings, and presentation style.

Creating environments that are kind, considerate, and linked to the people who use them inspires me as a designer. My objective is to keep creating spaces that are representative of culture, identity, and the narratives they contain.

MUSEUM DISPLAY AREA 1

A central exhibition area with circular seating, expressive shapes, and a striking ceiling that frames the sculptures and draws people in.

MUSEUM DISPLAY AREA 2

The Museum Exhibition Entrance is a dynamic entry sequence that leads visitors into an immersive storytelling experience. Vertical timber ribbons and sculptural exhibits characterise it.

OUTDOOR COURTYARD

A peaceful open area with pathways, seating pods, and layered greenery that foster community engagement, pause, and conversation.

COMMUNITY HUB ENTRANCE

A cozy, multi-level meeting area with adaptable seating, greenery, and collaborative areas intended to promote education, social interaction, and cross-cultural exchange.

CAFE INTERIOR

A serene social area that promotes casual conversations and connections between guests, with a focus on sculptural forms and soft curves.

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.