Ebony Willis

I am a graduating Master of Architecture student at Swinburne University, based in Melbourne. My work explores the evolving relationship between architecture, society, and technology, and how design can act as a mediator between the physical and digital worlds. I am particularly interested in how architecture reflects cultural values and adapts to shifts in environmental and technological conditions. My research engages with the societal discourse that frames architectural practice, exploring how ethical, cultural, and technological transformations shape the way we conceive and inhabit space. I view architecture not only as a means of building but as a critical tool for understanding and shaping the world around us.

One of my favourite projects, Reality Checkpoint, investigated the role of data Centre architecture within contemporary society. Often perceived as remote and dystopian, Data Centres are essential to global communication and digital culture yet remain largely unseen. The project questioned how these infrastructures could balance concealment, environmental sustainability, and ethical transparency, proposing an architecture that acknowledges digital systems as integral to civic life.

This research later developed into an opinion piece for Archigram, exploring how the Data Centre, as a new architectural typology, fits within the cultural and historical context of Melbourne. The piece reflected on how the city’s evolving identity might accommodate emerging forms of digital infrastructure, and how architecture can respond to these transformations by fostering public engagement, environmental awareness, and a renewed dialogue between technology and place.

Cape Otway Visitor Centre - Site Plan

Untitled

Reality Checkpoint 03

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.