Dezeen School Shows: a museum that aims to resurrect lost craft techniques and an aquarium with digital exhibits feature in Dezeen's latest school show by students from the University of New South Wales.

Also included is a performing arts centre designed to reinvigorate both the creative arts and wider community in greater Sydney and a safe space dedicated to people in the queer community.

University of New South Wales

Institution: University of New South Wales
School: School of Built Environment
Courses: Architecture and Interior Architecture

School statement:

"At UNSW Built Environment, we shape future cities – cities that are resilient, sustainable, connected, healthy, smart, liveable and inclusive.

"We focus on the challenges of cities at every scale, from industrial designed products to the architectural design of buildings and landscapes, as well as urban and regional policy and planning.

"We create high-performing built environments that contribute to tackling the climate crisis, while our human-centred design ethos responds to the needs of the individual as well as society and our cultural landscape.

"We develop skilled and enquiring graduates, with a conscience, who can positively engage, adapt and shape our future cities for the benefit of all people, with the planet firmly in mind."

Learning Hub at UNSW Sydney by Natalie Wing Sum Ho

"This project is about providing the students of UNSW with a comfortable, safe and lively place to spend time.

"This is a building that keeps students 'alive' – a place where their voices are heard, passions are showcased, motivation is maintained, stress is relieved, relationships are made, lessons are learned and insights are broadened.

"The building contains three main components: the activated ground plane, the learning hub and the hobby tower.

"As a diagrammatic gesture, the hobby tower intersects into the learning hub and serves as the main service core where a solar chimney system runs through the whole building."

Student: Natalie Wing Sum Ho
Course: Master of Architecture
Tutors: Jonathan Evans and Dijana Tasevska
Email: nataliews.ho[at]gmail.com

Undulate Creative Hub by Wayne Jiawen Wang

"Architecture and urban development on waterfront sites are directly impacted by climate change, which causes rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns.

"Inspired by the wax and wane of ocean tides, Undulate seeks to extend a typology of waterfront architecture.

"Located in Lavender Bay, on the harbour shoreline of North Sydney, the project includes two multifunctional theatres and a gallery as a cultural response to the possible future.

"Each column and truss are modular and can be lifted by a hydraulic system. As heavy weather approaches, the building will rise and become a 'sanctuary', standing against turbulent water activity and flooding."

Student: Wayne Jiawen Wang
Course: Master of Architecture
Tutors: Shaowen Wang and Raffeale Pernice
Email: wangjiawen1998[at]outlook.com

Multi-Residential Sustainable Housing Precinct in St Peters, Sydney by Tyla Venish

"A machine tasked with repairing damaged ecologies of people, place and culture, Revive 75 aims to rejuvenate a contaminated site and regenerate urban fabric through a contemporary multi-residential housing model.

"Three chamfered residential towers welcome northern sun into a central community courtyard, creating a sundial of place and, speaking to the adjacent brickwork chimneys, encourage movement through the fragmented suburb into the community precinct.

"Water channels down the facades into underground rainwater tanks for reuse, whilst greywater and green waste is restored via an omniprocessor, which produces clean water and compost for the gardens, simultaneously providing an educational precedent for life-cycle living."

Student: Tyla Venish
Course: Master of Architecture
Tutors: Felipe Miranda, Vicente Castro, Helen Kuo and Cristian Rojas
Email: tyla.venish[at]outlook.com

New Library and Public Space in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia by Benjamin Selig

"Broken Hill is a distinctive regional urban place conditioned by geology, climate and history.

"The City Council is looking to stimulate the city centre as a vibrant destination for locals and visitors alike, involving the creation of a new library supported by complementary services and attractions.

"In this scheme, the gabion-clad, double L-shaped library acts as a shading device for the precinct and sits atop autonomous structural masses.

"The ground plane's squares and courtyards are populated with a café, gallery, exhibition space, amphitheatre, stage and visitor centre."

Student: Benjamin Selig
Course: Bachelor of Architectural Studies
Tutors: Rachel Neeson and Brendan Randles
Email: b.d.selig[at]gmail.com

New Library Complex and Public Space in Westmead, Sydney by Jenny Chan

"In the heart of Westmead in suburban Sydney is a hidden courtyard is nestled within a public library.

"Granite walls protect the contemplative space from urban noise. Passersby are beckoned into the courtyard by an overhanging roof that curves up through the library.

"The curve of the roof responds to the orientation of the site, as well as the existing topography, allowing the sun to shine into the courtyard.

"Expansive views out to the surrounding streets are facilitated by a glazed cut-through the facade that ascends up though the building and into the main reading room."

Student: Jenny Chan
Course: Bachelor of Architectural Studies
Tutors: Philip Thalis and Angelo Korsanos
Email: jenny.h.chan[at]gmail.com

White Bay Virtuquarium by Sandra Srun

"White Bay Virtuquarium is a tactile digital aquarium and marine research lab, where virtual displays meet growing coral farms.

"It aims to revitalise and renew Gadigal and Wangal Water Country with a wider goal to establish sustainable education and immediate action in the face of climate change.

"Breaking away from traditional aquariums and formal lab spaces, the Virtuquarium is a meeting point, connecting the community more closely to nature and country and bringing together cultural, community and professional knowledge."

Student: Sandra Srun
Course: Interior Architecture (Honours)
Tutors: Eva Lloyd, Dr Sing D'Arcy and Olivia Green
Email: ssrun[at]rocketmail.com

a_au_ctr by Daniel Byun

"This project aims to provide an accessible and culturally significant platform that allows the creative expression of emerging artists.

"The overarching design intent of my proposal stems from the lack of cultural infrastructure surrounding White Bay Power Station.

"Through research, a second associated concern was identified – one of the biggest barriers to culture in Australia is financial accessibility.

"Through the addressing of both key issues, my design strategy aims to foster the creative expression of emerging artists in the spaces that lie in between."

Student: Daniel Byun
Course: Interior Architecture (Honours)
Tutors: Eva Lloyd, Dr Sing D'Arcy and Olivia Green
Email: danielbyun0[at]gmail.com

Against the Binary by Lachlan Kirkland

"This project is a chance to challenge the preconception of 'maybe if'?

"Maybe if society was as practically progressive as it is theoretically, the question of validating queer lives and queer experiences wouldn't exist.

"The space curates programmes and functions that the community would use on a day-to-day basis, but subverts its architectural functionality through a scheme of strategies that specifically address the way people engage with the built environment and each other.

"The space aims to facilitate a socio-cultural shift in the way we explore our sense of agency, not only in the ways we traverse through life, but the ways we express ourselves as well."

Student: Lachlan Kirkland
Course: Interior Architecture (Honours)
Tutors: Eva Lloyd and Dr Sing D'Arcy
Email: lachlankirkland[at]outlook.com

The Museum of Lost Arts by Georgia Martel

"I have no doubts that on your wanders through this world you will have heard stories of things lost. Tales of lost socks, the lost city, the lost boys, or perhaps the lost arts of basket weaving and letter writing.

"This story, however, is a tale about finding – or rather re-finding. Re-finding ancient arts and crafts that have been lost, that have been under-appreciated or made obsolete by industrial methods.

"It is an archive, a makerspace and a community-written treasure-trove hero-ing traditionally domestic crafts that for as long as they have hand-stitched been kept behind closed doors."

Student: Georgia Martel
Course: Interior Architecture (Honours)
Tutors: Eva Lloyd, Dr Sing D'Arcy and Robert Vlahovic
Email: martgeorgie[at]gmail.com

Unfold by Shameera Hingmire

"Unfold is Sydney's cultural playground for the performing arts.

"Hosting an auditorium, creative studios, immersive technologies and unique dining experiences, Unfold acts as a beacon of reinvigoration for the suburb of Rozelle and greater Sydney, infusing energy into the arts sector and community life collectively.

"Unfold explores the transformation of a cultural icon to a playground encouraging collective journeys and experiences through the narrative of performance itself.

"The project is to be experienced through this lens, creating a curated journey that is enhanced with each return."

Student: Shameera Hingmire
Course: Interior Architecture (Honours)
Tutors: Eva Lloyd and Dr Sing D'Arcy
Email: shameera.hingmire[at]gmail.com

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and University of New South Wales. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.